Robin Garr's LOUISVILLE Restaurant Reviews

85	Bazo's Fresh Mexican Grill 323 Wallace Ave. (502) 899-9600

With all the moving around and name changes that have gone on lately, a lot of Louisville-area diners are no longer quite sure where or what, exactly, Bazo's Baja Fresh Jupiter Mexican California San Diego Fish Taco Grill really is.

With the opening of what's now called Bazo's Fresh Mexican Grill in the former quarters of Thatsa Wrapp on Wallace Avenue in St. Matthews, things seem to have settled down for a while, so let's see if we can sort it all out for you:

Baja Grill was the first incarnation, a simple, small spot featuring tacos in general and San Diego-style fish tacos in particular. The folks who run Tony Boombozz pizza opened it in January 2002 in the little building on Willis Avenue that had previously housed the first home of Boombozz, followed by the initial outing of Thatsa Wrapp. (In fact, I've been told, this entrepreneurial family uses the Willis property as an "incubator" for new restaurant concepts, making it an interesting thing to watch and see what goes in there next.)

When Baja Grill proved to be a big hit, the management sought to expand it through a franchise-type agreement, opening another outlet last September in the fine old building on Baxter Avenue that had housed the now-defunct Jupiter Grill, whereupon both properties changed their names to Bazo's Baja Grill.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Avenue branch never quite found its niche, and the effort to merge a good lunch spot with a Baxter Avenue bar didn't work out. It closed in just three months, management reporting that the location, licensed to another operator, "was a test for the concept to see if having a full bar would work ... it did not."

But the St. Matthews eatery, under separate management, continued going strong, and it recently moved from the tiny building on Willis to the much larger space around the corner on Wallace, changing the name to Bazo's Fresh Mexican Grill while quadrupling its capacity, thus making it possible to pump out fish tacos in volume to four times as many happy diners at once.

They've repainted the room in Southwestern-Mexican colors similar to the original Baja Grill - sand and adobe and Santa Fe blue. It's a simple, spacious room, with plenty of tables, a simple serving bar and self-service drinks station.

There's a really impressive salsa bar now, with the familiar Bazo's salsas plus peperoncini peppers, sliced jalapeñoes and lime wedges, all laid out on a big self-service cart decoratively lined with a bed of fresh kale.

The menu is essentially the same, and - as I reported in my original Baja Grill review in January 2002, it offers the kind of thoughtful, excellent and innovative fare that we have come to expect from the "Boombozz" family (actually the culinary creations of Tony Palombino).

Pricing remains unchanged, and the menu has expanded slightly, adding a fajita burrito ($5.45); "Ranchero style" burritoes smothered with salsa and melted cheese for an extra $1.75 regular, $2.95 large; and two new salads.

The famous fish taco (pictured at left) is what keeps bringing me back. It consists of a short stack of two small corn tortillas stuffed with a finger of fresh, crisp-fried white fish, a stripe of gently spicy remoulade-style sauce, and a small ration of crunchy raw cabbage, all in just the right proportions. It really needs nothing more, but lime wedges and fresh homemade green salsa (mild), pico di gallo (spicy), red salsa (quite spicy) and chipotle salsa (smoky and hot) are available for doctoring your taco to your taste.

Fish tacos are $2.25 each or $5.75 for a combo of three, with crisp tortilla chips, a dab of good chunky homemade guacamole and a couple of chunks of lime on the side. There's also a short menu of other tacos, burritos and Mexican-style favorites, all at budget prices from $2.15 (for a single carne asada steak taco) to $6.85 (for the Big Burrito, subtitled "It's HUGE!") We've tried the steak, chicken and shrimp tacos - all wrapped in warm, soft tortillas, not the crunchy Taco Bell hardshell style - and found them good. But it's mighty hard to resist the specialty of the house: Those fish tacos are addictive, and we've enjoyed them again and again.

The greatest disincentive to an impromptu trip to Bazo's before was the tiny room and the likelihood that we couldn't get a table. With this problem gone at the new spot, it will be hard to stay away, especially since it is really hard to spend more than $15 for a meal for two. $

(January 2002, updated February 2003)