Bajas Southern Cooking — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

I decided to give you all a try on Saturday 9/6/25. I arrived and called the number. After attempting a few times I finally got through and the staff who answered was very nice and shared with me how ordering works. I had to park well away from the entrance but she assured me after taking my order that she would come to me with my food and for payment. The food took about 25 minutes so I suggest calling ahead. I ordered the fried chicken dinner, it comes with three sides as one is automatically rice. So I ordered yellow being you have a choice of either yellow or white. I also ordered mac n cheese and collard greens! I ordered potato salad as an additional side and one of their signature drinks! I believe it was peach lemonade, it was tasty. The chicken was fried fresh and delicious however just fried a bit too hard. The mac n cheese was cheesy and would’ve been better had it been served hot, it was merely warm but it was “good” too however cut back on some of the velveeta. The greens were tasty but had a hint of pepper spice’ however it wasn’t overpowering. The rice and gravy was prepared well. I enjoyed my meal but the reason for my four stars is due to the potato salad. Sadly it wasn’t southern and possibly store bought! It was overly creamy seemly tasting exactly how macaroni salad does and it had no eggs. So imagine that creamy base with potatoes instead of pasta. Wasn’t nasty just not traditional and different. I was extremely disappointed being this is an authentic soul-food restaurant. Surely someone there can make homemade potato salad and the southern big back kind our people are use to. So yes i removed a star from it being that specific dish is a staple to us just like fried chicken! Nonetheless i will be back and looking to try one of their many other sides being they have a lot to chose from and a large menu also specials. This restaurant was busy and customers were happy so that’s always a plus when you see that during your first try. So overall from the pleasant staff to the food I definitely recommend....

🤦🏾‍♀️Y'all, i don't know where to begin... A friend of mine of over 25 years, who is a foodie told me about Baja restaurant. The way she went on about it definitely made me want to try it and she's usually right so I trust her. I also read the reviews and saw the ratings and after that I was sold. So, on this past Father's day I took my man (drove over 30 miles from Tampa to Gulfport) there to buy him dinner. I ordered 2 chittlin' dinners with rice, collard greens, what were told were black eye peas but they were actually field peas and I ordered a side of what was supposedto be candied yams. I also ordered a piece of white cake with chocolate frosting and peach cobbler. The total came up to $40 and change which I didn't think was bad considering the extras I ordered. Anyway, we got there they brought the food to my vehicle. So I got out to put the food in the net. While I was doing that, I opened the yams to take a peek and saw the skin still on them. That was the first red flag. I'd never seen yams with the skin still on themand they were very hard. We finally got the food home and thought we'd were gonna eat good but nope. The greens were bland, the peas were kinda jellied and the chitterlings were even chitterlings, they were 100% hog maws. They weren't seasoned either. I thought the cake was homemade but it was boxed and it the peach cobbler was bland, there was no sugar cinnamon or anything just dry peaches and crust. I'd told another friend of mine and my mama about this place and had to call them and tell them don't they dare go there. It wasn't good at all we didn't even finish our food or dessert so I basically threw away $40. Those good reviews they received must've been paid for or there must be a new cook or something. I wish I'd taken photos of everything but the yams really blowed me so I took a photo of them. Just that one photo...

The good:

Food is 100% legit soul food, well cooked and super tender meats: Fried chicken, fried turkey wings, fried chicken wings, fried pork and fried gizzards are spot on 👌, nice juicy and soft boneless ribs.

The bad:

We were in the Gulfport area visiting friends and decided to order here based on friend recommendation. Don't drive here thinking to order in person. Call and place your order at least 15 min in advance. They have no store front and you have to wait sitting in your car. Imagine a 100F hot summer afternoon with no shades in the parking lot.

The ugly:

We ordered $80 worth of takeout for 3 ppl and they didn't include any silverware or napkins nor did the person taking order all if we needed them. 3 of us ended up having to use hands to eat everything including messy side dishes and wipe clean on the grass... since we were sitting outside listening to some music.

So food: 100%. Everything else, could be...