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Spicing Things Up

Baja Bean Co. lacks authentic Mexican feel but offers tasty menu

I pass Baja Bean Co. everyday on my walk home, but before this weekend, I had never stopped for a meal. I merely saw it as another small bar on the Corner that might offer the typical chips and salsa to its drunken patrons at midnight. As it turns out, however, Baja Bean offers a full course Mexican menu at modest prices.

Notably, Baja Bean was one of the few places open this past Sunday evening. The two establishments my friend and I tried before Baja - St. Maarten Cafe and Buddhist Biker Bar & Grill - were both closed for the night. Baja is almost always open whenever you may want food: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

Baja also offers excellent prices for college students; nothing on the menu even breaks the $10 mark. Most meals were in the $7 range.

Like any Mexican restaurant, endless chips and salsa are provided for free to each table. Although the chips seemed homemade, they lacked the typical snap of most restaurants' in-house chips, and I wondered if they just might have been leftover from the party Saturday night. The salsa was spicy and chunky and was much better prepared than the chips. Had the chips been fresher, I would have enjoyed the salsa much more.

For my meal, I settled on the Southwest Salad for $6.95. The salad was made up of romaine and iceberg lettuce, chicken tenders, roasted red pepper corn salsa, Monterey Jack cheese and topped off with bacon and tortilla strips. This was the first time I had seen fried chicken strips on a Mexican restaurant's menu, but I was excited to see what form of Southwestern flair Baja gave to the tenders, so I decided to try it out.

While the menu stated that the salad contained romaine and iceberg lettuce, I only saw chopped up iceberg lettuce in mine. The lettuce did have the good crunch that all iceberg lettuce should, but I would have enjoyed it more at a cooler temperature, as it was served a bit too warm for my taste. I also felt as if the lettuce was just leftover taco toppings stuck on my plate; I would rather Baja served fresher and larger pieces of lettuce in the salads.

I was disappointed in the lack of Southwestern spark in the chicken. The pieces did have a bit of an extra kick in them, but that was mostly because of the chipotle ranch dressing. There was a decent amount of chicken served for the price, though.

Indeed, the only things south of the border about the salad were the five rolled-up hard taco pieces and the spicy dressing. While enjoyable, the roasted red pepper corn salsa as well as the Monterey Jack failed to add the extra spice expected in a Mexican restaurant. I couldn't help but compare the salad to the chicken strip salad at Chick-fil-a, which I eat often. Though a bit pricier at Baja Bean, I believe the chicken strip salad at Chick-fil-a is a more fulfilling and tasty meal.

My friend ordered the Soco Gouda tacos for $7.75, which came in a soft shell fajita, with chicken or steak, corn salsa, gouda, lettuce, cilantro cream dressing, black beans, rice and sour cream.

The portion size for the tacos was good for the price, and the tacos were much more enjoyable and seemingly more authentic-tasting than the salad.

My friend chose steak for her taco meat, and the steak was better than I expected, but still seemed rather sparse compared to the ample amount of toppings.

Admittedly, I did like that the tacos came with so many options included. My main Mexican restaurant in my hometown charges extra for all the toppings, and Mexican food is never complete without a dollop of sour cream and corn.

Although Baja Bean's food and overall experience were enjoyable, I was disappointed by the lack of authenticity in the Mexican restaurant. No salsa music played in the background, no steaming hot plates were served and no Spanish was sputtered by the staff. My favorite part of Mexican restaurants is always attempting to speak my broken Spanish with an all-too-American accent to the waiters, but I could not do this at Baja.

Granted, a truly authentic Mexican restaurant on the Corner cannot be expected. Baja Bean Co. may join the ranks of the many "asi asi" restaurant establishments on the Corner, but I would not discourage students to try it out next time they want a new, spicier taste on Main Street.

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