Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill

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Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill

Type of Company	Public (NASDAQ: RUBO)
Founded	San Diego, CA (1983)
Headquarters	San Diego, CA
Key people	Ralph Rubio
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Fish tacos, burritos
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 restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2005, Rubio's has over 150 restaurants in the western United States, including California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

Fish tacos originated in Baja California, Mexico. Ralph Rubio, company founder, was on spring break from San Diego State University in San Felipe when he experienced them, 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, but they remain uncommon elsewhere. Rubio's fish tacos are made from Alaskan Pollock, which is battered, fried, and served in a corn tortilla.

A 2005 class action lawsuit brought against the company complained 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. Although the burrito is not currently available in stores, company representatives say this is due to the lack of availability of quality Langostino Lobster and not related to the lawsuit. Rubio's has plans to reintroduce the Langostino Lobster products as "Limited Time Offers" when quality Langostinos become available again.