Baja Fresh — Restaurant in Eugene

My husband and I went to this restaurant today on our way through town, knowing we like Baja Fresh in general. We were surprised by an over-the-top amazing experience. Because of an auto-immune disease, I have to be really careful with gluten. I asked about a couple things I was ordering to verify that they were gluten free. I neglected to ask about the steak salad I was ordering, though, assuming it would be fine. I got my order, along with my special requests (please hold the... and a side of...). Our food came, we sat down to start eating, and just as I was starting my salad, the young lady that took our order approached our table. I'm not sure what took place behind the scenes, but some 5 minutes after our order was received, she had realized that my order DID have gluten included. She hurried to our table-side, and after informing me that my dish wasn't actually gluten-free, she offered to bring me a replacement dish with a gluten free meat for free. Though we tried to pay for the replacement in gratitude for her attentiveness, she wouldn't allow us to, and when another worker brought the replacement (including the special requests), she let me know for my next time what proteins would be gluten free. The whole time, the staff was very helpful, and caring, not placing any blame on me, though I should have asked about the dish. After a super tough weekend for my husband and I, the extraordinary efforts of the staff were not only a bright spot, but also helped me to avoid any unpleasant symptoms that would have made my weekend even worse. By the way, the food, service, atmosphere, and general experience was great as always! Thank...

Has long been my go-to place for fresh (key word... and it's even in the name) for fast, well made food. The Coburg Rd store has, however, repeatedly failed us... from order errors (they happen, but here, a lot) to bad food. One order was missing an entire platter, which we noticed when we got home. We called the "manager" (turns out she's not), who spent a LOT of energy insisting I got everything I ordered (all in one large bag, receipt shows one order set, containers unpacked show another. Magic?). But she was adamant that the order was correct (her rationale was because she had packed it herself... so, infallible?). Eventually she agreed to refund the missing $8 item. That never happened. So, I used the corporate website to share my concerns, but the online form just throws it over the wall to the local store-- I suppose that keeps corporate hands clean as their franchisees damage their brand. Weird business model, for sure. Anyway, I did have a phone conversation with Luis Flores, the franchise owner, who said all the right things (the words), but never followed through on the refund, or the offer to remake the order from my original receipt by presenting to store staff (the deeds) for his part, he wasn't actually at the store when I tried to do this but was turned away like I had a 3rd eye in the middle of my head. I followed up with him by phone with all the info above... and a picture of some guacamole I received at next (paying) visit. I've shared it with the world here to get your...

Baja Fresh is a perfectly good example of Mexican food. It has the right flavors, good touches of food preparation like toasted tortillas, and reasonable prices.

It isn't authentic, though. Most of the flavors come from handed down recipes of spices and flavors that can't really be replicated by a revolving kitchen. Dedication matters in terms of those flavors. And the reason Baja Fresh doesn't do as well as it could is that it's usually based in places with access to real authentic cuisine, when places in the Midwest consider sour cream the primary ingredient after a tortilla.

The worst offender is the salsa bar. It's free and the chips are spendy but the actual quality of the salsa is not high. Under seasoned, clashing flavors, it used to have a higher quality, in general, but it's free salsa. There's like 6 of them that are continuously made. It's hard to keep that kind of standard in a chain.

The atmosphere is honestly the only true point of failure. It's more bland than the salsa. It's inoffensive but is almost offensive by how safe it is.

It's good food at a fair price. Grab some Tapitio and use it liberally and you will have a semblance of real authentic...