Baja Fresh - tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Baja Fresh
Owner -- Wendy's International
Primary Operating Region -- West, then scattered in larger markets
Number of Locations -- 305 (October 2004)

I guess the rule of thumb is we need at least one for every major burger chain, so that each chain can buy one of them. Pretty much every major player except Burger King and Sonic has one now.

Baja Fresh belongs to Wendy's and, like Tim Horton's, is operated as a subsidiary of Wendy's International with their own home office, etc. (It seems that if you're bought by Wendy's, about the only new thing they make you do is open some locations in their corporate backyard, Columbus, Ohio.) In August 1990, Jim and Linda Magglos took out a third mortgage on their house and opened the first Baja Fresh in Newbury Park, California. As a result of a 1998 recapitalization, investors led by Greg Dollarhyde acquired a controlling interest in the chain. Wendy's acquired the chain as it was preparing to go public in 2002.

Baja Fresh locations, like all Fresh-Mex joints, are found in strip malls. The interior is white. Very very white, with black and maple accents. It's very clean looking. The soundtrack is very Don Pablos. The format differs from the average Fresh-Mex in that you don't start at a line, order something, then follow it down the line and dictate ingredients. You order from the menu board, pay, sit, then come back and get your food when they call you. In my particular case, they asked for a name when they took the order. They did this with everybody who ordered after me. Then when they called out the orders, they called out the receipt numbers. They didn't use the names at all.

The menu was more of a restaurant style than the typical Fresh-Mex, but still does big hype of the "fresh" concept ("No can openers." "No microwaves." "No MSG." "No freezers." "No lard."). It's all over the road with different burritos, baja-style tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, taquitos, nachos, and a few specialty things. I got a headache just looking at it. The take-home-flyer version is very colorful with more details and images of the food, but it also totally confused me. I'm apparently not the only one who has had issues with the menu. Baja Fresh recently (November 2004) announced a store redesign program that features, among other things, "more readable menu boards".

There's steak and chicken for most menu items, a couple have fish, and enchiladas can be had in cheese only form. There's veggie stuff too. There's a Salsa Bar with three grades of salsa, some peppers, and Pico. The mild salsa is green and easily the best tasting. The medium is pretty close to black in color and doesn't have much flavor to it unless you seriously load up a chip, and frankly, you'll be sorry. The hot is brownish red and isn't really that hot, and tastes sort of smoky. Aside from the mild, there's a serious lack of sweetness here. Everything is made fresh, down to the salsas, at each location daily.

The chicken is flavorful, the steak is okay, but the overall balance makes the flavor. I'd put Baja Fresh right behind Qdoba in my order of favorites in Fresh-Mex flavor (Qdoba being the absolute favorite.) Between the meat, rice, beans, and salsa, the burrito comes out just right.

Baja Fresh has stumbled a bit. Some stores in "impaired markets" have closed, and growth has slowed. Still, look for Baja Fresh to continue to thrive in core markets as long as the "Fresh-Mex" fad hangs around.