Fish-Focused Fast Casual Chain Rubio’s Files for Bankruptcy
- Private equity-backed chain plans to hand stock to lenders
- Rubio’s started selling fish tacos to U.S. consumers in 1983
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Rubio’s Restaurants Inc., the fast-casual chain known for its fish tacos, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday with plans to cut debt and hand ownership to its lenders.
The company, which operates 167 restaurants in Arizona, Nevada and California, defaulted on some of its debt in June after pandemic-related shutdowns slammed sales. But the chain was already grappling with cutthroat competition in the fast-casual segment, increased labor costs and a faltering expansion to new markets, according to court papers.