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What is Baja Sol?
Baja Sol Restaurants capitalize on today’s consumers’ maturing tastes within the Mexican/Latin food segment. Our focus is on healthy products that taste great, combining bold flavors with tried and true favorites.
Top quality produce. Choice meats and seafoods. Salsas made fresh daily from our secret recipes. A commitment to excellence in customer service. Fresh, contemporary environments.
Baja Sol Restaurants deliver all of this and more to a public searching for alternatives to boring casual and quick service dining.
But Baja Sol Restaurants are more than a great customer experience. With three concepts to choose from, Baja Sol restaurants are a terrific way to open and build your own business. Since its opening in 1995, Baja Sol has pushed the envelope to develop new ways of reaching the market and expanding profit potential.
Exclusive values. Families make up the largest share of our customers. It is important to us to offer great value for our customers in a family-friendly environment that keeps customers coming back for more.
- Full buffet of house recipe salsas and fresh tortilla chips included free with every entrée.
- Fresh shrimp and fish dishes that very few other fast casual concepts offer.
- Kids meals programs designed to increase customer frequency.
Flexibility. We offer three levels in our concept to appeal to the broadest customer base and fit almost every market niche.
- Our Tortilla Grill offers high quality fast casual dining in a bright, contemporary atmosphere with dine in, take out and catering services.
- Our Baja Joe’s Beachfront Grill offers popular Mexican food (burritos, tacos & nachos) combined with burgers, fries and shakes in a fun beach atmosphere.
- Our Cantina offers full service casual dining with liquor, in a footprint that allows for either in line or freestanding occupancy.
Baja Sol began in 1995 with its first fast casual restaurant, Baja Tortilla Grill, in Minneapolis Minnesota. It was one of the very first fast casual restaurants in the Twin Cities to offer fresh Mexican fare, and it opened to instant success. It has since attracted a loyal customer following and has grown into a strong local brand with 10 fast casual stores in Minnesota, with additional stores opening in Ohio and Illinois later this year. In addition to the fast causal restaurants, the first Baja Sol Cantina opened in 2007, with three slated to open in Ohio in 2008.
In 2006, Baja Sol, Inc. was purchased by franchisees Bill Cooper and Tony and Bridget Sutton to form a new company, Baja Sol Restaurants Group. Bill Cooper, Chairman and former CEO of TCF Financial Corporation, brings a lifetime of experience in building companies to this venture. Tony Sutton, former Deputy State Auditor for the state of Minnesota, provides 20 years of organizational leadership and financial oversight. Bridget Sutton brings 20 years of small business development and marketing.
The leadership doesn’t end there, however. Successful restaurants need a combination of business savvy, creativity and operational excellence. Baja Sol Restaurants has built a strong leadership team with a passion for growing developing terrific restaurants.
Roger Burks, Vice President of OperationsRoger Burks brought 25 years of restaurant and corporate management experience to Baja Sol two years ago to improve daily restaurant operations. A veteran of Champp’s, Leann Chin and Levy’s Restaurants, Mr. Burks’ role has evolved toward new store development for Baja Sol, including development and rollout for our full service concept, the Baja Sol Grill & Cantina.
Bill Roche, Corporate Chef
Mr. Roche’s culinary career spans 21 years, with experience ranging from the Cheesecake Factory and Lettuce Entertain You to serving as a personal chef for Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Donald Trump, and Danny Glover. While some chefs excel at one or two types of cuisine, Mr. Roche is an outstanding ‘all around’ chef with a thorough understanding of restaurant economics. He has brought that knowledge and passion to his position at Baja Sol, finding ways to lower food costs without sacrificing quality, updating our menu items to satisfy customers’ evolving tastes in Mexican food, and creating a whole new menu for the new Baja Sol Grill and Cantina.
Steve Rosenberg, Regional Director of OperationsMr. Rosenberg has managed Baja Sol Tortilla Grill operational systems since 1997. He oversees the daily operations of the corporate-owned Baja Sol Tortilla Grills as well as manages training and support for franchised Baja Sol Tortilla Grills.
As a team, they form a potent combination of vision, focus and a history of success that is fueling a new level of growth for Baja Sol Restaurants.
BAJA SOL CONCEPTS BAJA SOL TORTILLA GRILLBaja Sol Tortilla Grill offers high quality fast casual dining with dine in, take out and catering services. It’s the perfect spot for lunch or a quick easy dinner. Baja Sol Tortilla Grill capitalizes on today’s consumers’ maturing tastes within the fast-casual market.
It combines the need for speed of service with healthy food that tastes great. Baja Sol Tortilla Grill is about fresh food fast. No microwaves, no trans fats, no lard, no MSG. Tortillas made fresh right before the consumer’s eyes. Fresh produce. Sirloin steak and 100% whole chicken breasts. Exclusive salsas and hot tortilla chips made fresh daily that are included free with every entree order. Menu items prepared to order in a family-friendly environment. Baja Sol Tortilla Grill delivers all of this and more to a public searching for alternatives to the traditional quick-service market segment.
Franchisees love Baja Sol Tortilla Grill because of its versatility. The Tortilla Grill works in a strip mall, enclosed mall or even as a stand alone building.
It is also available in an “Express” version offers the most popular fresh Mexican food in the fastest service model ideal for food court locations, college campuses & stadium settings.
Its menu and price points appeal to a broad market segment. It is affordable to open and can be managed by an owner-operator or by an investment group.
BAJA JOES BEACHFRONT GRILLOn the Sea of Cortez was once a small scrubby outpost perched on the dunes. Joe, who loved to surf the waves on wooden long boards in ancient times ... like the 60’s and 70’s, regularly visited this sublime place.
One afternoon Joe caught a big wind and headed out to sea. His friends couldn’t find him, and they never did see him again. In honor of their big-hearted buddy, they continued those bonfires on the beach. We now bring that tradition to you with Baja Joe’s Beachfront Grill. We only serve Joe’s favorites: big burritos, tacos, chicken sandwiches and his beloved char grilled burger with your choice of 12 different toppings and free chips and salsa.
Opening your own Baja Joe’s couldn’t be easier. It’s perfect for small locations and food courts, and it combines everyone’s favorite Mexican food with America’s all time favorite, the hamburger.
BAJA SOL CANTINABaja Sol Cantina offers the best of Baja Sol in a high energy, full service, and family friendly environment at affordable prices. A $5.99 lunch menu makes if an attractive noontime option, while an extensive dinner menu gives the consumer a fantastic array of choices.
Baja Sol Corporate Chef Bill Roche has created an inventive new menu, adding avocado empanadas, honey lime tequila wings, and inside-out tamales, in addition to traditional favorites such as tacos, burritos, fajitas and enchiladas.
Baja Sol Cantina also has a full bar that includes more than 20 different kinds of margaritas and 30 different kinds of tequilas.
Baja Sol Cantina features an extensive hot chips and salsa bar that’s included free with every entrée, with nine salsas from traditional to Baja Sol’s award winning peach mango salsa. An incredible selection of desserts is also offered, including chocolate chipotle cake, margarita pie and white chocolate banana quesadilla.
Bright colors, high energy, and contemporary styling make the restaurant a place where you can hang out with friends, or bring your kids, and still have a fun and unique dining experience.
Just like the rest of the Baja Sol family of restaurants, it combines the need for speed of service with healthy food that tastes great. No microwaves, no trans fats, no lard, no MSG. Fresh produce. Sirloin steak and 100% whole chicken breasts.
Cantina works as an end-cap of a strip mall, or even as a stand alone building.
FRANCHISE SUPPORT SERVICESWith the intense competition in today’s market, it’s not enough to simply have a great concept. Baja Sol’s leadership team is prepared to provide you with comprehensive support throughout each phase of ownership, from site selection and store design to staff training and marketing support. In addition, we have developed relationships with financial institutions, designers, construction managers and suppliers that you can utilize to make your start up phase as smooth as possible so you can focus on building your business.
Hands on Excellence in Management.Our ownership team combines the hands-on experience of franchisees with the experience of long time business management and growth. Baja Sol brings you the best combination of high level business strategy with on the ground tactics, the best possible combination for success. We provide:
- Site assistance and guidance, including pre-qualifying sites, field visits and lease negotiation guidance;
- Detailed restaurant design and layout with professional blueprint and construction document review and analysis;
- Complete Fixture, Furniture and Equipment (FF&E) lists and specifications;
- Pre-approved suppliers;
- Guidance in securing licenses and permits;
- Operational and management tools and planning guidance;
- Comprehensive pre-opening assistance including pre-opening financial planning guidance, full training package and grand opening operations and marketing support.
Our restaurants have been in business since 1996, and they have succeeded in the face of stiff competition entries over the years. We supply:
Confidential operations and recipe manuals;
Thorough start-up and ongoing training in all aspects of your Baja Sol franchise, including:
Ongoing operational and financial control consultation and training opportunities;
National purchasing programs;
Regular visits from your Regional Support Coordinator.
From new menu items to state of the art point of sale and business tracking systems, we are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency, contain costs, increase sales, and increase the bottom line:
- Executive Chef on staff to continually improve recipes, train staff and ensure quality and consistency;
- State of the art point of sale (POS) and business management systems to improve customer service and kitchen efficiency, allow for maximum corporate support and promote best practices in labor and inventory management, trend analysis and forecasting, and increases in profitability;
- Continual Improvement Process in all aspects of operations to stay on top of the trends and ahead of the competition.
Often the only difference between success and failure is brand awareness among consumers. We know that by building and marketing a strong brand, we will build financial success. We provide:
- Franchisee and corporate supported marketing cooperatives to maximize advertising dollars in our trade areas;
- Complete marketing manual with ad slicks, electronic media formats, advertising specifications and guidelines, and helpful tips for you to use at the local level;
- Advertising agreements with our suppliers to contribute additional advertising funding based on product usage;
- Pre-approved advertising agencies and printers with ad design specifications to take the frustration and guesswork out of local advertising;
- Complete system wide marketing plan designed to make the most of our advertising dollars and drive customers to your restaurant.
Baja Sol Restaurants provides a variety of opportunities for franchisees. Our ideal goal is to create a system in which anyone, regardless of background or experience, can grow and succeed.
Baja Sol Tortilla Grill / Baja Joe’s Beachfront Grill
$80,000 liquid capital
Up to $400,000 borrowing ability (actual build out cost will vary depending on size, etc.)
$30,000 franchise fee
5% royalty on net sales
Baja Sol Cantina
$300,000 liquid capital
Up to $1,200,000 borrowing ability (actual build out cost will vary depending on size, etc.)
$30,000 franchise fee
5% royalty on net sales
Developers seeking multiple Baja Sol Restaurant locations may execute an Area Development Agreement. Each Area Developer will be required to put a down payment on the franchise fees for future units to be developed and agree with Baja Sol Restaurants on a schedule of development for those restaurants.
This website does not constitute a franchise offering. An offering can only be made by a Franchise Disclosure Document that has been registered with the applicable state agency (if required), and delivered to the prospective franchisee in compliance with pre-sale franchise disclosure laws.
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