Rubio’s Coastal Grill cites Cal­i­for­nia busi­ness costs in clos­ing almost 50 loca­tions

Rubio’s Coastal Grill cites California business costs in closing almost 50 locations

Rubio’s Coastal Grill is clos­ing down 48 of its restau­rants in Cal­i­for­nia, cit­ing the ris­ing busi­ness costs in the state.
The West Coast food chain, known for its fish tacos, will keep 86 loca­tions open through­out Cal­i­for­nia, Ari­zona, and Neva­da. Half of these clo­sures will take place in the south­ern part of the state, includ­ing in Los Ange­les and Orange coun­ties, with 13 clos­ing in the San Diego area.
“Despite the company’s best efforts to right-size the com­pa­ny, the con­tin­ued chal­leng­ing eco­nom­ic con­di­tions have neg­a­tive­ly affect­ed its abil­i­ty to meet the demands of its debt bur­den,” read a Chap­ter 11 fil­ing Rubio’s shared with the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er. “The com­pa­ny believes the best path for­ward for Rubio’s is through a court-super­vised sale process that will posi­tion the brand for long-term suc­cess to grow and flour­ish.”

In this May 12, 2020 pho­to, cus­tomers walk past an open sign at Rubio’s Coastal Grill on Tues­day, May 12, 2020, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Lan­dis)

Carl DeMaio, chair­man of Reform Cal­i­for­nia, attrib­uted these clo­sures to a min­i­mum wage increase with­in the state, claim­ing that state politi­cians have “declared war on small busi­ness­es.” On April 1, C …