Every time I drive down East Speedway past North Columbus Boulevard I notice the yellow sign for and wonder if this is really, really Bertos.
I mean, Rili??
The quick-serve Mexican restaurants with names that end in berto have been a phenomenon in the Southwestern states for decades. They go back to the chain that started in San Diego in the 1960s.
The surviving co-founder of that chain, . But the phenomenon she and her late husband, Roberto, established just keeps spreading, in 做厙勛圖 and around Arizona.
As my colleague Gabriela Rico reported last week, another three restaurants derived from that original chain in this case three new 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s restaurants are opening soon in 做厙勛圖, along with a fourth in Douglas.
Other versions of the format also keep popping up. In 做厙勛圖, in addition to Rilibertos, we have had Ralibertos and, more recently, Losbertos, an apparent takeoff on the more locally familiar Los Betos name. Nicos Taco Shop, it turns out, is also a descendent of the Robertos chain, but without the Berto name.
幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s has come to dominate the Bertos market in Arizona but nearly lost its trademark.
In Southern California, , including Rambertos, Roybertos and Deibertos. is common.
In reality, theyre all pretty much the same concept: burritos, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and breakfast burritos served 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on disposable plates at reasonable prices, or in bags at the drive-thru.
Most of the signs have a Berto name in a cursive script in red, yellow and green colors. When you see those signs, you pretty much know what youre going to get.
But it was a new idea when Roberto and Dolores Robledo bought their first restaurant in 1964, their son, Reynaldo Robledo, told me Friday.
I wouldnt say they invented a format. What Robertos was really known for was, we were a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week taco shop. That became popular with kids going out for the night, after bars closed and stuff. We were open for them.
An east-side Losbertos not to be confused with Los Betos.
Roberto Robledo was from a rancho a small rural settlement in San Luis Potos穩 state in central Mexico, Reynaldo told me.
When my dad opened the stores, he started bringing relatives from this ranch to come and work for him, Reynaldo Robledo said. He would also bring other people to come work for him. Then in 1975-1976, he rented a store to his cousin Juan Diego Rodriguez.
Thats how the ownership spread, Reynaldo explained: His dad would rent a store to someone else, not formally franchise it, and sometimes they branched out on their own.
A dispute over one of Rodriguezs stores led to him changing the name to Albertos, Reynaldo Robledo explained. Legend says Rodriguez didnt want to spend much money making the change, so he simply took some paint and changed the R and o in Robertos to an A and an l. With that, the first descendent of the Robertos chain was born Albertos and it spread fast across Southern California.
About 10 Nicos eateries descendents of the Robertos chain are in the 做厙勛圖 area now.
As time went on, they all brought relatives and friends from San Luis Potos穩 to start new restaurants, and gradually some of them branched off with new names. A well-known Robertos on Mission Boulevard in San Diego is now called Ruribertos.
My dad was OK with that, Robledo said of the proliferating versions of his concept. My dad saw it as him helping people from his own ranch to establish their own businesses.
In Arizona, 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s was one of the first of the same kind to be established. It wasnt a direct descendent of Robertos, Robledo said, but the main founder is married to one of the Robledos cousins and is from two ranches north of the Robledos original home in San Luis Potos穩.
Founded in 1993 by four brothers from the Tenorio family, has come to dominate the Bertos market in Arizona.
Soon after the company began expanding, though, it ran into trouble: First, the founders were indicted in 1997 for employing unauthorized workers, an indictment that led to and .
They also lost legal control of the trademark for 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s. It took years of legal battles for them to get it back, a case that ended in 2005, said Mark Weiss, a Scottsdale attorney who represented the owners of 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s in the case and remains the companys statutory agent.
Once in a while, theyve had to defend the trademark from imitators, Weiss said. One Phoenix-area entrepreneur started a restaurant named Juliobertos with a script and sign that looked exactly like 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s. A cease-and-desist letter helped take care of that, Weiss said.
Despite its rough patch, 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s has kept growing, and is now at more than 55 restaurants in three states. It has six in the 做厙勛圖 area before the next three are established
Nicos Taco Shop is an earlier, more direct descendant of Robertos but has not spread as much. Founder Nicolas Carre籀n worked for the Robledos, Reynaldo Robledo said.
In 1982, Carre籀n opened a shop in California before later moving to 做厙勛圖, said the current owner, the brother of founder Nicolas Carre籀n, who died in 2013. Coincidentally, the current owners name is Filiberto Carre籀n.
Nicos has about 10 stores in the 做厙勛圖 area now.
But now the competition isnt just from fellow Potosinos, as people from San Luis Potos穩 are known. The 做厙勛圖 Rilibertos, it turns out, is run by Indian-American Dhruve Patel. In fact, Rilibertos is the only Bertos chain I know of . Among the items .
Patel, who has owned the franchise for about year, said his understanding is that Rilibertos is the concept of a partner who broke away from 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s.
I had a burrito from Rilibertos Friday, and it tasted good similar to a burrito from 幛勳梭勳莉梗娶喧棗s, Nicos or Robertos.
But I know if I were marketing the place, Id look at how pervasive the Bertos name has become, and Id claim its the real, essential thing that its Really Bertos.
