The BAJJJJ!!

Ok so if you guys haven't gone over the bridge and eaten at the Baja Grill, you should. The Baja Grill is one of the new dining establishments on campus this year, located below Bingham (the common area between Schurz and Hatch). The Baja, which serves Mexican-derived food such as quesadillas, burritos and tacos, also offers more diverse items such as tilapia tacos and Cuban and Jamaican sandwiches, and they do so on a menu-style board so that food can be made to order. They also have dessert items like their chocolate cookies, of which you can get three for a point, or their signature created banana chocolate quesadilla, my personal favorite. The Baja Grill was designed to cater to Mizzou students, however they do accept cash, and so Baja is open to the public as well. 

Baja isn't an entirely new establishment in that it did exist 2 years ago in the same location, at the time called "Baja Bingham". According to Skip, the manager of the current Baja Grill, the old Baja was more of a hole in the wall sort of place, and wasn't very popular. The Baja went through a rejuvenation process this last summer in the wake of the mass amount of funding coming in to Mizzou for it's various building and scholarship initiatives. Now, the new and improved Baja Grill is one of the most popular eateries on campus and was featured in the nationally distributed Food Service Director magazine, and is projected to serve 600 plus students on a daily basis. Baja Grill has already served 1 ton of their signature tortilla chips, among it's many accomplishments. 

As well as benefitting the campus by providing a more diverse array of easily accessible food options, Baja is has opened up a vast amount of new job opportunities to students, and is always looking to hire. Employment comes easily and the student manager, Chris, is easygoing and friendly.

Being a newly opened establishment, the Baja has it's fair share of kinks that have yet to be worked out, such as the lack of a system for employees to take out the trash in a timely manner while keeping the counter running, the unpredictable soda machine which regularly runs out of ice and carbonation, and the holdup it creates when a certain kind of meat is out of stock and has to be cooked from scratch. The employees of the Baja are working very hard to fix these things, and have had a fair amount of success. I would know, I work there, and I used to have to work after closing until 1:30 a.m., and now we move fast enough to be done by 11:30.

The best part? The people. The staff is one of hardworking people, students and non-students alike, who are friendly with the customers and joking with each other, making it a very welcoming working environment.