 | |
 Original Rubio's on Mission Bay Drive in San Diego, California | |
| Rubio's Coastal Grill | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | San Diego, California (1983; 42 years ago (1983)) |
| Founder | Ralph Rubio |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California |
Number of locations | 82 (as of January 2025)[1] |
Area served | California Nevada Arizona |
Key people | Ralph Rubio, founder |
| Products | Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads |
| Revenue | 188.9 millionUSD (2009) |
| Owner | Mill Road Capital (2010-2024) TREW Capital Management (2024) |
Number of employees | 4,000 (2013) |
| Website | www |
Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known asRubio's Fresh Mexican Grill[2] andRubio's Baja Grill, is an Americanfast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex"[3] restaurant chain specializing inMexican food, with an emphasis onfishtacos. As of January 2025, Rubio's operates, licenses, or franchises 82 restaurants, with 17 restaurants inArizona, 60 in SouthernCalifornia, and 5 inNevada.[1] It previously had locations in northern California,Colorado,Florida andUtah. The chain announced store closings and a bankruptcy filing the same year with plans to sell itself to lenders. It is headquartered inCarlsbad, California. At one time, the company had as many as 196 restaurants through the United States by the end of 2016.
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According to founder Ralph Rubio, he and some friends fromSan Diego State University were on spring break inSan 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 Alaskanpollock, which is battered, fried, and served in a corn tortilla, although optionally offered with a flour tortilla. Grilledmahi-mahi is also available at all locations.[citation needed]
The first Rubio's restaurant was opened in 1983 at a formerOrange 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 fromRuby Tuesday in 2016. At the time of the conversions, the company had 196 restaurant.[7][8][9]
Rubio's locations in Utah were closed in 2019.[citation needed][original research?] In June 2020, Rubio's Coastal Grill toldNation'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 thecoronavirus 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 forChapter 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 ofBakersfield.[14] As a result of the closure, Rubio's completely exited theFresno,Sacramento,Stockton,Bay Area andVentura County regions. Bakersfield remains the only location outside ofGreater Los Angeles andSan Diego regions open. A few locations prior to the bankruptcy also closed in early 2024, includingWalnut andMonrovia. 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 US$40 million.[16] In addition, Rubio's shut down locations inChino Hills, theUCLA campus, andGlendale after the buyout.[17][18][19][20] A location inLas Vegas, also was shut down after the buyout.[21]
In 2005, aclass action lawsuit was brought against the company complaining that the "Lobster Burrito" offered at the restaurant containedsquat lobster (also known asLangostino) rather than clawedlobster from the family Nephropidae.[22] Rubio's subsequently changed the name of their product to the "Langostino Lobster Burrito" to avoid future confusion.[23] The burrito is occasionally offered as a "limited time offer".[24]
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.[25]
