The casual diner might struggle to figure out the difference between a Moe's, a Qdoba and a Chipotle Mexican Grill.

All offer fresh tacos, salads and meal-unto-itself burritos. But Moe's really tries to set itself apart.

For starters, there's that greeting when you walk in the door. "Welcome to Moooooooe's!" the folks behind the counter yell. I suspect they're pretty tired of all that yelping by the end of their shifts, but they don't let on.

Then there are the inscrutable names of the offerings. The burritos, for instance, are Homewrecker, Triple Lindy, Art Vandalay and Joey Bag of Donuts.

The nachos are Billy Barou and Ruprict. I remember Ruprict as Steve Martin's character from the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," and apparently that was the intended reference. The rest of them, who knows?

Aside from the embarrassment of having to say "I'll have the Joey Bag of Donuts, please," we like the food. It's of uniformly good quality, whether you're eating at a Moe's in Richmond or one in Burlington, N.C.

Our favorite is the Billy Barou nachos ($5.99), which you custom-order with a choice of grilled meat, black or pinto beans, salsa, black olives, two kinds of jalape?os, and a cheese sauce. It's very tasty and very messy -- in a good way. On the McFeast scale (named for a legendarily collapsing McDonald's burger of some years ago), it's probably eight-small-napkins messy.

The Homewrecker burrito ($6.69) is pretty much indistinguishable from its brethren at Chipotle and Qdoba, and that is no complaint. It's a big boy. We like the included guacamole; we'll pass on the sour cream.

If you insist on eating healthy, you could do worse than the Personal Trainer vegetarian salad at $5.49.

There's more variety than you might imagine. They offer three kinds of quesadillas and two kinds of fajitas. There's a decent kids' menu, offering smaller servings of tacos, burritos and quesadillas, instead of the usual generic kiddie hamburgers.

We like the do-it-yourself beverage bar -- fountain drinks start at $1.59 -- and the nearby serve-yourself salsa bar with its variety of sauces.

Other plusses: They sell beer. They offer tofu as an alternative to meat. And most meals include chips and salsa.The free Wi-Fi offered at most locations is a nice touch, too.

But you don't want the nachos coming anywhere near your laptop's keyboard.

Contact Lee Barnes at (804) 775-8129 or Lbarnes@timesdispatch.com.