Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill[1] and Rubio's Baja Grill, is an American fast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex"[2] restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fishtacos. As of 2024, Rubio's operates, licenses, or franchises 85 restaurants. 17 restaurants in Arizona, 62 in Southern California, and 6 in Nevada.[3] It previously had locations in northern California, Colorado, Florida and Utah. The chain announced store closings and a bankruptcy filing the same year with plans to sell itself to lenders. It is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. At one time, the company had as many as 196 restaurants through the United States by the end of 2016.
According to founder Ralph Rubio, he and some friends from San Diego State University were on spring break in San Felipe, Baja California, when he first encountered fish tacos at a local stand, and was inspired to open a restaurant serving them in his hometown, San Diego.[4] Since then, the popularity of fish tacos has spread throughout California, although they remain uncommon elsewhere. Rubio's standard fish tacos are made from Alaskan pollock, which is battered, fried, and served in a corn tortilla, although optionally offered with a flour tortilla. Grilled mahi-mahi is also available at all locations.[citation needed]
The first Rubio's restaurant was opened in 1983 at a former Orange Julius site on Mission Bay Drive in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego.[4] The first restaurant offered French fries, calamari, and fish tacos, among other cuisine.[4]
Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. became a public company when it began to issue stock on Nasdaq under the symbol RUBO in May 1999. At the time of the IPO, the company had a total of 64 restaurants, six in Arizona, four in Las Vegas, one in Denver, and the remainder in California.[5]
On August 24, 2010, Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. announced the closing of its merger with a subsidiary of Mill Road Capital, L.P. to take the company private. Rubio's former stockholders were to receive $8.70 per share in cash in the transaction.[citation needed]
Rubio's first restaurant in Colorado open in 1999.[6] Rubio's expanded into Florida through the acquisition and conversion of eight Lime Fresh Mexican Grills from Ruby Tuesday in 2016. At the time of the conversions, the company had 196 restaurant.[7][8][9]
Mass closings
Rubios in the California Bay Area after the 2024 shutdowns
Rubio's locations in Utah were closed in 2019.[citation needed][original research?] In June 2020, Rubio's Coastal Grill told Nation's Restaurant News about the closure of all their Florida and Colorado store locations, a total of twelve, due to the negative business impact of the coronavirus pandemic. And that they will then focus on their remaining stores in the California, Arizona, and Nevada markets.[10] Prior to the 2020 closures, the company had 170 restaurants coast-to-coast.[11]
In October 2020, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[12]
On May 31, 2024, the chain closed 48 stores in California (including 13 in its hometown area of San Diego)[13] out of an original 134 in California, Arizona and Nevada.[14] On June 5, 2024, Rubio's for the second time in four years filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with plans to sell itself to its lenders.[15]
Out of the closures in May 2024, 37 of the 48 locations were in Southern California, while the other 11 locations were north of Bakersfield. As a result of the closure, Rubio's completely exited the Fresno, Sacramento, Stockton, Bay Area and Ventura County regions. Bakersfield remains the only location outside of Greater Los Angeles and San Diego regions open. A few locations prior to the bankruptcy also closed in early 2024, including Walnut and Monrovia. Rubio's did not close any of its Nevada or Arizona locations as part of the bankruptcy. In August 2024, Rubio's was bought by its lender for approximately USD $40 million.[16] In addition, Rubio’s shut down a location in Chino Hills after the buyout.[citation needed]
Controversies
Langostino mislabeling
In 2005, a class action lawsuit was brought against the company complaining that the "Lobster Burrito" offered at the restaurant contained squat lobster (also known as Langostino) rather than clawed lobster from the family Nephropidae.[17] Rubio's subsequently changed the name of their product to the "Langostino Lobster Burrito" to avoid future confusion.[18] The burrito is occasionally offered as a "limited time offer".[19]
Overtime
Employees filed a class action lawsuit in 2007 against Rubio's claiming that the company failed to pay overtime by alleged misclassification. The company paid $7.5 million to settle the lawsuit without admitting wrongdoing.[20]
