Taco Shop founder Robledo dies at 70

Friday, June 18, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.

Roberto Robledo, who survived an impoverished childhood in central Mexico that killed 14 of his siblings to become the founder of Roberto's Taco Shop, which today has 21 Las Vegas locations, has died in Henderson. He was 70.

Robledo, who had residencies in San Diego and Las Vegas and also had Mexican fast food restaurants in San Diego and Miami, died Tuesday.

Services for Robledo, who brought his franchise to Las Vegas in 1991, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home. A rosary will be 5-6 p.m. today in Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave. Interment will be in Paradise Memorial Gardens.

Robledo's life mirrored characters from Horatio Alger books -- hard-working individuals who overcame seemingly impossible odds to achieve success.

Robledo came to the United States in 1943 after a drought crippled his small agricultural community. For years he toiled in menial jobs, including washing cars, digging ditches and waiting tables, before opening his first Roberto's Taco Shop in the mid-1960s in the San Diego suburb of San Ysidro.

"I can remember working all of the time," he told the Sun in an interview for a Sept. 6, 1991, story. "'I never had just one job -- I always had two or three. I had a lot of mouths to feed and there was never enough money to make ends meet."

Born Sept. 12, 1928, in the rural hamlet of San Luis, Mexico, Robledo was one of 18 children, only four of whom survived infancy. Robledo, who grew up in a home built of mud and hay with dirt floors, quit school early on to help his father sell dried tree branches as firewood in his village.

As a railroad worker and migrant farm worker in the United States, he sent money home every month to help his family. Robledo returned to Mexico in 1957 to get married. He and his wife, Delores Robledo, have 12 children who survive him.

In the early 1960s, Robledo bought a tortilla machine for $30. With family members helping, he put in 18-hour days making tortillas. He expanded the business to include tortilla delivery to San Diego restaurants in a station wagon he had purchased for $40.

One of Robledo's customers convinced him to open his own restaurant. By 1991, when he brought his business to Las Vegas, Robledo had 40 eateries. His first Las Vegas shops were at 1220 E. Harmon Ave. and 3102 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Despite his lack of education and little command of the English language, Robledo told the Sun he was successful because he "had the guts to do what I set out to do."

In addition to his wife, a San Diego resident, Robledo is survived by nine sons, Jose Robledo, Ricardo Robledo, Rolando Robledo, Rigoverdo Robledo, Rojelio Robledo, Rodolfo Robledo, Raul Robledo and Reynaldo Robledo, all of San Diego, and Roberto Robledo of Las Vegas; three daughters, Dolores Farfan, Rosalinda Carrillo and Reyna Robledo, and one sister, Elva Robledo, all of San Diego; one brother, Jose Robledo of Las Vegas; 45 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.