Philadelphia has the cheesesteak. Chicago has deep-dish pizza. Baltimore claims crab cakes.
San Diego? Fish tacos.
It’s safe to say Ralph Rubio helped put that menu item on the map in 1983. That’s when the first Rubio’s opened. The fish taco would be their claim to fame.
“Maybe you could say we really put fish tacos on the map in San Diego, and furthermore, we’ve grown just that fish tacos are rather ubiquitous from coast to coast,” shrugged Rubio while sitting inside the original restaurant that still stands on Mission Bay Drive in Pacific Beach.
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A young Ralph Rubio was first inspired while on a Spring Break trip to San Felipe, Mexico. That’s where he had his first fish taco.
“And I go, ‘Oh my gosh,’” recalled Rubio. “It occurred to me shortly thereafter that no one was doing fish tacos in a big way in San Diego. So, there was a market opportunity.”
Rubio does not take credit for inventing the fish taco.
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“Saska’s in Mission Beach and Las Olas in Cardiff. So, credit to them. They were first,” he explained. “We were first to do fish tacos in a big way. I mean, we led with fish tacos. It was our signature product from day one. It’s still our number one seller.”
Rubio said they’ve sold more than 300 million Original Fish Tacos in 40 years. Rubio’s now has 150 locations in California, Nevada and Arizona.
“That is our cornerstone for the business. Has been since day one. Everything emanates from the fish taco," he said.
The other inspiration: Pacific Beach.
“I spent most of my time in Pacific Beach. My parents lived in PB, I lived in PB, we started our business in PB,” he recalled. “When my dad and I decided to start Rubio’s, my target customer was young people, surfers like myself who maybe had been down in Mexico.”
It worked. Now, Rubio’s signature menu item is one that is often mentioned as San Diego’s signature menu item.
“It’s a story that continues. We continue to write new chapters in Rubio’s," he said.
Rubio and his dad bought the original Rubio’s location in Pacific Beach for $16,000. When they first opened, the Rubio’s fish taco was only 99¢.
