The California Restaurant And Grill That Declared Bankruptcy Twice In Under 5 Years

For every Chipotle or Shake Shack, there are a bunch of smaller fast-casual restaurant chains that simply don't stand the test of time. Rubio's Coastal Grill might be one of them. The California chain is still kicking, serving up its Baja-style tacos, burritos, and bowls up and down the West Coast state, but if you've never heard of Rubio's, you can be forgiven. The chain simply is not as successful as it used to be, especially considering that it declared bankruptcy twice in the span of five years.

Sales began declining for the chain in 2017, and the restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the first time in 2020 after it was further hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, per Reuters. At the time, the chain closed 26 restaurants and pulled its business out of Colorado and Florida. Then, in June 2024, Rubio's filed a second time after closing a third of its remaining restaurants, citing how difficult it is to afford to do business in California, where the vast majority of its remaining locations are. It wasn't the only chain restaurant to declare bankruptcy in 2024. Rubio's said it was using Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time to facilitate a sale. "Despite the company's best efforts to right-size the company, the continued challenging economic conditions have negatively impacted its ability to meet the demands of its debt burden," Nicholas Rubin, chief restructuring officer for Rubio's, said in a statement, per Restaurant Business.

If you still want to dine at a Rubio's, you can! You just have to be in California, Arizona, or Nevada. Most remaining Rubio's locations are in Southern California (which could have something to do with the prohibitive operating costs), around Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego, to be exact. There are 17 Arizona locations, six in Nevada, and 60 in California.

Now, 83 locations is nothing to sneeze at, but that's down from 148 in early 2024, and when you compare that to similar chains like Chipotle, with its traditional San Francisco-style burritos and near-ubiquitousness, that's small potatoes. Chipotle had about 3,200 locations in the U.S. as of March 31, 2023. But unlike at Chipotle, at Rubio's you can order their signature Baja-style fish tacos, shrimp burritos, and other Baja-inspired cuisine. In August 2024, Rubio's was sold to its lender, TREW Capital Management, which is an investment firm run by Jeff Crivello, the former CEO of Famous Dave's. Crivello owns more than a few restaurant chains, so Rubio's is one of many in his portfolio.