Alberto's, Adalberto's, Rigoberto's, Giberto's...
Why are so many taquerías and Mexican restaurants rocking a "-berto's" at the end of their names?
We've never dared to wonder before. But on another summer day just sittin' around, San Diego rapper Lil Rob points us to an answer, directing our attention to the Californiography TikTok, which breaks down the origins of this suffix in a short video.
The answer allegedly lies in a taquería called Roberto's Taco Shop in San Diego's National City. Launched by two immigrants-turned-entrepreneurial-restaurateurs from San Luis Potosi in 1971, Roberto's was a hit, and soon family members wanted a piece of the action and were allowed to launch their own Roberto's. But they were half-stepping and forced to change the name of their taqueria from Roberto's to the somewhat similar Alberto's, becoming an even bigger hit in the process.
And on and on it seems to go, with family and friends coming from Mexico to help out at the shop then attempting to replicate the success with their own restaurants, including a little bit of -berto's in their respective business names.
But don't just take our word for it. Not when there's a good-looking, tidy little video like this to sum it all up for you in pictures:
