Break out the tux... and the sandals, ‘cause adog262 (aka the Very Mad Fast-Food Geek) is going to review this Rubio’s location off of 9200 Rosedale Highway! This establishment has one dining room and a salsa bar. For more restaurant reviews, feel free to visit my profile. :)
To start off, I would like to give a praise for this fabulous geography. Why? Because Rosedale Highway has a ton of stores to visit, and this Rubio’s store is near where everything is. However, as you all may already know, location alone doesn’t merit visits to anywhere. What I will be going over are the types of food served here, the service, and the overall execution. Does this place have what it takes to get willing customers, or is it just another sack?
The Rubio’s chain is somewhat of a small one at best (only about 180 designations), and they serve a variety of dishes such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, taquitos, quesadillas, nachos, salads, and desserts.
Don’t think of this rather-bland description as a hint of there being a small menu. Unlike Chipotle’s limited choices, Rubio’s has a variety of choices. The meats include fish, cabo, chicken, mahi mahi, carnitas, shrimp, and steak; and even then, you can pick the style of them. For instance, you can get a Healthmex Mahi Mahi Taco or a Grilled Mahi Mahi Taco. It’s still mahi mahi but… I guess you could do that.
The sides to choose from are limited. Basically you can choose either beans, rice, or chips. That’s it, plus there are 2 types of desserts: brownies and churros. So while it is possible to get plenty of choices for your base (burrito, taco, etc.), you don’t get many items that could come along with it.
Interesting Note: there are NO tostadas here. Why?
The Rubio’s website is pretty friendly to visitors. It tells you in the menu’s drink section, “Order a Regular or Large size soft drink, and get a cup to fill at our soda fountain or premium tea dispenser.” WOW! I never knew that they gave me a large cup when I ordered a Large size soft drink! (sarcasm XP)
But before I get into a heated up battle, I would like to note that the customer service here is OK. It’s not bad like Taco Bell on Hageman Road or El Pollo Loco on Stockdale, but it is not great. The dining room is quite clean too, so I don’t have to actually “search” for a table.
Now, onto the main reason of going anywhere to dine at: the food. To say the very most of everything, it’s horrible. To go into it in further detail would require some simple thinking: the dishes served have to actually be exciting, not bland. And Rubio’s menu, to say the least, is very, VERY bland. It’s so bland, I’m actually thinking, “Why did I eat here?”
All of the meats (and I have had them all) aren’t cooked very well. For example, whenever I had their chicken, it tasted like some frozen TV dinner cooked up in a microwave. And if I am not mistaken, wasn’t Rubio’s claim to fame that they were consistently concerned over product freshness? I don’t believe that an uncooked piece of chicken is an excuse of pureness. All of their meats, whether it’d be chicken, steak, or mahi mahi, have to be grilled HOT. This goes for casual diners, as well as those who are concerned over quality and freshness.
Their salsa bar is not in pretty good shape either. Just about all of their choices of salsa are bad because not one of them have a sweet tang. And to makes matters worse, they aren’t spicy either. So if you are the type of person who would just love to have chips and salsa, you’d better look elsewhere.
Their beans and rice were OK, but not as good as those of their competitors. The rice isn’t bad in the sense that they leave on plenty of spices and moisture to the mass, and their beans… well, let’s just say that Green Burrito’s version of them is better. Once again, too bland and not deliciously sweet in the slightest.
Their desserts are alright, I certainly am in favor of having a delicious brownie after a meal of 2 grilled mahi mahi tacos. But… once again, not sweet in the slightest. Their soda fountain may be quite good, but I am still hungry.
Question: what do most Tex-Mex style places serve as add-ons? Guacamole and Sour Cream. Most places have those to add onto a dish medium, and Rubio’s versions of them are awful. The problem is that they are not sweet or delicious, plus there is not enough thickness to their mass in order to accommodate them. What a pity, and a disappointment.
In conclusion, Rubio’s (or at least with this store location) needs a ton of improvements. There are too few pros to oversize the cons. This is a type of establishment that I, the Very Mad Fast-Food Geek, don’t recommend.
Rating: 2 Mahi Mahi Tacos out of 10 (BAD)
… I wonder about the origin of “mahi mahi”…
