Rubio's Coastal Grill and Subway are launching new seafood products this spring: Rubio’s Coastal Grill is debuting a new street taco featuring shrimp, while Subway is touting its new Tuna Melt.
Subway’s new Fresh Melts, which feature protein and triple cheese, include a Tuna Melt made from 100 percent wild-caught tuna with mayo, fresh onion, and provolone cheese.
The Fresh Melts, however, have faced controversy since they were introduced less than a week ago. Subway’s franchise association said they cannot recommend Fresh Melts, because they present a safety hazard, per Penn Live.
Subway also faced negative publicity over its tuna sandwiches earlier this year, when a class action lawsuit claimed that its tuna wraps and sandwiches do not contain any actual fish. Subway denied the claims.
Meanwhile, Rubio’s Coastal Grill partnered with Richard Blais, a restauranteur and cookbook author who appeared on Top Chef, to develop a line of street tacos exclusive to the seafood restaurant chain.
“After a year of quarantine and travel restrictions, we are all craving new adventures and tastes. The new Rubio’s x Blais Street Tacos remind us of favorite destinations, from Hawaiian-influenced Hula Hula Carnitas to the craveable Blaised & Glazed Crispy Chicken, inspired by spicy Buffalo chicken wings, to the Ancho Po-Boy Shrimp, a modern take on the New Orleans classic,” Rubio’s Co-Founder Ralph Rubio said in a press release.
The Ancho Po-Boy Shrimp taco is a modern take on classic New Orleans street food, featuring flash fried ancho-lime shrimp with Cajun aioli. It is served on a warm flour tortilla with crisp shredded cabbage, salsa fresca, and a slice of lime.
It was important for Rubio’s to include a taco featuring shrimp because the shellfish is the restaurant company’s most popular seafood protein, Rubio told SeafoodSource. Plus, “Rubio’s is known best for The Original Fish Taco and for offering a variety of grilled seafood,” he said.
Rubio’s shrimp is responsibly sourced from a variety of fisheries in Indonesia, India, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Mexico, according to Rubio.
“Our Shrimp is phosphate-free and antibiotic-free ,and is fed with a feed formula that contains no land-based animal protein,” he said.
All of its farms and plants that supply shrimp are Best Aquaculture Practices certified.
Photo courtesy of Rubio’s Coastal Grill
