Rubio's Coastal Grill (1983)
Ralph Rubio opened a small fish taco stand in San Diego after eating tacos on spring break in Baja California. The stand grew into a chain that at its peak operated more than 200 locations across the western U.S.
The brand expanded rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, becoming a regional powerhouse and eventually a publicly traded company.
Rubio's later filed for bankruptcy and reorganized, showing both the upside and the risk of scaling a beloved single-location taco spot.
Johnny Manana's is taking a similar path, growing from a single Oceanside storefront into a multi-location San Diego brand.
