Rubio's Coastal Grill facts for kids
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Original Rubio's on Mission Bay Drive in San Diego, California
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Trade name
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Rubio's Coastal Grill |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | San Diego, California (1983) |
| Founder | Ralph Rubio |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California |
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Number of locations
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82 (as of January 2025) |
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Area served
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California Nevada Arizona |
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Key people
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Ralph Rubio, founder |
| Products | Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads |
| Revenue | 188.9 million USD (2009) |
| Owner | Mill Road Capital (2010-2024) TREW Capital Management (2024) |
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Number of employees
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4,000 (2013) |
Rubio's Coastal Grill is a popular restaurant chain. It used to be called Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill. This restaurant serves tasty Mexican food. They are especially famous for their fish tacos.
As of early 2025, Rubio's has 82 restaurants. Most of these are in Southern California. You can also find them in Arizona and Nevada. The company's main office is in Carlsbad, California. At one point, Rubio's had almost 200 restaurants across the United States.
Contents
The Story of Rubio's Coastal Grill
The idea for Rubio's started with its founder, Ralph Rubio. He was on a spring break trip in Mexico. There, he tried fish tacos for the very first time. He loved them so much that he wanted to bring them home.
Ralph decided to open a restaurant in his hometown of San Diego. He wanted to share these delicious fish tacos with everyone. Since then, fish tacos have become very popular in California.
The First Rubio's Restaurant
The first Rubio's restaurant opened in 1983. It was in San Diego, California. This first restaurant served fish tacos, French fries, and calamari.
What Makes Rubio's Fish Tacos Special?
Rubio's classic fish tacos are made with Alaskan pollock. The fish is battered and fried until it is crispy. It is then served in a soft corn tortilla. You can also choose a flour tortilla if you prefer. Many locations also offer grilled mahi-mahi fish.
Rubio's Becomes a Public Company
In May 1999, Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. became a public company. This meant that people could buy shares of the company's stock. At that time, Rubio's had 64 restaurants. Most of them were in California.
In 2010, a company called Mill Road Capital bought Rubio's. This made Rubio's a private company again.
Expanding to New Places
Rubio's opened its first restaurant in Colorado in 1999. In 2016, Rubio's expanded into Florida. They took over eight other Mexican restaurants there. At this time, the company had 196 restaurants.
Changes and Closures
In 2019, all Rubio's locations in Utah closed down. In June 2020, Rubio's closed all its restaurants in Florida and Colorado. There were twelve of these locations. These closures happened because of the difficult business conditions at the time. After this, Rubio's focused on its restaurants in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Before these closures, Rubio's had 170 restaurants.
In October 2020, the company had some financial challenges. They filed for a type of business reorganization. This helps companies deal with their debts and keep operating.
On May 31, 2024, Rubio's closed 48 more stores. Most of these were in California. This included 13 locations in its home city of San Diego. On June 5, 2024, Rubio's again filed for business reorganization. They planned to sell the company to their lenders.
Many of the closed locations were in Southern California. The closures also meant Rubio's left several areas completely. These included Fresno, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Bakersfield remains the only location outside of the Greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas.
In August 2024, Rubio's was bought by its lender. The sale was for about $40 million. After this, a few more locations closed. These included restaurants in Chino Hills, the UCLA campus, and Glendale. A location in Las Vegas, Nevada, also closed after the buyout.
See also
In Spanish: Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill para niños
