Burrito Wars Heat Up As Baja Fresh Re-enters Atlanta Market

As ToNeTo Atlanta reported last December, Baja Fresh is re-entering the Atlanta market with new locations starting with one in downtown Atlanta later this year. Baja Fresh and sister chain La Salsa will go head to head with a number or local and regional fresh-Mex chains such as Frontera, Willy's Mexicana Grill, Chipotle among others. RA caught up with Chief Development Officer James Walker at the opening of Varasano's Pizzeria in May and he said both brands will open a number of locations in Georgia. Walker went on to say that they have been able to very selective in site selection, a result of the poor real estate market. Correctly choosing prime locations both in Atlanta and OTP should serve the chain well as it expands with a new leadership team. The first announced location will be opening in a former Starbucks not far from the GWCC and is scheduled to open December 1st. The Starbucks space it is taking has been vacant since the Starbucks closed over six months ago, a casualty of the over 600 store closures that were announced last July and wrapped up earlier this year. Located at 250 Centennial Park Ave. West, the eatery is adjacent to the Embassy Suites and the Hilton Garden in and across from the Georgia Aquarium. Even with Moe's in CNN Center and Iowa City, Iowa-based Panchero's Mexican Grill not far away at 400 West Peachtree near the W Downtown, we feel this new Baja Fresh will perform well. ToNeTo Atlanta