Ralph Rubio Co-founder Rubios Fresh Mexican Grill
The Fish Taco King
D uring spring breaks from San Diego State University in the 1970s, Ralph Rubio, Jr. headed to the beaches in the fishing village of San Felipe, Mexico, to surf with friends. A highlight was a local delicacy: fish tacos sold at taco stands. Ralph asked a local favorite street chef there for his recipe, then guarded it for years. “When I took my first bite of a fish taco, I fell in love,” Ralph said in a 2023 Ranch & Coast magazine article that celebrated the 40th anniversary of his company, which by that time had sold over 300 million of “the Original Fish Taco.” Ralph’s dad initially gave him investment money to start his own restaurant in return for a 50/50 split as co-founders. He believed “if you build it, they will come,” and the whole family helped with those logistics. Then in 1983, with a twist on the recipe for the beer-battered whitefish taco with white sauce, Rubio’s, Home of the Great Fish Taco opened as a walk-up stand in Mission Bay also known as Rubio’s Deli-Mex.
“When Rubio’s opened putting fish in a taco was pretty revolutionary,” recalls Ralph.
Two years later, their second restaurant opened near SDSU, and sold its one-millionth taco. By 1989, Ralph was known throughout Southern California as the Fish Taco King.
In 1999, Rubio’s went public, expanded to five states and in 2000, opened its 100th store. Rubio’s was sold in 2010 for $91 million, and in 2015 became known as Rubio’s Coastal Grill. Annual sales peaked at $213 million in 2023. Ralph became chairman of Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc. Ralph and his wife, Dione, had also opened in 1999 the Cabo Cafe at the Monarch School, a school for homeless and at-risk teens, which was then located near downtown San Diego. Students received job training and learned business planning while earning real wages.
Before his success, Ralph graduated with a Liberal Studies Degree from SDSU in 1978. And by the way, that first fish taco stand in Mission Bay is still open.
Ralph Rubio is the founder of Rubio’s Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, shown here at a La Jolla location on August 11, 2020 (Photo courtesy © The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 7 – Latino Notables
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