Whether you grew up in San Diego or have only been here a short while, you have no doubt been exposed to the “Berto’s” phenomenon. Like the cheese on their potato rolled tacos, these late-night carne huts are heavily sprinkled throughout the city. They don a variety of different pre-fixes including: Adal-, Ai-, Al-, Ali-, Ei-, Fili-, Gual-, Ham-, Hil-, Hum-, Juan- Jil-, Noel-, Nol, Nor-, Ram-, Rigo-, Ro-, Rol-, Roy-, and Ru-. In addition to the last syllable “Berto’s” these San Diego Taqueria’s have several other attributes in common. They almost all have red and yellow exterior walls and signage, drive thru’s that seem to have been installed as an afterthought, and a logo of an oversized sombrero atop either a man or jalapeño with a mustache. They also offer many of the same San Diego-style Mexican food staples including the rolled taco (drenched in cheese and guacamole), the California Burrito (complete with french fries… inside the burrito), and, last but not least, the Carne Asada Burrito.

We have traced the roots of the Berto phenomenon all the way back to 1964 when Roberto and Dolores Robledo opened the first Mexican Taco Shop in San Diego, spawning the Mexican fast food behemoth that is Roberto’s. Later, in 1975 Juan Diego Rodriguez and his brother, Alvaro Rodriguez, founded Alberto’s Mexican Food. According to Matthew Alice of the San Diego Reader’s “Straight From The Hip”, (http://www.sdreader.com/php/ma_show.php?id=244) the Rodriguez brothers set up franchise agreements with several business owners in San Diego to operate small Alberto’s locations. However, due to some questionable business practices on the part of the Rodriguez brothers, many of these franchisees disassociated themselves from the Alberto’s chain, changing the names of their restaurants and creating a multitude of “Berto’s” spin offs. Alberto’s then sued several of the owners of these “baby Berto’s” for trademark infringement. However, from the looks of the current Berto’s landscape, it appears their efforts failed to quash the baby Berto’s uprising…

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