Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: RUBO) |
| Founded | San Diego, CA (1983) |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, CA |
| Key people | Ralph Rubio, founder |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Products | Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads |
| Revenue | 137,400,000 USD (2005) |
| Employees | 3,000 |
| Website | www.rubios.com |
Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Baja Grill, also simply known as Rubio's, is a fast casual Fresh Mex restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2007, Rubio's operates, licenses or franchises more than 170 restaurants in California, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Nevada.
According to founder Ralph Rubio, he and some friends were on spring break from San Diego State University in San Felipe when he first encountered fish tacos at a local stand, and was inspired to open a restaurant serving them in his hometown, San Diego, California. Since then, the popularity of fish tacos has spread throughout California, although they remain uncommon elsewhere. Rubio’s fish tacos are made from Alaskan pollock, which is battered, fried, and served in a corn tortilla, although optionally offered with a flour tortilla.
The first Rubio's restaurant was opened in 1983 at a former Orange Julius site on Mission Bay Drive in San Diego.
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 Nephropidae family. Rubio’s subsequently changed the name of their product to the “Langostino Lobster Burrito” to avoid future confusion. The burrito is currently only occasionally sold as a “Limited Time Offer”.
