Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California, in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

At the time of its acquisition by MTY in 2016, the chain operated 162 restaurants in the United States, Dubai, and Singapore, most of which are franchised.

[1] In 1990, Jim and Linda Magglos took out a third mortgage on their home[3] and opened the first Baja Fresh in Newbury Park, California in the Conejo Valley.

[4] In 1998, the Magglos worked with Greg Dollarhyde and Pete Siracusa, who recapitalized the parent company, acquired venture capital and bought shares from outside holders to take control of Baja Fresh.

[9] At the time of the firm's acquisition by BF Acquisition Holdings in 2006, Baja Fresh had 144 company-owned and 154 franchised locations in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington as well as the District of Columbia.

[10] The consortium was led by David Kim, who took on the role of CEO,[8] and later appeared on Season 2 episode 20 of the reality TV series Undercover Boss.

[11] In 2009, Baja Fresh moved its corporate headquarters from Thousand Oaks to Cypress, California,[4] and closed all locations in central Ohio.

[16][17] In September 2016, it was announced that Baja Fresh's parent, BF Acquisition Holdings, was sold to MTY Food Group for $27 million.