Alberto’s, Adalberto’s, Filiberto’s, Gilberto’s, Los Jilberto’s, what’s the deal with all the -berto’s? They can all trace their origin to a taqueria National City in Southwestern San Diego County.
The origin of all the -berto’s–according to Gustavo Arellano in his book, “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America“–goes like this:
In 1964, Roberto and Dolores Robledo, two immigrants from the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, bought two adjacent houses in San Ysidro in order to start their own business after years of working in agriculture and construction. They opened a tortilleria in the front house while living with their children in the back house. They were very successful with their tortilla business and eventually opened their first restaurant “La Lomita” in 1968, with others quickly foollowing. Whenever they bought a restaurant, they kept the same name from the previous owners. However, when they opened their 5th restaurant in 1971, Dolores suggested they name the restaurant after Roberto and Roberto’s Taco Shop Numero Uno was founded.
Roberto’s Taco Shop always stressed fast food delivery with homemade flavors and that concept was such a hit, that they quickly expanded and Roberto brought family and friends over from his hometown to work his taco shops. Roberto would teach them how to run the shop and then leave them to it.
In 1976 Roberto allowed his cousins to open their own shop using the Roberto’s name. However, Roberto felt they weren’t following his freshness standards of making a daily batch of rice and beans, so Roberto told them to either follow his orders or stop using his name. The cousins changed the name, but wanted to keep the association with the Roberto’s name, so they changed an R to an A, the O into an L, and kept everything else—the red and yellow color scheme and the menu—the same, and Alberto’s, the first Roberto’s offshoot, was born.
Alberto’s grew so much in popularity—even surpassing Roberto’s—that the cousins also brought over people from their hometown to run their taco shops. Eventually, those workers wanted to open their own restaurants, and wanting to keep the association with the Alberto’s name, modified the name further into all the variations of -berto’s that are found today.
As the -berto’s offshoots evolved, so did their menu, which would grow to include many current favorites, including the California Burrito and carne asada fries.
So the next time you’re satisfying your late night cravings at one of the many -berto’s that dot California and much of the Southwest, make sure to toast the OGs, Don Roberto and Dona Dolores Robledo and Roberto’s Taco Shop Numero uno.
References:
“Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” by Gustavo Arellano Pg. 153-156
“Dolores Robledo, Matriarch of Influential Roberto’s Taco Shop Chain, Dies” by Pam Kragen, Los Angeles Times. July 28, 2020.