Baja Fresh: not so hot

Went to Baja Fresh today with the wife. Total came to $16 for 1 burrito, a shrimp taco combo and 2 bottled waters. Ouch.

I tried the Burrito Mexicano (with steak). To be honest, I could have had the same thing (without salsa, onions and cilantro, but with cheese and pico de gallo) at Taco Bell for 1/3 the price and had the same quality.

After I ordered, the cashier gave me one of those buzzer things that you get at sit-down restaurants while you wait to be seated. Hence Baja Fresh's problem: speed.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the bad news:

Wendy'’s International is selling its poorly performing Baja Fresh Mexican Grill chain to a West Coast investment company for $31 million.

Four years ago, Dublin-based Wendy'’s paid $275 million to buy Baja Fresh.

The sale is the most recent effort by Wendy'’s management to get the nation'’s third-largest burger chain back on track, after battling declining sales at Wendy'’s restaurants in recent years...

With the sale of Baja Fresh, Wendy'’s is "closing a chapter they'’re probably wishing had never been opened," said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of foodservice strategies for Columbus-based WD Partners. Baja Fresh wasn'’t a good business deal for Wendy'’s from the beginning, he said. The Mexican chain consistently failed to meet company expectations. In 2004, Wendy'’s took a $190 million charge against earnings to reflect a reduction in the chain'’s value...

...Lombardi said Chipotle has succeeded because its store can process orders more quickly than Baja Fresh, which has had trouble taking advantage of busy lunch-hour traffic.

That's something I notice each time I go there - even when I call ahead to place an order. Part of the problem is rooted in how Baja Fresh is organized. National competitors such as Chipotle, Qdoba and Moe's Southwest Grill all have assembly-line orders. Customers place their orders and move down the line as they request toppings, additional items and drinks. Baja Fresh is different - you place your order and wait. And wait. And wait.

Locations play on this by having pithy quotes on the walls such as "fresh food can't be rushed" and other nice things - which don't help if you've been waiting over fifteen minutes for your tacos.

And the food quality is hit or miss. I made the mistake of ordering too late one night (around 8:30 PM) and got some funny-tasting chicken. Another time, I phoned ahead right after the store opened, and had to wait over twenty minutes for what turned about to be some overcooked steak burritos.

Baja Fresh needs to make some serious changes if it wants to succeed.

-P