I ordered similar burrito bowls from Chipotle, Qdoba, and Moe's. There's only one chain I won't be rushing back to.

My first stop was Moe's Southwest Grill, which has 573 locations across the US.

I ordered a burrito bowl with cilantro-lime rice, steak, black beans, sour cream, cheese, roasted-corn salsa, Kickin' Cayenne sauce, and fresh jalapeños. It cost just about $14, making it the most expensive of the burrito bowls I tried.

Overall, the meal from Moe's wasn't bad. However, the steak didn't taste especially fresh and had an overcooked, jerky-like texture. The rice was also a little mushier than I would've liked, and the beans didn't pack a ton of flavor.

The rest of it was pretty tasty, though. I especially liked the bursts of sweetness that came from the corn salsa.

My favorite part of the bowl was the fresh jalapeños, which added some juiciness, a crunchy texture, and lively spice. Although I later found out that fresh jalapeños weren't an option at Chipotle or Qdoba, they definitely upgraded the bowl from Moe's.

To top off the meal, I asked for "spicy red salsa," and the brand's Kickin' Cayenne looked and tasted more like hot sauce. However, it packed plenty of heat, which I appreciated.

At the end of the day, this turned out to be my least favorite of the bowls I tried. I wouldn't rule out eating at Moe's again, but I probably won't go out of my way to dine there, either.

Founded in Denver in 1993, Chipotle now has over 3,700 locations worldwide.

I ordered a burrito bowl with steak, white rice, black beans, roasted chile-corn salsa, sour cream, cheese, and tomatillo red-chile salsa. It cost $13.50, similar to the one at Moe's.

I've eaten at the restaurant enough times to know what to expect, but this comparison helped me appreciate how delicious a Chipotle meal can be.

Surprisingly, the rice jumped out at me — the texture was perfect, and the tangy acidity of the lime brightened the flavor of the entire bowl.

The steak had a hearty but tender texture, though not a ton of flavor, and the beans were pleasantly squishy with a hint of sweetness. The smoky, spicy red salsa made the whole thing fiery with heat.

I especially liked the diversity in temperatures — the cool sour cream and shredded cheese tasted great with the heat of the rice and steak.

It was a tasty, satisfying meal I feel confident I'll eat again.

For the last stop on my burrito bowl tour, I visited Qdoba. Founded in Denver in 1995 as Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill, the brand changed its name to Z-Teca in 1997 before settling on Qdoba in 1999.

I had eaten at Qdoba before but never ordered a burrito bowl. I got it with white rice, steak, black beans, corn, salsa, sour cream, and cheese.

While ordering, I didn't realize there would be multiple corn options, so I got the warm Mexican street corn topping instead of the chile corn salsa, which would've been closer to the options I tried at Moe's and Chipotle.

I also ordered the wrong red salsa and got the mild roasted-tomato salsa instead of the spicy salsa roja.

One thing to note is that Chipotle and Moe's both charge extra for queso, but Qdoba does not. Though my burrito bowl was otherwise very similar to the others in terms of constitution, I thought it was only fair to try the Queso Diablo since it was included in the price.

The meal at Qdoba cost $11.25, over $2 less expensive than the others.

I thought Qdoba had the best steak of any of the restaurants I tried — heavily seasoned chunks with lots of char flavor and the occasional crunchy charred edge.

The rice lacked the flavor of Chipotle's but had a better texture than the rice at Moe's. The corn didn't have much taste, but I loved the creaminess the bowl took on from the combination of sour cream, queso, and shredded cheese.

The queso also added more than enough kick to make up for my error in salsa choice.

It wasn't my favorite of the burrito bowls I tried, but given the lower price point and the wealth of topping options to explore, I could certainly imagine eating at Qdoba again.

Overall, the Chipotle bowl was my favorite. It offered a diversity of textures and flavors that its competitors could not match. Plus, I thought everything tasted a touch fresher.