Rubio's

Rubio's is a fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain founded by Ralph Rubio in 1983 on East Mission Bay Drive in San Diego, credited with popularizing the Baja-style fried fish taco in the United States.

History

Ralph Rubio first ate fish tacos on a 1973 spring-break trip to San Felipe, Baja California, while a student at San Diego State. He obtained a batter recipe from a cook at a favorite stand there and carried it for years before opening the first Rubio's in January 1983 in a former burger stand on East Mission Bay Drive, with $70,000 from his father, Ray, who took a half share. Early sales were slow, but a second shop near the university helped the business take off.

The company went public in 1999 and grew to more than 200 stores before closing restaurants after a weak 2001. In 2010 it was sold to Mill Road Capital for $91 million and taken private, with Rubio remaining chairman and a minority owner. In 2019 it ran 196 restaurants in five states, most of them in Southern California, from headquarters in Carlsbad.

Menu

The signature item is the original fish taco, built on fried, batter-coated fish in the style Rubio encountered in San Felipe; he has called the batter recipe the key to the business. San Diego Magazine reported in 2019 that the chain had sold some 249 million fish tacos.

Reviews

References

1. "Ralph Rubio Is the Fish Taco King". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "SDSU Foodies". SDSU Magazine. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "The 40 Best San Diego Tacos to Try Right Now". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 2026-10-10.