Baja's Middletown — Restaurant in Middletown

As a native Angeleno currently residing in New England, I approach every "Mexican" offering with a shovel's-worth of a grain of salt. Over the last ten years, I have learned to walk into any restaurant that boasts a "Mexican" moniker with very low expectations. Still, I am optimistic that a place can still deliver a piece of home with a degree of authenticity. Being a franchise, Baja's had even more to prove to me when I first walked through the door. They've succeeded in winning me over and here's why:

The food: since the primary reason we continue to patronize a restaurant is whether or not the food tastes good, this aspect of a business must be considered the most important criterion when we evaluate. Again, I am from Southern California, and so my specific tastes orbit the style of cuisine specific to the region around Baja California. I have learned to appreciate deviations from the cuisine that incorporate delicious flavors from other regions. Baja's does offer beans (pinto and black) as potential ingredients, for example, and although this is a choice I would never make, I can understand that the offer has become popular. Also, Texan queso is on the menu here, for use on the nachos (or any other place presumably). I can understand the inclusiveness, and both options are done well here. Baja's keeps their menu fairly simple, including the compulsory burritos, quesadillas, tacos, but also adding bowls for the Americanized customers. But of course, all Mexican restaurants must do one particular item well or I cannot abide - guacamole. In this case, Baja's meets the mark. The portions are always ample and the flavor hits the mark for this old-time San Diego connoisseur! Dedication to cleanliness: the place is meticulously scrubbed clean. After every order, the servers behind the counter can be seen tidying up the surfaces, brushing aside errant scraps, and replacing dirty rags. There is an obvious effort to make this a priority, and it shows.

Excellent management: 20 years of management has provided me with a sensitivity to how a given place is run. Telltale signs lurk behind every action of the crew, beneath each response to my prompts as a customer, and in the facial expressions of the employees. Management can make or break the success of a business. At this location, the leadership is very good.

Excellent Service: behind the counter, the crew will be seen enjoying the company of one another and the customers. I encourage you to practice your Spanish and to make an effort to engage them. These people aim to please.

A note on atmosphere: a ranked the restaurant a less-than-5-stars in this category for one reason only - volume. The background music is absolutely authentic, if not charming, but I would prefer the volume to be set at a level that can accommodate conversation at the table. It was too loud for me.

Overall, this place has absolutely won me over. For a small town, and Middletown is most certainly a very small town, I did not expect there to be a Mexican food spot to match my high bar. But, I have been wrong before.

Check it out, have a burrito. Or some carnitas nachos with cheddar cheese (my fave). Hell, put queso all over it if that's your thing. Just go, they...

Don't order online, there's no point. I put in an order, went to pick up my food at the pickup time, then proceeded to wait an additional 40 minutes as I watched more than 2 dozen people come in and order and get their food before me. The waiting area is extremely cramped as well with the online pickup just being an awkward corner you stand in.

The food itself is pretty mediocre. You have more ingredient options than chipotle but it's more expensive, the meat is overcooked, and the burritos are very poorly made. I got chips and salsa but the chips were bland and unsalted and there was no salsa (????).

Overall poor experience. The staff were obviously overwhelmed but there's no excuse for my online order being pushed back so far that I saw two full restaurants worth of people come and go before I...

I was requested from the manager of Planet Fitness Najae to try this place

I tried the grilled chicken stir fry wrap 🌯 with regular fries 🍟

I can't lie it was absolutely good

I put peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and honey mustard sauce on it with the grilled chicken wrap 🌯😋

No mushrooms 🍄 for me

Also I had passion fruit juice to drink as well

This is my first time being here and I'm a little shocked but I need to come back again to try more items on their menu

I wanna thank these brothers for making sure my first experience was great and I see they care about their customers

It didn't take long and the service was great as well plus the place...