Little Rock’s Baja Grill’s proprietors declared in June that the eatery would be closing at the end of the month.
However, a surprising donation from one of our charming regulars kept the Heights neighborhood business afloat for the month of July shortly before the planned closure. The restaurant will continue to operate under the new ownership of longstanding general manager Erin Jackson, owner Heather Babert told the Arkansas Times on Friday.
Along with the nearby eateries R ber :: Cocktails + Culinary and Revival :: Restaurant + Beer Garden, Baber, who co-founded The Taco Society restaurant group with Craig Roe, also owns the downtown Benton outpost of Baja Grill. Baber expressed her wish that someone else will take over the Little Rock Baja Grill restaurant in a June social media statement:
This is not where I am. While theirs has been in Baja LR, my blood, sweat, and tears have been directed toward assisting in the development of a cuisine scene in Saline County. I feel bad about being the one to benefit if this store ever turns a profit again. However, someone else there is deserving.
Since Baber spends the most of her time at her Benton restaurants, Jackson, who began working there as a host in 2016 and became general manager in 2020, is more worthy of the Little Rock site, Baber told the Arkansas Times on Friday.
“I thought maybe someone else deserved that more than I did if I wasn’t going to be there at least once a week, and she’s definitely put more work into it the past five years than I have,” Baber said.
Baber acknowledged that business has increased as customers try to get their last Baja fix and posted on social media that the Baja Grill Little Rock team hoped the announcement put the restaurant back on people’s radar after a regular donated to keep it open through July.
In the past five years, Jackson has hardly missed a day of work, according to Baber.
“Erin is just a machine,” Baber remarked. Having this restaurant could change Baja’s and her family’s lives if everyone keeps supporting her. For me, owning my own business changed my life, and I hope to be able to do the same for her.
With three restaurants on the same location on West South Street in downtown Benton, Baber said business has been good in Benton and she is quite busy. When we caught up with her on Friday afternoon, she was getting ready to serve a bronzini at Rber.
Baber also mentioned upcoming changes to the gastropub, Revival Restaurant + Beer Garden. Although the specifics of the venue’s makeover are still being finalized, Baber stated that she and her general manager and bar manager are changing the theme while keeping live music and transforming it into a late-night destination.
According to Baber, Jackson will formally take over Little Rock’s Baja Grill on Tuesday.
It’s dragon-slaying time!
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