Baja Fresh?
- Thread starter Meta4iCAL
- Start date
yea some years back i worked at fatburger by bellevue square (lol) and they had opened up a baja fresh next doe .. and all their employees got free fatburger and we got free shit from they spot whatever we wanted it was tight i got the carne asada i remember it being on slizzap
not the best but definitely will do u justice i give it the big pow wow
not the best but definitely will do u justice i give it the big pow wow
Baja Fresh: Freshness Isn't Everything
Written: Aug 22 '04 (Updated Aug 22 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: I enjoy the fresh and juicy pico de gallo, the taquitos and the tostada salad
Cons: Many menu items are surprisingly unhealthy and taste a bit too greasy
The Bottom Line: The food is fresh, but many menu items are frighteningly similar - smoky, deep-fried and greasy. I enjoy some items, but overall this place isn't worth it.
Krissieliz's Full Review: Baja Fresh Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is relatively new to the D.C. area. Many of my friends, who happen to be West Coast transplants, heralded this restaurant’s entry into our neighborhood as the best thing that’s happened to Arlington since Starbucks came to town. What was so special about this Baja Fresh place? “Everything’s fresh!” they said. “The food is great, and the burritos are huge!” “Their sauces are homemade and delicious!”
After hearing all this praise, I figured it was time to give Baja Fresh a try. I immediately liked the aesthetics of the place. My local store has a bright and airy feel. The color scheme is black, white and red, with black and white checkered flooring, and a mixture of regular and tall tables. There is a “salsa bar” in the middle of the restaurant, and a self-serve drink fountain immediately behind it. And at the far end of the wall is the counter, where you place your order. They do a hefty call-ahead take-out business from these counters, too.
See, Baja Fresh is kind of like an upscale fast food establishment. You place your order at the counter, grab a seat, and wait for your number to be called. But the high quality of the food, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the higher price of the food sets this apart from other fast food restaurants. It’s too bad the nutritional value of the food is sometimes even worse than the traditional fast food giants!
Anyway, back to the counter. Bold lettering above the menu makes you want to pat yourself on the back for your wise restaurant selection:
No Lard!
No MSG!
No Microwaves!
Fresh Ingredients!
Man, these people are marketing geniuses. Before you even order, you feel you’re doing your body a favor by eating here instead of any other fast-food establishment. But fresh doesn’t always mean healthy. I know that it seems I’m harping on this nutrition thing. And I never scrutinize a restaurant for the fat and sodium content of its offerings. But at Baja Fresh, it’s almost like a sucker punch. They lead you to believe you’re making a responsible food decision, but in reality the food’s no better for you than what you’d find at Taco Bell. OK, so the food’s a heck of a lot fresher, but in many cases it’s got even more fat and calories! Caveat emptor.
Smoky flavorings, fish tacos, and fried goodies rule the roost
While the food at Baja Fresh isn’t great for you, some entrees are delicious. Almost all of the entrées are infused with a smoky flavoring, from the dark salsa to the tender steak. Baja Fresh offers a wide variety of menu items, so you’re almost sure to find something to tickle your fancy.
If you want a good taco salad, the Tostada Salad is delicious. A nice pile of romaine lettuce is topped with smoky steak or chicken, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and your choice of beans – pinto or black. Of course, this salad is packed neatly into a deep fried flour shell. The shell is never crispy, though – rather it’s just greasy and doughy. This is the only thing that keeps me from devouring the entire thing. Including the shell, it has 1230 calories, 60 grams of fat, 102 grams of carbs, and 2440 mg of sodium.
A healthier salad option is the Baja Ensalada, a pretty boring mix of romaine lettuce, charbroiled chicken, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and your choice of a cilantro vinaigrette or the fat-free salsa verde. You’re really punishing your tastebuds if you top this with the salsa verde. Without any dressing whatsoever, the salad has 460 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 1250 mg of sodium. What on earth is making just a salad so unhealthy?!
Many people enjoy the burritos at Baja Fresh. These suckers are huge! I’ve tried a couple, and was only able to digest half without feeling extremely bloated. The burritos are slightly crispy, and judging by the nutritional content, they have to be fried somehow. The Baja Burrito consists of charbroiled chicken or steak, melted jack cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. If you like your burritos to be even more stuffed, try the Burrito Ultimo, which is the same thing, plus rice and your choice of beans. There are several other burritos that I haven’t tried – the Burrito Dos Manos (two hands) is too intimidating to order. It’s so large that it feeds two … and a quick glance at the nutritional information suggests it should definitely be shared. The entire burrito, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, rice, beans, grilled peppers, chilis, onions, cheese, and pico de gallo, weighs in at 1540 calories, 48 grams of fat, and 3680 mg of sodium! And that’s without the sour cream!
Fish tacos, heretofore unheard of in my neck of the woods, are another Baja Fresh specialty. As a matter of fact, they are also one of the healthier things on the menu! Bite-sized whitefish morsels are lightly battered and fried, and served in simple soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage and a lime-flavored sauce. I was moderately impressed by these tacos – they were certainly different, but I wasn’t a big fan of the lime flavoring. You can order these tacos, or any other taco offerings, as a combo, which means you’ll get 2 tacos, a modest green salad (romaine lettuce), seasoned rice and your choice of beans. Pricing is between $6 and $7 for the taco combos. One fish taco has 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 410 mg of sodium.
Unfortunately, my favorite menu item is the taquitos. I knew they would be unhealthy when I ordered them, but they were so dang delicious and now I’m hooked. The meal consists of 3 corn tortillas, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, grilled onions and cheese. These are deep fried and then served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. You’ll also pack away 820 calories, 42 grams of fat, and 1670 mg of sodium. And you know what? These are small taquitos – barely filling!
All entrées come with a complimentary basket of chips. Also, be sure to make use of the salsa bar, which offers delicious pico de gallo, cilantro, peppers, salsa verde, mild salsa and hot salsa. I could eat bowls of the pico de gallo – the tomatoes are fresh and juicy and the flavoring is simple but delicious. I’m not a big fan of the salsa verde or the mild salsa – both are too smoky for my liking. And I’ve never dared to try the hot salsa.
High Protein? Low fat?
Recently, Baja Fresh added “high protein” and “low fat” options to its menu. They call these “lifestyle choice” items. Chicken picado and steak picado are the new “high protein offerings.” They consist of a nice serving of charbroiled steak or chicken, topped with grilled onions, peppers and melted cheese (essentially, a fajita without the tortillas). A side romaine salad is included, along with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. The steak picado has 840 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 31 grams of carbs. Oh, and 2500 mg of sodium. Yeah, this is a real “lifestyle choice” item – if your lifestyle of choice entails retaining water and doubling your cholesterol levels.
On the “low fat” side, you can order a Bare Burrito. This consists of burrito fillings, sans tortilla, in a big bowl. OK, so it’s better for you than the belly bomb crispy burrito, but it’s still far from a wise diet choice. The chicken bare burrito has 650 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2410 mg of sodium.
Final thoughts
While the food is infinitely fresher, and in many cases more flavorful, than most fast food establishments, Baja Fresh still isn’t a winner in my book. I hate to base the majority of my decision on its nutritional content, but I am just really annoyed by the “fresh” marketing ploy. I mean, even the “lifestyle choice” salads and entrees have over 600 calories and 2400 mg of sodium! I can almost respect somewhere like Taco Bell more – it doesn’t purport to be anything more than a fattening, belly-bomb experience. It doesn’t pat you on the back for eating somewhere that doesn’t use lard (nevermind that the nutritional information suggests it uses something just a bad!) or lull you into believing the “lifestyle choice” items are diet-friendly.
And on top of it all, I’m just not crazy about the food. The smoky flavor that permeates all the entrées leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and some items are overly greasy. A lot of the menu items taste the same (maybe because all involve the same ingredients in different forms – charbroiled chicken or steak, pico de gallo, fried tortillas) and aside from the burritos and taco salads, the entrées are rather small. The prices are decidedly higher than what you’d find at a traditional fast food establishment (mostly ranging from $6 to $10). In my opinion, this place just isn’t worth it.
Recommended:
No
Written: Aug 22 '04 (Updated Aug 22 '04)
Product Rating:
Cons: Many menu items are surprisingly unhealthy and taste a bit too greasy
The Bottom Line: The food is fresh, but many menu items are frighteningly similar - smoky, deep-fried and greasy. I enjoy some items, but overall this place isn't worth it.
Krissieliz's Full Review: Baja Fresh Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is relatively new to the D.C. area. Many of my friends, who happen to be West Coast transplants, heralded this restaurant’s entry into our neighborhood as the best thing that’s happened to Arlington since Starbucks came to town. What was so special about this Baja Fresh place? “Everything’s fresh!” they said. “The food is great, and the burritos are huge!” “Their sauces are homemade and delicious!”
After hearing all this praise, I figured it was time to give Baja Fresh a try. I immediately liked the aesthetics of the place. My local store has a bright and airy feel. The color scheme is black, white and red, with black and white checkered flooring, and a mixture of regular and tall tables. There is a “salsa bar” in the middle of the restaurant, and a self-serve drink fountain immediately behind it. And at the far end of the wall is the counter, where you place your order. They do a hefty call-ahead take-out business from these counters, too.
See, Baja Fresh is kind of like an upscale fast food establishment. You place your order at the counter, grab a seat, and wait for your number to be called. But the high quality of the food, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the higher price of the food sets this apart from other fast food restaurants. It’s too bad the nutritional value of the food is sometimes even worse than the traditional fast food giants!
Anyway, back to the counter. Bold lettering above the menu makes you want to pat yourself on the back for your wise restaurant selection:
No Lard!
No MSG!
No Microwaves!
Fresh Ingredients!
Man, these people are marketing geniuses. Before you even order, you feel you’re doing your body a favor by eating here instead of any other fast-food establishment. But fresh doesn’t always mean healthy. I know that it seems I’m harping on this nutrition thing. And I never scrutinize a restaurant for the fat and sodium content of its offerings. But at Baja Fresh, it’s almost like a sucker punch. They lead you to believe you’re making a responsible food decision, but in reality the food’s no better for you than what you’d find at Taco Bell. OK, so the food’s a heck of a lot fresher, but in many cases it’s got even more fat and calories! Caveat emptor.
Smoky flavorings, fish tacos, and fried goodies rule the roost
While the food at Baja Fresh isn’t great for you, some entrees are delicious. Almost all of the entrées are infused with a smoky flavoring, from the dark salsa to the tender steak. Baja Fresh offers a wide variety of menu items, so you’re almost sure to find something to tickle your fancy.
If you want a good taco salad, the Tostada Salad is delicious. A nice pile of romaine lettuce is topped with smoky steak or chicken, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and your choice of beans – pinto or black. Of course, this salad is packed neatly into a deep fried flour shell. The shell is never crispy, though – rather it’s just greasy and doughy. This is the only thing that keeps me from devouring the entire thing. Including the shell, it has 1230 calories, 60 grams of fat, 102 grams of carbs, and 2440 mg of sodium.
A healthier salad option is the Baja Ensalada, a pretty boring mix of romaine lettuce, charbroiled chicken, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and your choice of a cilantro vinaigrette or the fat-free salsa verde. You’re really punishing your tastebuds if you top this with the salsa verde. Without any dressing whatsoever, the salad has 460 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 1250 mg of sodium. What on earth is making just a salad so unhealthy?!
Many people enjoy the burritos at Baja Fresh. These suckers are huge! I’ve tried a couple, and was only able to digest half without feeling extremely bloated. The burritos are slightly crispy, and judging by the nutritional content, they have to be fried somehow. The Baja Burrito consists of charbroiled chicken or steak, melted jack cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. If you like your burritos to be even more stuffed, try the Burrito Ultimo, which is the same thing, plus rice and your choice of beans. There are several other burritos that I haven’t tried – the Burrito Dos Manos (two hands) is too intimidating to order. It’s so large that it feeds two … and a quick glance at the nutritional information suggests it should definitely be shared. The entire burrito, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, rice, beans, grilled peppers, chilis, onions, cheese, and pico de gallo, weighs in at 1540 calories, 48 grams of fat, and 3680 mg of sodium! And that’s without the sour cream!
Fish tacos, heretofore unheard of in my neck of the woods, are another Baja Fresh specialty. As a matter of fact, they are also one of the healthier things on the menu! Bite-sized whitefish morsels are lightly battered and fried, and served in simple soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage and a lime-flavored sauce. I was moderately impressed by these tacos – they were certainly different, but I wasn’t a big fan of the lime flavoring. You can order these tacos, or any other taco offerings, as a combo, which means you’ll get 2 tacos, a modest green salad (romaine lettuce), seasoned rice and your choice of beans. Pricing is between $6 and $7 for the taco combos. One fish taco has 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 410 mg of sodium.
Unfortunately, my favorite menu item is the taquitos. I knew they would be unhealthy when I ordered them, but they were so dang delicious and now I’m hooked. The meal consists of 3 corn tortillas, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, grilled onions and cheese. These are deep fried and then served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. You’ll also pack away 820 calories, 42 grams of fat, and 1670 mg of sodium. And you know what? These are small taquitos – barely filling!
All entrées come with a complimentary basket of chips. Also, be sure to make use of the salsa bar, which offers delicious pico de gallo, cilantro, peppers, salsa verde, mild salsa and hot salsa. I could eat bowls of the pico de gallo – the tomatoes are fresh and juicy and the flavoring is simple but delicious. I’m not a big fan of the salsa verde or the mild salsa – both are too smoky for my liking. And I’ve never dared to try the hot salsa.
High Protein? Low fat?
Recently, Baja Fresh added “high protein” and “low fat” options to its menu. They call these “lifestyle choice” items. Chicken picado and steak picado are the new “high protein offerings.” They consist of a nice serving of charbroiled steak or chicken, topped with grilled onions, peppers and melted cheese (essentially, a fajita without the tortillas). A side romaine salad is included, along with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. The steak picado has 840 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 31 grams of carbs. Oh, and 2500 mg of sodium. Yeah, this is a real “lifestyle choice” item – if your lifestyle of choice entails retaining water and doubling your cholesterol levels.
On the “low fat” side, you can order a Bare Burrito. This consists of burrito fillings, sans tortilla, in a big bowl. OK, so it’s better for you than the belly bomb crispy burrito, but it’s still far from a wise diet choice. The chicken bare burrito has 650 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2410 mg of sodium.
Final thoughts
While the food is infinitely fresher, and in many cases more flavorful, than most fast food establishments, Baja Fresh still isn’t a winner in my book. I hate to base the majority of my decision on its nutritional content, but I am just really annoyed by the “fresh” marketing ploy. I mean, even the “lifestyle choice” salads and entrees have over 600 calories and 2400 mg of sodium! I can almost respect somewhere like Taco Bell more – it doesn’t purport to be anything more than a fattening, belly-bomb experience. It doesn’t pat you on the back for eating somewhere that doesn’t use lard (nevermind that the nutritional information suggests it uses something just a bad!) or lull you into believing the “lifestyle choice” items are diet-friendly.
And on top of it all, I’m just not crazy about the food. The smoky flavor that permeates all the entrées leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and some items are overly greasy. A lot of the menu items taste the same (maybe because all involve the same ingredients in different forms – charbroiled chicken or steak, pico de gallo, fried tortillas) and aside from the burritos and taco salads, the entrées are rather small. The prices are decidedly higher than what you’d find at a traditional fast food establishment (mostly ranging from $6 to $10). In my opinion, this place just isn’t worth it.
Recommended:
No
Baja Fresh: Freshness Isn't Everything
Written: Aug 22 '04 (Updated Aug 22 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: I enjoy the fresh and juicy pico de gallo, the taquitos and the tostada salad
Cons: Many menu items are surprisingly unhealthy and taste a bit too greasy
The Bottom Line: The food is fresh, but many menu items are frighteningly similar - smoky, deep-fried and greasy. I enjoy some items, but overall this place isn't worth it.
Krissieliz's Full Review: Baja Fresh Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is relatively new to the D.C. area. Many of my friends, who happen to be West Coast transplants, heralded this restaurant’s entry into our neighborhood as the best thing that’s happened to Arlington since Starbucks came to town. What was so special about this Baja Fresh place? “Everything’s fresh!” they said. “The food is great, and the burritos are huge!” “Their sauces are homemade and delicious!”
After hearing all this praise, I figured it was time to give Baja Fresh a try. I immediately liked the aesthetics of the place. My local store has a bright and airy feel. The color scheme is black, white and red, with black and white checkered flooring, and a mixture of regular and tall tables. There is a “salsa bar” in the middle of the restaurant, and a self-serve drink fountain immediately behind it. And at the far end of the wall is the counter, where you place your order. They do a hefty call-ahead take-out business from these counters, too.
See, Baja Fresh is kind of like an upscale fast food establishment. You place your order at the counter, grab a seat, and wait for your number to be called. But the high quality of the food, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the higher price of the food sets this apart from other fast food restaurants. It’s too bad the nutritional value of the food is sometimes even worse than the traditional fast food giants!
Anyway, back to the counter. Bold lettering above the menu makes you want to pat yourself on the back for your wise restaurant selection:
No Lard!
No MSG!
No Microwaves!
Fresh Ingredients!
Man, these people are marketing geniuses. Before you even order, you feel you’re doing your body a favor by eating here instead of any other fast-food establishment. But fresh doesn’t always mean healthy. I know that it seems I’m harping on this nutrition thing. And I never scrutinize a restaurant for the fat and sodium content of its offerings. But at Baja Fresh, it’s almost like a sucker punch. They lead you to believe you’re making a responsible food decision, but in reality the food’s no better for you than what you’d find at Taco Bell. OK, so the food’s a heck of a lot fresher, but in many cases it’s got even more fat and calories! Caveat emptor.
Smoky flavorings, fish tacos, and fried goodies rule the roost
While the food at Baja Fresh isn’t great for you, some entrees are delicious. Almost all of the entrées are infused with a smoky flavoring, from the dark salsa to the tender steak. Baja Fresh offers a wide variety of menu items, so you’re almost sure to find something to tickle your fancy.
If you want a good taco salad, the Tostada Salad is delicious. A nice pile of romaine lettuce is topped with smoky steak or chicken, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and your choice of beans – pinto or black. Of course, this salad is packed neatly into a deep fried flour shell. The shell is never crispy, though – rather it’s just greasy and doughy. This is the only thing that keeps me from devouring the entire thing. Including the shell, it has 1230 calories, 60 grams of fat, 102 grams of carbs, and 2440 mg of sodium.
A healthier salad option is the Baja Ensalada, a pretty boring mix of romaine lettuce, charbroiled chicken, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and your choice of a cilantro vinaigrette or the fat-free salsa verde. You’re really punishing your tastebuds if you top this with the salsa verde. Without any dressing whatsoever, the salad has 460 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 1250 mg of sodium. What on earth is making just a salad so unhealthy?!
Many people enjoy the burritos at Baja Fresh. These suckers are huge! I’ve tried a couple, and was only able to digest half without feeling extremely bloated. The burritos are slightly crispy, and judging by the nutritional content, they have to be fried somehow. The Baja Burrito consists of charbroiled chicken or steak, melted jack cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. If you like your burritos to be even more stuffed, try the Burrito Ultimo, which is the same thing, plus rice and your choice of beans. There are several other burritos that I haven’t tried – the Burrito Dos Manos (two hands) is too intimidating to order. It’s so large that it feeds two … and a quick glance at the nutritional information suggests it should definitely be shared. The entire burrito, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, rice, beans, grilled peppers, chilis, onions, cheese, and pico de gallo, weighs in at 1540 calories, 48 grams of fat, and 3680 mg of sodium! And that’s without the sour cream!
Fish tacos, heretofore unheard of in my neck of the woods, are another Baja Fresh specialty. As a matter of fact, they are also one of the healthier things on the menu! Bite-sized whitefish morsels are lightly battered and fried, and served in simple soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage and a lime-flavored sauce. I was moderately impressed by these tacos – they were certainly different, but I wasn’t a big fan of the lime flavoring. You can order these tacos, or any other taco offerings, as a combo, which means you’ll get 2 tacos, a modest green salad (romaine lettuce), seasoned rice and your choice of beans. Pricing is between $6 and $7 for the taco combos. One fish taco has 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 410 mg of sodium.
Unfortunately, my favorite menu item is the taquitos. I knew they would be unhealthy when I ordered them, but they were so dang delicious and now I’m hooked. The meal consists of 3 corn tortillas, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, grilled onions and cheese. These are deep fried and then served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. You’ll also pack away 820 calories, 42 grams of fat, and 1670 mg of sodium. And you know what? These are small taquitos – barely filling!
All entrées come with a complimentary basket of chips. Also, be sure to make use of the salsa bar, which offers delicious pico de gallo, cilantro, peppers, salsa verde, mild salsa and hot salsa. I could eat bowls of the pico de gallo – the tomatoes are fresh and juicy and the flavoring is simple but delicious. I’m not a big fan of the salsa verde or the mild salsa – both are too smoky for my liking. And I’ve never dared to try the hot salsa.
High Protein? Low fat?
Recently, Baja Fresh added “high protein” and “low fat” options to its menu. They call these “lifestyle choice” items. Chicken picado and steak picado are the new “high protein offerings.” They consist of a nice serving of charbroiled steak or chicken, topped with grilled onions, peppers and melted cheese (essentially, a fajita without the tortillas). A side romaine salad is included, along with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. The steak picado has 840 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 31 grams of carbs. Oh, and 2500 mg of sodium. Yeah, this is a real “lifestyle choice” item – if your lifestyle of choice entails retaining water and doubling your cholesterol levels.
On the “low fat” side, you can order a Bare Burrito. This consists of burrito fillings, sans tortilla, in a big bowl. OK, so it’s better for you than the belly bomb crispy burrito, but it’s still far from a wise diet choice. The chicken bare burrito has 650 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2410 mg of sodium.
Final thoughts
While the food is infinitely fresher, and in many cases more flavorful, than most fast food establishments, Baja Fresh still isn’t a winner in my book. I hate to base the majority of my decision on its nutritional content, but I am just really annoyed by the “fresh” marketing ploy. I mean, even the “lifestyle choice” salads and entrees have over 600 calories and 2400 mg of sodium! I can almost respect somewhere like Taco Bell more – it doesn’t purport to be anything more than a fattening, belly-bomb experience. It doesn’t pat you on the back for eating somewhere that doesn’t use lard (nevermind that the nutritional information suggests it uses something just a bad!) or lull you into believing the “lifestyle choice” items are diet-friendly.
And on top of it all, I’m just not crazy about the food. The smoky flavor that permeates all the entrées leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and some items are overly greasy. A lot of the menu items taste the same (maybe because all involve the same ingredients in different forms – charbroiled chicken or steak, pico de gallo, fried tortillas) and aside from the burritos and taco salads, the entrées are rather small. The prices are decidedly higher than what you’d find at a traditional fast food establishment (mostly ranging from $6 to $10). In my opinion, this place just isn’t worth it.
Recommended:
No
Written: Aug 22 '04 (Updated Aug 22 '04)
Product Rating:
Cons: Many menu items are surprisingly unhealthy and taste a bit too greasy
The Bottom Line: The food is fresh, but many menu items are frighteningly similar - smoky, deep-fried and greasy. I enjoy some items, but overall this place isn't worth it.
Krissieliz's Full Review: Baja Fresh Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is relatively new to the D.C. area. Many of my friends, who happen to be West Coast transplants, heralded this restaurant’s entry into our neighborhood as the best thing that’s happened to Arlington since Starbucks came to town. What was so special about this Baja Fresh place? “Everything’s fresh!” they said. “The food is great, and the burritos are huge!” “Their sauces are homemade and delicious!”
After hearing all this praise, I figured it was time to give Baja Fresh a try. I immediately liked the aesthetics of the place. My local store has a bright and airy feel. The color scheme is black, white and red, with black and white checkered flooring, and a mixture of regular and tall tables. There is a “salsa bar” in the middle of the restaurant, and a self-serve drink fountain immediately behind it. And at the far end of the wall is the counter, where you place your order. They do a hefty call-ahead take-out business from these counters, too.
See, Baja Fresh is kind of like an upscale fast food establishment. You place your order at the counter, grab a seat, and wait for your number to be called. But the high quality of the food, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the higher price of the food sets this apart from other fast food restaurants. It’s too bad the nutritional value of the food is sometimes even worse than the traditional fast food giants!
Anyway, back to the counter. Bold lettering above the menu makes you want to pat yourself on the back for your wise restaurant selection:
No Lard!
No MSG!
No Microwaves!
Fresh Ingredients!
Man, these people are marketing geniuses. Before you even order, you feel you’re doing your body a favor by eating here instead of any other fast-food establishment. But fresh doesn’t always mean healthy. I know that it seems I’m harping on this nutrition thing. And I never scrutinize a restaurant for the fat and sodium content of its offerings. But at Baja Fresh, it’s almost like a sucker punch. They lead you to believe you’re making a responsible food decision, but in reality the food’s no better for you than what you’d find at Taco Bell. OK, so the food’s a heck of a lot fresher, but in many cases it’s got even more fat and calories! Caveat emptor.
Smoky flavorings, fish tacos, and fried goodies rule the roost
While the food at Baja Fresh isn’t great for you, some entrees are delicious. Almost all of the entrées are infused with a smoky flavoring, from the dark salsa to the tender steak. Baja Fresh offers a wide variety of menu items, so you’re almost sure to find something to tickle your fancy.
If you want a good taco salad, the Tostada Salad is delicious. A nice pile of romaine lettuce is topped with smoky steak or chicken, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and your choice of beans – pinto or black. Of course, this salad is packed neatly into a deep fried flour shell. The shell is never crispy, though – rather it’s just greasy and doughy. This is the only thing that keeps me from devouring the entire thing. Including the shell, it has 1230 calories, 60 grams of fat, 102 grams of carbs, and 2440 mg of sodium.
A healthier salad option is the Baja Ensalada, a pretty boring mix of romaine lettuce, charbroiled chicken, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and your choice of a cilantro vinaigrette or the fat-free salsa verde. You’re really punishing your tastebuds if you top this with the salsa verde. Without any dressing whatsoever, the salad has 460 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 1250 mg of sodium. What on earth is making just a salad so unhealthy?!
Many people enjoy the burritos at Baja Fresh. These suckers are huge! I’ve tried a couple, and was only able to digest half without feeling extremely bloated. The burritos are slightly crispy, and judging by the nutritional content, they have to be fried somehow. The Baja Burrito consists of charbroiled chicken or steak, melted jack cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. If you like your burritos to be even more stuffed, try the Burrito Ultimo, which is the same thing, plus rice and your choice of beans. There are several other burritos that I haven’t tried – the Burrito Dos Manos (two hands) is too intimidating to order. It’s so large that it feeds two … and a quick glance at the nutritional information suggests it should definitely be shared. The entire burrito, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, rice, beans, grilled peppers, chilis, onions, cheese, and pico de gallo, weighs in at 1540 calories, 48 grams of fat, and 3680 mg of sodium! And that’s without the sour cream!
Fish tacos, heretofore unheard of in my neck of the woods, are another Baja Fresh specialty. As a matter of fact, they are also one of the healthier things on the menu! Bite-sized whitefish morsels are lightly battered and fried, and served in simple soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage and a lime-flavored sauce. I was moderately impressed by these tacos – they were certainly different, but I wasn’t a big fan of the lime flavoring. You can order these tacos, or any other taco offerings, as a combo, which means you’ll get 2 tacos, a modest green salad (romaine lettuce), seasoned rice and your choice of beans. Pricing is between $6 and $7 for the taco combos. One fish taco has 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 410 mg of sodium.
Unfortunately, my favorite menu item is the taquitos. I knew they would be unhealthy when I ordered them, but they were so dang delicious and now I’m hooked. The meal consists of 3 corn tortillas, filled with charbroiled steak or chicken, grilled onions and cheese. These are deep fried and then served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. You’ll also pack away 820 calories, 42 grams of fat, and 1670 mg of sodium. And you know what? These are small taquitos – barely filling!
All entrées come with a complimentary basket of chips. Also, be sure to make use of the salsa bar, which offers delicious pico de gallo, cilantro, peppers, salsa verde, mild salsa and hot salsa. I could eat bowls of the pico de gallo – the tomatoes are fresh and juicy and the flavoring is simple but delicious. I’m not a big fan of the salsa verde or the mild salsa – both are too smoky for my liking. And I’ve never dared to try the hot salsa.
High Protein? Low fat?
Recently, Baja Fresh added “high protein” and “low fat” options to its menu. They call these “lifestyle choice” items. Chicken picado and steak picado are the new “high protein offerings.” They consist of a nice serving of charbroiled steak or chicken, topped with grilled onions, peppers and melted cheese (essentially, a fajita without the tortillas). A side romaine salad is included, along with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. The steak picado has 840 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 31 grams of carbs. Oh, and 2500 mg of sodium. Yeah, this is a real “lifestyle choice” item – if your lifestyle of choice entails retaining water and doubling your cholesterol levels.
On the “low fat” side, you can order a Bare Burrito. This consists of burrito fillings, sans tortilla, in a big bowl. OK, so it’s better for you than the belly bomb crispy burrito, but it’s still far from a wise diet choice. The chicken bare burrito has 650 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2410 mg of sodium.
Final thoughts
While the food is infinitely fresher, and in many cases more flavorful, than most fast food establishments, Baja Fresh still isn’t a winner in my book. I hate to base the majority of my decision on its nutritional content, but I am just really annoyed by the “fresh” marketing ploy. I mean, even the “lifestyle choice” salads and entrees have over 600 calories and 2400 mg of sodium! I can almost respect somewhere like Taco Bell more – it doesn’t purport to be anything more than a fattening, belly-bomb experience. It doesn’t pat you on the back for eating somewhere that doesn’t use lard (nevermind that the nutritional information suggests it uses something just a bad!) or lull you into believing the “lifestyle choice” items are diet-friendly.
And on top of it all, I’m just not crazy about the food. The smoky flavor that permeates all the entrées leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and some items are overly greasy. A lot of the menu items taste the same (maybe because all involve the same ingredients in different forms – charbroiled chicken or steak, pico de gallo, fried tortillas) and aside from the burritos and taco salads, the entrées are rather small. The prices are decidedly higher than what you’d find at a traditional fast food establishment (mostly ranging from $6 to $10). In my opinion, this place just isn’t worth it.
Recommended:
No
yeah i mean ive found good mexican places in the bay just on accident all over the place so i know theres gotta be something better than baja fresh...i mean if its something youre just going to for a lunch break itll do, but youre not gonna go there and just feel like it slaps hard...you know how carls jr has that charboiled taste , all of baja freshs meat has this grill smoke taste to it.