Roger and Maria, who were featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, no longer own this place.
I was surprised to see it was still open. When we used to go in over a year ago, Roger said he was going to close it and open a new restaurant in Anthem (which he did). But I didn't realize that this original Roberto's would keep the name and stay open under new ownership so there began the confusion. I thought Roger had two locations (which I found out later he does not).
I had found a coupon in the SavvyShopper circular for 20% off and that's how I learned this gas station Roberto's was still in operation. So we went. The menu was the same but the food didn't taste the same.
Then I got home and realized I'd been overcharged and was not given a receipt. It made me uncomfortable when I read V.W.'s post that the same thing had happened to them. I don't like that sort of "carelessness".
Because I thought Roger still owned this restaurant, I just assumed that this gas station 7th Ave and Union Hills website address would be the same as the new Roberto's in Anthem robertosaz.com but then I saw where Laura R. mentioned that the gas station location isn't even listed on their website. The SavvyShopper showed the website address for 7th Ave and Union Hills Roberto's as being different robertosphoenix.com (which I added to this business listing). I knew then something wasn't right because if Roger still owned both certainly he'd have just one website with both physical addresses listed.
When you go to the gas station's site robertosphoenix.com you kind of get the impression it's still owned by Roger and Maria though, it's confusing. The "About Us" section says "We have been providing our clients with the most authentic Mexican dishes for years." and there's a "Food Network" section that says "We are honored to have been featured on the FOOD NETWORK's show: "Dives, Diners & Drive-ins" starring Guy Fieri. Please click here to watch the show right now!" which links to a YouTube of the original show Roger and Maria were on (of course any site can link to any YouTube page). But no where on the whole website are Roger and Maria's names mentioned.
So I figured the best thing to do was just call the Anthem location to clarify the whole mess. When I did I was told Roger and Maria no longer owned the gas station location.
I found a post from Carina M. under the Roberto's Anthem location which might explain why the Roberto's gas station location can still make the claim to have been on DDD even though Roger and Maria no longer own it. It's because Roberto's is actually a chain out of Las Vegas and San Diego. That would explain quite a bit including the same menus.
Even with the identical menus it definitely depends on who is doing the cooking though. This gas station location is just not as good. Some dishes aren't bad like the carne asada plate, the chopped meat is flavorful and not greasy yet I was surprised to see it wasn't a whole grilled piece of steak. The beef taco shell is a tasty crispy fried white flour tortilla that looks like an empanada. But the cheese enchiladas are greasy and their sauce has an odd cinnamon taste. A touch of cinnamon might make the sauce interesting but this tasted like the cook poured the whole bottle in.
They are open on Sundays which the "old" Roberto's was not and they do have a coupon page on their website. I'm not going back though even with a coupon because the being charged incorrectly situation just doesn't set well with me.