If there were ever a day to be cheesy, Thursday was it.
More than 600 Moe’s Southwest Grills, including some in Gainesville, were celebrating "Quesopalooza," an annual event designed to appreciate the restaurant’s customers.
While the Moe’s on campus did not acknowledge the nationwide event, the off-campus restaurants offered free "Quesopalooza" T-shirts, tortilla chips and six-ounce cups of queso. The restaurants also offered the opportunity to win limited edition "Quesopalooza" concert posters, a custom Moe’s guitar and a year’s worth of queso.
The Moe’s on Archer Road alone made about 300 pounds of queso to prepare for the lines, said the Gainesville-area Moe’s director of operations Ernest Milian.
"In a day, we usually make about 70 to 100 pounds of queso," he said.
The Moe’s in Newberry Square shopping plaza had given away more than $700 worth of queso before making it halfway through the day. By 3 p.m., all of the "Quesopalooza" T-shirts were gone except for the last extra large, said Sarah Wilson, the restaurant’s assistant manager.
"I wasn’t surprised by how busy it was," Wilson said, adding that the line extended out the door for more than two hours.
Deanna Doenges, a first-year nursing student at Santa Fe College, said she made her boyfriend wait in line for her.
"I’m a college student," Doenges, 21, said. "I get excited for free food."
