CARLSBAD – Rubio’s Coastal Grill, the fast casual restaurant chain that started its journey as a taco stand in Mission Bay in 1983 and grew to nearly 200 dining establishments across California and Nevada, has been sold.
TREW Capital Management, Inc. affiliate The Original Fish Taco bought Rubio’s for $40 million earlier this month from Rubio’s parent company, MRRC Holdings Co., according to Jeff Crivello, president of TREW Capital.
CEO
TREW Capital Management, Inc.
TREW Capital was Rubio’s lender after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June of this year.
Crivello, former CEO of Famous Dave’s, said the company used a portion of its outstanding debt to acquire Rubio’s, which had planned an auction to sell the company. The sale, he said, was formally approved by bankruptcy court last week.
Crivello, who’s been with TREW Capital since 2001, said he’s long been keeping an eye on Rubio’s. Crivello is also founder of Ciao Hospitality Group and was CEO at both BBQ Holdings, Inc. and Famous Dave’s of America.
“It’s a new day and a new chapter for Rubio’s,” Crivello said. “It’s going to continue to grow. Bankruptcy is just a function of capitalism that allows you to reset, and this is just the great reset.”
Although there are plans to update with more Mediterranean-type, health-conscious offerings, the name Rubio’s is staying — and so is the heart of the Baja coastal grill’s menu offerings, including fish tacos, burritos and bowls as well as salads.
“Rubio’s has stood the test of time because of the (food) and so that is not what we want to change,” Crivello said. “A lot of the restaurants need to refresh. They just need a new injection of capital. And so from our perspective, we’ll refresh the restaurants and we’ll evolve the menu as time goes on. But the core menu of Rubio’s will never change because that’s the soul of the business.”
Crivello said there is a plan to grow the restaurant’s presence in other areas, as Southern California is “near saturation with about 60 units.”
“We’re going to test other geographies where we can see where it works,” he said. “I think it might work in airports and I think it works in areas of high density. We can start looking at that once we have a closing, which should happen in about the next month.”
He said the company currently has about 2,000 employees at its 82 establishments, most in California with 20 restaurants in Arizona and eight in Nevada, with no plans for layoffs.
With a refreshed look, Rubio’s opened its newest spot in Oceanside on Aug. 6. It was actually a re-opening — a Rubio’s was in operation at the same location until an electrical fire closed it in 2021.
Bankruptcy Background
In its bankruptcy statement, as of May 31, 2024, Rubio’s reported its total indebtedness at nearly $73 million.
At the time of the bankruptcy, Force 10 Partners co-founder Nicholas Rubin, chief restructuring officer of Rubio’s, said that despite Rubio’s “best efforts to right-size the company… challenging economic conditions have negatively impacted its ability to meet the demands of its debt burden.”
The company cited the adverse effects of significant increases in food and utility costs over the past three years affecting the restaurant industry nationally, and higher labor costs, pointing out required increases in the minimum wage.
The bankruptcy statement said the company “had made efforts toward stability, including recent capital investment and store refreshes, the launch of a custom mobile app and new website, development of a new menu, implementing certain price increases and promotions based on data-driven marketing and customer analysis, and optimizing staffing for corporate and store-level positions.”
Earlier this year, Rubio’s and the San Diego Padres partnered to reward fans throughout the 2024 Major League Baseball season. Each time the Padres steal a base at Petco Park, fans score a free à la carte Rubio’s taco with any purchase the day after the game.
Co-founder and Partner
Force 10 Partners
The bankruptcy filing came after Rubio’s parent company, Mill Road Capital Management LLC, shuttered nearly 50 locations in California, including more than a dozen in San Diego County.
Rubio’s previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, which resulted in the closure of its establishments in Colorado and Florida.
Crivello said the opportunity for growth is still there.
“I think Rubio’s is a great place to start a career,” he said. “We’re building a company that’s large enough where you can really build a career, employees starting at the store level and moving to the top and into corporate (positions).”n
Rubio’s Coastal Grill
FOUNDED: 1983
CEO: Jeff Crivello (TREW Capital Management)
HEADQUARTERS: Carlsbad
BUSINESS: Quick-serve restaurant
WORTH: $40 million
EMPLOYEES: 2,000
WEBSITE: rubios.com
CONTACT: rubios.com/contact-us/
SOCIAL IMPACT: Rubio’s hosts fundraisers for community groups with 30% of all online and in-restaurant sales going back to local causes
NOTABLE: Rubio’s started out as a small taco stand headed by San Diego State University alumnus Ralph Rubio in Mission Bay; its second spot opened near SDSU in 1986.
