Catering by Rubio's

I've recently discovered, and really loved, Rubio's.  So far, I've tried a number of their tacos: the classic fish tacos, several different shrimp tacos, and their newest tilapia taco.  I've really liked them all.

So tonight, when I saw the event I was at was catered by Rubio's, I was excited to try out the offerings. Since it was catering, they went for a cold item, one of their new salads.  Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. I'm glad this wasn't my first experience with Rubio's, as I'd never be tempted to visit based on this dish.

Chipotle Orange Shrimp Salad.

The menu describes this as: "Wonderfully tangy pan-seared shrimp, mandarin oranges, fire-roasted corn, fresno chiles, avocado slices and black beans on a blend of spring mix and butter lettuce, topped with tortilla strips and fresh crema. Drizzled with a chipotle orange vinaigrette and garnished with a lime."

Since I absolutely loved the flavor in the shrimp I'd had in my assorted shrimp tacos, I was really looking forward to the shrimp in this.  Unfortunately, they were not the same.  These tasted really fishy, were small, and lacked any real seasoning.  I tried two different salads, and they both had the same poor quality seeming shrimp.

The lettuce blend was some crunchy butter lettuce and spring mix, probably the same as I had in one of my tacos, but it was rather wilted and not fresh tasting here.

The corn was a nice touch, flavorful and added some interesting texture.  The chiles added a nice kick.  The mandarin orange segments seemed like generic canned ones, fairly flavorless and watery.

I had them leave the avocado out of mine since I'm allergic.  They also were not serving it with the black beans, since those are normally hot at the restaurant.

The dressing was a slightly tangy chipotle orange vinaigrette, that was decent, and it wasn't overdressed.  I liked the crema on top, it added a nice creamy component.  The tortilla strips added some crunch, but no real flavor.

This just didn't really come together, and things didn't seem fresh.  But it was catering after all, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, since their tacos have been so good.  I'm sure I'll still go back!