A cute down-to-earth Mexican restaurant with a simple menu, good food, relaxed vibe, and fast service. They provide free chip and salsa as a welcome gift (nice touch). It's a local business and it's always good to support local businesses. I got their street tacos (with shrimp). It was served fast and everything was done just right. The warm and thematic decors are really nice, and even toilets are marked Frida vs Diego. The ladies' room however had no light (bulb was out!) read more

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Consistently good food and great service. Nice little place to eat in, and easy and quick for takeout. They also have a food truck that can be asked for as an outdoor catering service. read more

I can't speak to their food on most days, but if you're in Staunton during the Magic and Mischief festival, I guess it's conveniently located and you can get a perfunctory, unseasoned burrito for 9 bucks. And, if your walls are bare, you can buy AI art of animals doing human things. YMMV. read more

The bartender was quick to help out and get us a drink. There was a place to sit and plenty of seats. It's not fancy or romantic. We wanted a quick drink and we got it. There was music playing. No dancing. It's like an in and out place on a Friday night. read more

Just not good.... bartenders were not friendly, Asked for a beer not on tap, didn't have, was told the only one they had was Miller lite in a can. Queso burrito... chicken overcooked, rice undercooked, lettuce as the side. read more

Rushing to get our show to black friars theaters! We get there at 1:15 and met with a interesting waiter! We ordered two beef tacos and made it delux ! The waiter was a young man . He wrote everything order in a notebook! He also could not understand how to give me an extra taco! He was extremely nice ! The ambiance was low key! The food was good! The bill for four tacos and fixings plus a beer was over $35 ! If this country wants to elect someone with no political experience who is racially insensitive and golfs... In my first 100 days, I will make Taco Tuesday the law." - George Lopez. examen des cols bleus: read more

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Great atmosphere. Downtown Staunton vibes are incredible. Buddha Bowl is literally one of the tastiest things I've eaten! Staff was young and super friendly. read more

Baja Bean - Buddha Bowl - Mexican Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

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I'll echo the other reviews that lament the decline of what used to be one of the most enjoyable places to eat in Staunton, and for those of us who have been with them since they opened its just so disappointing to see it as a shell of its former self. We last went a year ago and had avoided Baja since then because it had been so disappointing, but went last night because it was late and we didn't want to walk in the cold looking for a seat at other places. I doubt we'll ever go back after seeing that, like others have said, it's just a shell of its former self. The menu makes no sense in what is there and what was removed. There's no rhyme or reason to how it's either visually organized or why there's such limitations I went with the now $14.00 queso burrito because it used to be a good standby. I got a sad, small, burrito with dried out chicken and without even a garnish, much less some beans and rice (now a $5.00 add on). The beer list used to be a strength and now seems an after thought. It speaks volumes that on weekend nights when every other restaurant on Beverely is packed, Baja has few and sometime zero customers. It's just like the energy and caring have gone from the entire enterprise of what had been our long time favorite place over many years. read more

Amazing food! Great service. I love their organic, vegan black beans. They offer good variety of food.

Not what it used to be! It had been a few years since my family and I had dined at this restaurant. It USED to be lively with good service and good food. Not so much anymore. First of all the decor and ambiance is practically non-existent. The restaurant is bare and hard on the eyes. Not inviting or fun. The service we received was sub-par. Slow and inattentive but friendly. There is also no kids menu which is unusual. The food was mediocre at best. My wife and I shared a fajita meal. It came with about a tablespoon of each topping and 3 tortillas. Very skimpy compared to the competition and especially for the price. We also ordered queso which came out very thick and quickly became almost too thick to eat. The fresh salsa was however very good. My son got Arroz Con Pollo and it was lacking in flavor. Do not recommend. There are lots of better options for Mexican cuisine in Staunton. read more

Great spot to stop by when passing through! The big burrito is gigantic and is a perfect vegan option! Keep the vegan options on the menu! It is located in a cute little town and hope to have a longer visit when passing through to check out the ambiance. Service is always good! read more

Cold food, lack of flavor, tortillas were like rubber. Waiter was great and apologetic.

There are way better Mexican restaurants in the area. This is probably the worst meal I've ever had out. I got the fish tacos with cod and it was very unseasoned and I am pretty sure the fish in the middle was still cold it also didn't come with a side. There was only lettuce on the taco. I got a margarita though and it was good. My boyfriend got the queso burrito and it was okay to him but they had sprinkled rice on the burrito instead of putting it in it...sorry what? Very disappointing. We didn't complain because we wanted to give it a chance but honestly this place is worth no one's time. The restaurant needs to be remodeled and the lighting was so bad. My boyfriend lives and was raised in the area and he remembers this place six years ago. He said it was better. He mentioned that obviously the place has gone down a route where the owners focus on the bar (which unlike most in the area is open til 12 am) instead of the restaurant. This place would seriously be awesome if there was a little more work put into it. It's in a great part of town and has history, why not make it fabulous. The service was great. The food horrible and the price for such horrible food is worse. read more

Overall, just a bit of an underwhelming experience. They renovated parts of the building, so the appearance is nice enough. It felt like we were waiting all the time, from getting seated, to ordering, to receiving the food, to the bill. The menu prices are higher than most other Mexican places with comparable quality and quantity. The food itself was very middle of the road. I ordered the street tacos with steak. I will say I liked the hot sauce I received after requesting it (should I have to request hot sauce at a Mexican restaurant?). With so many other good restaurant options (including some other good Mexican places nearby), I think Baja Bean would benefit from some improvements in the quality of their meals, at least at the prices they are charging. read more

Popped in for lunch after a visit to the Frontier Museum. Food was good, but nothing stood out as special. Plenty of seating inside and their servers were very nice! Street parking outside. read more

I love Baja Bean in Staunton, Va. this Staunton go-to restaurant is ran by a friendly bunch of folks -- love them. My favorite thing about this place is that it's NOT the typical Mexican (for Americans) place you're thinking of. Sure they have tacos, fajitas, burritos, etc. They just do cool, creative things with the standards on their menu. Their specials are always fun. I swung by on a random Thursday for a late lunch at 3pm. Of course, they had an awesome Korean BBQ dish on the specials list. I recall having a special years ago here that involved a raspberry coulis....... I think it helped cut the heat in a dish for the faint of heart? Heaven. read more

Baja Bean - Korean BBQ on the specials menu. Love this place. - Mexican Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

I'd put our experience at a weak four. We were told to seat ourselves but the available tables all had chips on the seats or dirty tables. Despite being almost empty service was very limited and apathetic. The chips were average. The salsa was quite good and more of a pico de gallo style. My husbands queso covered burrito was average in flavor with the queso applied at room temperature so it started to dry out quickly. The Buddha bowl was a lot of rice/quinoa to substance. Personally, I think the pumpkin seeds added a very omega note that didn't feel very Tex Mex. I think a 50/50 ratio of the rice and quinoa to a seasoned black bean with salsa on top would be a quite good dish. As made it was mostly rice and corn. read more

If you've ever been to the "old" Baja bean, you would be disappointed.... Prices have shot up and portions have gotten smaller, speaking of smaller, the menu is about 1/4 the size of what it used to be. And no, it's not like the best items were consolidated, the items on the menu now are generic and non original, at best. Most of the entrees don't even come with rice and beans or sides in general. A queso burrito is $14 and to add rice and beans as a side is another $5, so almost $20 for a burrito half the size of what they used to be. A regular burrito is only $8, however the regular burrito only had chicken and cheese in it, not any rice or beans, so essentially it's a rolled up quesadilla. You can't even order guacamole as an appetizer. I could go on and on. As someone who grew up here, this used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Staunton. read more

My how things can change. Stopped in here about 3 years back and had a decent lunch. Ordered "lotsa guacamole" and underneath a fresh looking top was a gray/black unappealing mass. Two fish tacos contained a frozen battered piece of fish chopped up into little bits covered with lettuce in a very raw flour tortilla. The chili relleno was dredged in corn meal, which didn't survive the deep fryer, and sat atop the plate, blackened. Salsa was made with unripened, nearly green tomatoes, and flavorless. Yes, I should have said something; instead, I paid too much and left a barely eaten lunch in disgust. read more

Baja Bean - A sad chili relleno, lost it's cornmeal dredge and the flesh of the poblano or Anaheim turned black in the fryolator. - Mexican Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

This is an extremely well-priced and tasty little Tex-Mex place. They offer a bar side and a restaurant side full bar and food menu available either side. Parking area is a block above restaurant and there's also paid wharf parking lot and Firehouse Parking garage. I highly recommend the Grilled Tacos and Chile Rellenó.....with a Ice cold Margarita on the Rocks. read more

When you order the grande nachos, you will not be disappointed. So much food for a really fair price that tastes damn good. Bartenders are super friendly. Ask to try the homemade hot sauce. We will return when we are back in town. read more

Baja Bean - Grande nachos-of course half eaten. LOL - Mexican Near Me - Staunton, Virginia

Honestly, probably worst Mexican food I have ever had. I have been here two times so far and there was no flavor or seasoning in anything. It's completely white washed. The meat is over cooked and the rice is hard. I was extremely disappointed. The only thing that was good was the service. I am not coming here again. The food wasn't even Mexican. read more

Nice friendly service. But the food was so so. Lack of seasoning in almost everything. Tried the mixed fajitas (chicken and marinated beef). Rice needed to be cooked more. Meat pieces were cut too small and were dry. Fries tasted like card board. Chicken tender was not so tender. read more

No, just no. Possibly the worst "Mexican" food I've ever had. Everything was bland and flavorless. The salsa that came with the chips was watered down with big slices of tomatoes. Terrible. read more

The rice wasn't fully cooked. The elote had bad corn (or frozen corn that went bad) the tortillas were flour and not corn. The pollo was terribly cooked. Salsa was just tomato's and water. Lacked seasoning and overall I'm not a fan. read more

This shitshow should not be legal. Total bland mess. Disgusting, stomach upsetting, graceless flop. Zero marks for plating. Dank and squeaky establishment. Awful service, manners straight from a parking garage. Flat soda. Sinister, understaffed game room! Rebel: never again read more

Nice little dive bar. Restaurant is good also. Food has always been good. Wait staff has always been friendly. Great happy hour prices.

This is my new favorite Mexican restaurant. I had the burrito cuban. It was served with black beans and Spanish rice. I usually order a frozen margarita. It's not available here, but the margarita on the rocks here might just convert me. It was delicious. read more

We ate here during a festival, so there was a limited menu, but that is no excuse. You run a limited menu so that you can maintain quality while feeding a crowd. I got the impression this restaurant did it just for the opportunity to mark up everything by 20%. The food was disgusting. If, for some unfathomable reason, you want to duplicate their queso recipe, here's my best guess: 1. mix water and corn starch into a slurry and heat until thickened. 2. Sprinkle in a few flakes of cheese and some watery tomatoes 3. Serve. My burrito had some unseasoned chicken in it, but it was mostly undercooked onion. My girlfriend's fish tacos were totally bland. Did the restaurant run out of salt? And pepper? And every other seasoning? My daughter said her ground beef taco was good, but she has terrible taste. This was one of the worst meals of my life. It was truly so bad that it felt personal. The fact that this place has been in business for so long is not a testament to the quality of the food, but to the lack of competition in small towns. read more

The server repeated my order and it was still wrong when I called to tell this to manager it didn't seem to matter

I didn't get chips and salsa like I thought I might, which is kind of whatever, but I also saw my server once. I spent two hours in the restaurant, one hour of that was waiting for literally anyone to come give me my check and a box for my leftovers. I got one refill on my drink, which was supposed to be Pepsi, but what I got in my refill was Diet Pepsi. I'm allergic to artificial sweeteners and can taste the difference fast. I wound up finally just going to the bar and checking out there. Just an awful experience. Next time I'll just go to the grocery and pick up the ingredients for quesadillas and make them myself versus coming here, even though it's really close to where I'm staying and other than the above issues is very convenient. read more

Nice staff, good service but the food was extremely bland. The restaurant looked a bit dirty as well and there were only a few tables there. This place needs a serious deep clean . read more

Came here a couple nights ago with a friend and was absolutely blown away by the kindness and hospitality of each and every staff i interacted with. The place was clean, and had an amazing atmosphere. Not to mention the friendliness of the staff that would make any outsider, such as myself, feel as welcome as any long-time regular. In fact, a HUGE thank you to Hannah and Cutter, for going WAY above and beyond their normal work duties. Even going so far as to secure a safe ride home for me and my friend after we were basically stranded with no ubers or lyfts available to take us home. If yall want a nice place to relax, have a drink, and enjoy some great food, this is the spot for you. read more

Went to the bar for a birthday. Two of us got the same exact drink; one was rung up as a 'double' and the other was wrong up as a 'single with extra shot.' This was a difference of over $1. When we brought this up to the employees, they argued with us and refused to admit that they overcharged us. In fact, they crumpled up and threw away the receipt without asking us. Then they banned us. Not sure about the shootings the other reviewer mentioned, but if that happened, that's kinda funny. This place sucks. read more

Two bartenders are not friendly and they need to change their attitudes. The bartenders should be accepted anyone who wanted to the Baja bar. The bartenders are failed to approach our communicate accessibility. We had no problem with others bars. (I had been visited Baja for 10 years) and now they looked at us like attitudes and we waited to order drink about 10 minutes. Finally we ordered. We will not come back again and the food is cheapest. They are not authentic food. Hannah refused to let 4 people that I know them and they stand outside for 30 minutes and the table was empty read more

This review is in regards to the bar area, not the restaurant area. Never eaten there so I can't attest to that part. I had heard mixed reviews about Baja Bean in Staunton and have been to lovely chains in other cities. I flew into town to visit my family and my mom, siblings and I went to grab a drink to end the night. My mid-50s mother was denied entry at the door for forgetting her ID (understandable I guess; she went back and got it) and we sat at a table and ordered one drink each. Service was decent, drinks were good. My brother ordered a second drink and finished it and we went to go cash out. I paid for one of his double whisky sours and my sister paid for his second double whisky sour. Nothing out of the ordinary. Here's the strange part: We go to cash out our tickets and notice that they seem off. We asked for our itemized receipts, corrected the charges with a pen, and the bartender returned with our updated totals. When we got our updated totals, we were charged two completely different prices for the exact same double whisky sour. When we asked for the tickets to be corrected again, the bartender told us we were drunk and it was the same number (we both had ONE drink). I circled the whisky sours on both tickets where it clearly says one cost $16 and one cost $19.50. The bartender refused to look into the discrepancy and replied with "stiff me if you want to, I don't care!" Ma'am, we're simply trying to figure out why the same drink costs two different prices, but ok yeah sure. We walk out without tipping because we were already overcharged and at that point she was just being nasty. As we're calmly walking out of the bar trying to figure out what the heck just happened, another bartender comes running out behind us saying "they're banned for life! all of them!" Umm yeah ok, half of us don't even live here and the other half definitely won't be returning at this point anyway. It was the weirdest bar experience of my life. If you're confused by this, so are we. If you choose to drink here, make sure to check the itemized receipt before paying. Also watch your bank account because my sister ended up with a random $39 pending charge she had to dispute in addition to her actual bill. tldr; my family of four went in for one drink and ended up getting overcharged and banned for life over a bill they refused to correct. read more

From the moment we walked in we knew this place was going to be good. We were immediately greeted and after about 30 seconds the waitress was there with menus. When we saw the salsa and chips we were shocked because of how fresh it looked, tasted just as fresh!! Our dinner came out and looked great with gigantic portions. I ordered the tamales and a chile relleno... The tamales were good but OMG the chile relleno was superb! My husband ordered the spicy combo burrito and he loved it as well. Since we're on the road just passing through we could not order a beer but they had a really great selection! I would recommend this place to anyone; I think it's a great place with excellent food, great drink choices, and very friendly, efficient staff. read more

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Wandering through town, looking for a bite, and my notoriously finicky 13 year old made the statement "I could eat Mexican." So we stopped into the Baja Bean. It was, on the whole, a great decision. Darling Bride got the So Gouda tacos; a fiesta of chicken, Gouda cheese, fresh spinach, and bacon. This savoury collation was served up on flour tortillas with a side of Spanish rice. She assures me that the rice was good, though nothing to write home about, but the tacos more than made up for it. From my bite, I can confirm that it was delightfully balanced and delicious. She paired it with a young and jubilant root beer. My son and heir ordered the Diablo quesadillas. This spicy combination of chorizo, house-smoked sausage, and cheese was, again, a pretty perfect balance of flavours, textures and spiciness. My bite exploded in my mouth like Pancho Villa crossing the Rio Grande - big, bold, and irresistible. He, too, chose to pair with a root beer. My own dish, continuing my tradition of managing to select the best thing on the menu, was the shrimp and grits. Don't judge! It was shrimp, grilled with bacon and a corn salsa, served over a garlic-cheese grit cake with a honey Diablo drizzle, and it made me trade my munchies for the Mexicali Blues, yeah! MY supper was paired with one of the best beers of the 20th century, Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, not only on draught, but on a nitro line. Service was a little slow, because the joint was JUMPING, and that's not a bad thing. Our server was nice, the hostess kept us plied with chips and a cilantro-y homemade salsa, and the manager stopped for a chat as he bussed our table. They make their own chorizo, smoke their own sausage in-house, and will forever hold a special place in my heart and stomach. We come to Staunton once or twice a year, and I will certainly pop in next time I'm in town, maybe to try out the lunch menu... read more

Amazing food! Service was good and the food was the die for. We got steak tacos, grande nachos with chicken, a chorizo hash with chicken instead of chorizo, a chicken chimichanga, and chips with Queso and salsa. The chicken hash was SO GOOD. some of the best food I've ever had! read more

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Didn't go to eat but to sit at the bar and drink. Both bartenders were friendly and on their a-game. Some kid tried to order "the strongest drink they had" and I was impressed with the professionalism that was displayed when he obviously asked for an ID. Our party asked for one of the bartenders to make us a shooter and we ended up ordering like 8. Tried a local beer that was suppose to resemble a Miller. I didn't like it but at that point my stomach was full and the beer stopped going down. Will come back when we're in town to try the food! read more