tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Baja Fresh
Owner -- Privately held
Primary Operating Region -- West, then scattered in larger markets
Number of Locations -- 289 (2007)

Who exactly decided we needed so many $5 Burrito joints, anyway?

For awhile, the rule of thumb was we needed at least one for every major burger chain, so that each chain could buy one of them. Pretty much every major player except Burger King and Sonic had one at one point or another.  Only Jack in the Box has kept theirs (Qdoba).

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.  There was an expansion bubble, then a decline, then a sale to a west coast investment group in 2006.  That same group picked up La Salsa from CKE (Carl's Jr/Hardee's) in 2007.

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 (you can get the burrito tortilla-free in a bowl, or go "enchilado"-style...smothered in sauce and cheese), baja-style tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, taquitos, nachos, soup, 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 in 2004 announced a store redesign program that featured, among other things, "more readable menu boards".  

There's steak, chicken, and pork for most menu items, a couple have fish. 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.  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.

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