Back in the early nineties, the Alberto's empire stretched far and wide, a success story that began in San Diego, built upon hefty burritos filled with nothing but carne asada steak and guacamole. Then something happened. Rumor was that in-fighting fractured the cohesion.
Soon some Alberto's turned rogue. I remember the one I'd been going to, in La Habra, became a Molcasalsa. Others redubbed itself with a few extra letters or a few less. Albertito's, Alerto's, Rigoberto's, Alberta's, and that's just the one's I remember off the top of my head. Some weren't even affliated with the original. But if the name sounded similar or had a “-Berto's” suffix, then you can bet they made that same burrito.
A few of the knockoffs and rogue stores have actually evolved to become popular local staples. I'm an Alerto's fan myself.
Now, in what used to be another Mexican restaurant (that I can't remember the name of), Alberto's returns to Santa Ana at the corner of Edinger and Grand. This ups the number of Alberto's in OC to about five (at my last count). And yes, this one's got that carne asada burrito, too.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.