Rubio's: Chili-Lime Salmon Taco

Although I've switched over my allegiance from Rubio's to Sharky's whenever I want fish tacos in that part of Pasadena - which is to say South Lake Ave. - I was interested in trying their chili-lime salmon. It was mid-afternoon when I walked in and there wasn't a single customer in the restaurant, but I still waited a couple minutes at the counter with no employee in sight. Eventually a woman in the back greeted me and came out to the counter.

I ordered a "World Famous Fish Taco" and a chili-lime salmon taco. My order was ready in a few minutes, although it became obvious that the fish in the former had been cooked long before I ordered it. Usually Rubio's fish is freshly fried, which means it's crispy and hot. This was lukewarm and best and had the texture of a dry sponge. Obviously it had been cooked a while earlier and was just waiting around for an idiot to order one. In this case, I was the idiot. 

Fortunately, the chili-lime salmon taco was the opposite: it tasted fresh and was delicious. The salmon was tender and although it was buried under a deluge of toppings - corn, chipotle sauce, and cabbage - they were all great. I certainly wished I'd ordered two of these instead of the regular fish taco. 

I will probably return to Rubio's the next time they have a promotion that catches my eye (although not this one), however I am definitely done with them for regular fish tacos when I'm in Pasadena. They may have thought they were saving money by serving me a piece of fish that had been cooked earlier and wasn't even warm, but in the end they lost money, because I won't be returning.