At Least Rubio’s Has a Grilled Veggie Burrito

Rubio’s (many locations in San Diego County and elsewhere) is not the type of restaurant I would think to go to if I didn’t have gift certificates because the concept of a “fish taco” is a nasty one. (Although, now they’re promoting the concept of a “Coastal Grill,” which suggests an improvement.)  But at least they have a Grilled Veggie Burrito.  You just have to say “no cheese, no creamy chipotle sauce.”  It comes with chips and you can get your own salsa from the salsa bar.  The Grilled Veggie Burrito is pretty good, but I would swap out the green bell peppers for red, yellow, or orange bell peppers if I could.  To me, a green bell pepper is just a red one picked too early.

I also found a vegan organic beverage:

Organic beverage: Honest Ade Pomegranate Blue flavor.

I noticed they also had sorbet for dessert, but I haven’t tried it yet.

On my last visit (at the Torrey Highlands location), I was impressed that a fat girl sitting behind me had ordered the same exact lunch (“Grilled Veggie Burrito No Dairy”)!  But I don’t think she was vegan, as I overheard her telling her buddy who met her on her break that a three (3) year old is “set for the day” if you feed it “mac ‘n cheese.”  Huh?  The supervisor must have been confused by two people in close proximity ordering this same lunch because he thought I had waited too long and gave me another gift certificate for my next Grilled Veggie Burrito. Yay!

All types of people eat at Rubio’s, but at the Torrey Highlands location I especially noticed: 1) High school students rushing in on their off-campus lunch break, and 2) Yuppie sporty people wearing the tennis skorts and golf attire. (That’s a prize I want to win: tennis and golf lessons.)  I also noticed people who trash the rest of their food instead of making their own doggy bag. (I bring a reusable lunch bag with containers and keep mini coolers in my car. Wasting food is wrong.)

That high school girl with the green shirt had been looking at me.

 

Other than giving out “meal cards” on the radio, Rubio’s also gave out catering gift certificates.  Earlier in the year I tried the catering for a low key Morrissey birthday celebration.  To go with the catering, I baked my own chocolate wacky cake (but didn’t bother frosting it as I am too busy for that kind of thing.)  Aside from the burritos, the catering meal came with black beans, citrus rice, salsa, napkins, plastic utensils, and a reusable bag.  The worker also gave me the creamy chipotle sauce on the side, which was pretty pointless, as I said I didn’t want it.  I wonder how it would go over if I brought Rubio’s catering to a vegan potluck (instead of making something delicious and packing all the necessary supplies.)

Rubio’s catering: grilled veggie burritos, no dairy! (Plus, my wacky cake.)

So, there you go, vegans. Try winning Rubio’s “meal cards” to take the prize away from dumb meat eaters.  They also have locations in: Denver, Fresno, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Tucson.