Yes, I know it's highway 5 and I shouldn't be particular. My husband and I were tempted by the Baja Fresh on the map. Highway 5 without French fries? It sounded great! When we stopped however, we found the Baja Fresh in the corner of a Food Mart at a Shell gas station. You stand in line to order and watch them make the food in front of you. The customer service is simply non-existent. We were only the fourth customer in line, but had to wait 25 minutes to order. The people behind the counter were extremely slow and incapable of multitasking. The area was very dirty and no fewer than four employees could not find me a fork for my salad. They were so slow that my daughter finished her dinner before my son even received his enchilada. Save your time-- either take snacks in the car and hold out for the Panda Express by the Grapevine, or give into the French fries somewhere else. OR-- best yet-- take an extra hour and head to LA via 101. Stop off in SLO or Santa Barbara for a host of real treats! read more

Absolutely the rudest employee I have ever encountered...young punk kid who couldn't say hello, who acted like we were putting him out (he saw us walk in & then left his post. Peeled out and rolled his eyes when he saw we were waiting for service). Do NOT patron a place that allows kids like this to have a job. read more

Don't bother... This place had one guy working the grill and the register. It took so long we walked out. read more

The employee taking my dad's order had such a horrible attitude, she was rude and impatient as we were trying to order more food.

We stopped here on our way from SF to LA despite all these negative reviews. The place is great actually. The food was delicious the staff was really fast. Going to stop here on our way back to SF. read more

Food was good no doubt but price was way over . I just had one burrito no rice extra chicken and chicken paid over 14 dollar for just a burrito no drink read more

Steak and chicken burritos were on point!! Delicious and fresh!! Clean place and fast service! My 5 year old enjoyed the beam and Cheese burrito from the kids menu. Conveniently located near gas station, convenience store, and clean bathroom!!! read more

It's a Baja Fresh at a gas station off the 5. But the staff were really friendly, working hard, very polite, and thoughtfully gave us warm chips to munch on before our order was ready and before we had to pay. It was like human beings, caring for some travellers with hungry kids. The food was good too, there was fresh ice in the salsa bar, and the people took pride in their work. read more

I'm renaming this place Acido Fresco. The place was dirty and smelled like a bathroom. So we ate there... Now we are all sick. I would not reccomend to anyone that they end their 8 hour journey with a night of stomach acid followed by a day of complete colon cleansing.. ughh... read more

Beyond question, I experienced the most unbelievably negative experience ever in a restaurant. Pulled off the I-5 for a light meal at Baja Fresh, a brand I trusted. Ordered a light meal for the two of us, $12.18. Gave the cashier, a pretty young lady, $22 and then realized I needed to give her another quarter to keep the change simple, and while I'm arranging this transaction with the cashier I a hear behind me in a loud voice, "WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CONFUSE HER?" Louder still: "THAT IS MY DAUGHTER! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CONFUSE HER?" "YOU! (to the daughter) JUST THROW HIM THE CHANGE." To me: "THIS IS MY DAUGHTER! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CONFUSE HER?!" He continues to rave this way for what seemed like forever, louder and louder, beyond all reason, while everyone in the whole place - convenience store with a Baja Fresh concession - is now silent with everyone staring. The other employees hide their heads, while the daughter stands there and takes it, poor girl. This large man, apparently the owner of the place, stalks off. The poor daughter keeps saying to me, "It's O.K., it's O.K." Well, actually, no, sorry, it's not O.K. Now thoroughly astonished and of course with no appetite anymore, I tell the poor girl to cancel my order and give me back my $12.18. Do not, do not, DO NOT go to the Baja Fresh off the I-5 in Avenal, even if you, as me, feel sorry for that poor daughter. read more

This place was awful. There was almost no seating at all and the food was way overpriced for the portions. It was like a fast-er food-er version of normal Baja Freshes, which are not exactly fine dining. We stopped here during a trip and I suppose that is why most people go here. I think it would have been worth it to keep driving... but that might be just me. I just don't like standing while I eat my messy, overpriced, not very tasty meal. read more

Big Mexican lady was the manager. She was not fluent in the language of customer service. They also were VERY stingy on the portions. There was no A/C and it was 85 outside. Wait until the next stop. read more

For rest stop food, it was great. The day I when, they cooked everything fresh for us, right in front of us, and it was great. They were really helpful and nice. I bought my drink from the mini market that they were in. The seating area looking a little old but honesty, it's a rest stop. What do you expect? It was clean and that's all that it mattered. read more

Worst Baja Fresh ever! The place is dirty and food tastes or feels nothing like Baja Fresh.

I come here when my family when we drive back n forth to LA. Last time we went was in 2009, a very hot September afternoon, my mom finds out about this new travel center, so we decide to stop by. It's pretty close to the jail which is kinda freaky! But anyway i thought their service was reasonably quick when we were in there. The food tasted good and my brother who lives in Eureka doesn't get much Mexican where he lives so it was one of the only places he wanted to go to. The workers at the time were very friendly and lightened up my mood because i was still sad about my grandpa & we were just coming home from his funeral. read more

Definitely on the ghetto end of restaurants, cash register doesn't even work. Nothing against the staff, definitely putting this on owner/management. Staff were friendly and polite, you can only do so much with politeness in a business. If you can keep driving. read more

I'm shocked corporate lets this exist. Probably dirtiest shell gas station and Baja fresh I have been to. Chipotle will win every time if this keeps up. More vegan stuff please! read more

Truly think the past reviews didn't give this place a break. I mean this Baja Fresh is in the middle of nowhere and a welcome change from the regular fast food chains. No wait and plenty of seating for us. read more

Extremely dirty place food is super cold !! get better staff that care about there job and enjoy what they do

Never been in such a bad place to eat. They are terribly slow as they don't prepare stuff in advance. They make all their grilled vegetables/meat burn. read more

This Baja Fresh is located inside a convenience store. It was clean and the food was great. We ordered the Diablo style veggie burrito and the veggie quesadilla. The veggie burrito had just the right amount of spice. The food was super fresh and flavorful. There are free public restrooms inside of this convenience store. read more

The baja steak burrito is so amazing! I go light on the pico so the burrito doesn't get soggy on the bottom.

Good customer service quick and brief... They hooked it up on the tostada two big scoops of carne.. tired of eating subway on the road good alt read more

I stopped at this Baja Fresh thinking that it would be as good as the others that I have eaten at. The food was OK, but they charged me twice on my debit card and now I cannot reach them and they have not tried to reimburse me. So, don't go to this location unless you want to be ripped off ! read more

We stopped here on a recent trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Fine dining it is not- but we had great service, and the food was really tasty. My boyfriend had the Mahi Mahi tacos, and I had an Ultimo Burrito. Both were great- just as good as I've had at any other Baja Fresh, and possibly better than some. They had yummy salsas at the bar, too, including a pineapple salsa I'd never seen before. It's not good food to drive with. Luckily they had wonderful, comfortable booths to sit in. It was great to get off the road and take a break. It looks like the Baja Fresh is a recent addition, and the location is still finishing construction on a larger dining area. Oh, and a sign said the owner's name is Kool Dhaliwal. I thought that was pretty neat!! read more

Are you kidding!!! Baja Fresh out here in the middle of nowhere? This is great and the product is as tasty as any other BFresh and the salsa is Dynamite! read more

Anyway you want it. And fast. This place out ranks them all.. we drive truck and this place is great. The food is great, the service is great. We will be coming here more often. read more

This is a decent place to eat when you're traveling on the 5! The staff was friendly, and made our food fresh. It is not fast food, all pre-made and preserved, because they are using real ingredients. You will wait a little bit, but the food is good. As part of the gas station, they cannot accept giftcards (I had a similar problem when I worked for Starbucks inside a Target)--that's corporate's fault, not the employees. Some reviews talked about dirty bathrooms, but they weren't bad--and a friendly employee was waiting to get in and clean (but women kept coming). Overall, a friendly, competent staff, serving made to order fresh food. We would stop again! read more

I am SO not a fan. I normally like Baja Fresh, because they have several menu items that I CAN eat, unlike most fast-food Mexican places. When we saw the sign on the freeway indicating that this rest stop had one, I was pretty excited....it's (usually) also way better than McDonald's and the like (barf) too. Well, this one was completely out of all the stuff I wanted -- shrimp or fish. I had to settle for a veggie burrito. Ok, I can deal with that. The guy behind the counter was nice enough, but seemed kinda dazed. The burrito was ginormous and sloppy, and there was literally an entire half of an onion in it (all one chunk). Ickk. From the counter, you can see into the kitchen and it is pretty scary. Does not look clean at all. The salsa bar is right next to the door, which has a huge blower above it that runs every time someone opens it, and I'm sure that's blowing all manner of scum onto the salsa (it's also next to the bathrooms). Stay away from the salsa bar. read more

Restaurant is inside a gas station convenience store. 4 stars for what it is. All the expected conveniences plus good fast food you can see made right in front of you. I ordered a chicken quesadilla which came with guac, sour cream, chips. Decent price and it was fast enough, hot, good and the woman who rang me up was very friendly. Had Honest Tea at the checkout. read more

Fresh but not too fresh I don't know why it's called ha ha definitely not from Baja tacos are just OK at least they have a good salsa bar that is the one redeeming quality about this entire place read more

I really enjoyed eating at this place. Workers are a bit slow but i can wait. The servings are very good in size too. I am definitely going to stop here on my way to southern and northern california. read more

This is the worst Baja Fresh I've ever been too. They could not get our order right and I think having them make the food first and then ring it up, is their downfall. We ordered 3 items and they kept forgetting which protein to put in which. They had to go back and remake it. They had four employees working and no one had a dedicated job so one person would start something and another person would take over and then ask us the same questions the person before us had. We got our order and we had ordered a taco combo plate, it only had one taco and it was suppose to have two. I guess they had no clue. The food wasn't up to par with any Baja Fresh I've been too. The nachos we ordered did not have melted cheese, just shredded cheese on chips and there were no beans. The beans didn't taste so great so I guess they did us a favor. I will never go back there again. Plus the woman's bathroom was so disgusting, there was an overflowing toilet filled with black water and waste. I nearly threw up when I saw it. I guess it didn't put me in the mood to eat. read more