For Tania Castanon, her employees have been the motivation behind the expansion of Baja Mex Grill.

Castanon and her ex-husband first opened Baja Mex Grill in Grapevine 17 years ago. Castanon said it was hard because no one in the community knew who they were, and it took a lot of work to finally get the restaurant up and running.

Then five years ago, Castanon and her husband divorced, and her husband decided to leave the restaurant. Castanon decided to stay.

“I decided to stay, because it took so many years and a lot of hard work to get to where we were, and I didn’t want to give that up,” Castanon said. “But running the business on your own is also not easy. But luckily, I had the support from my employees, who really uplifted me and encouraged me.”

With that support, Baja Mex Grill was able to open a second restaurant in Frisco a year ago.

“A lot of our customers at our Grapevine location were from Frisco who would ask us when we would be opening a location there,” Castanon said. “So it just seem like the next step for us would be to open a location there.”

Though it was difficult to get the business running in Frisco, it was not as hard as starting it from scratch, Castanon said.

“The great thing about the Frisco store was that people already knew who we were and were excited [for us] to come here,” Castanon said.

Baja Mex Grill’s menu consists of Tex-Mex cuisine, such as customer favorites Frisco Street Taco, Famous Baja Fish Tacos and Carne Asada.

Brunch is served from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on the weekends and includes breakfast quesadillas, breakfast burritos and migas.

Castanon also has two other restaurants in Grapevine, El Taco.H and Peace Burger, and she decided to incorporate dishes from those menus to the menu in Frisco. As a result, Baja Mex Grill’s menu also has burgers, sandwiches and a variety of tacos.

The restaurant is also known for its margaritas, Castanon said. The frozen cocktail includes premium tequila, triple sec and lime juice with salt or sugar on the rim of the glass.

Manager Martin Ortiz said he sees the restaurant as his second home, as does much of the staff.

“This is like a second home for us because we spend the majority of our time here,” Ortiz said. “So it’s important that we stay in constant communication with one another because that’s a reflection on who we are as a family-oriented business.

Castanon said the Frisco location has been successful because of the hard work and dedication of her employees.

“I wouldn’t have done this without [my employees] because I can’t do this by myself,” she said. “I’m more in the administrative part of the business but they’re the ones who deal mostly with the customers and the Frisco community.”

Baja Mex Grill
4350 Main St., Ste. 165, Frisco
972-292-9084
www.bajamexgrill.com
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m-10p.m.