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BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL: how its 36 SBA loans actually performed

Limited-Service Restaurants · 36 units financed with SBA 7(a) loans since 2010 · 22 lenders have funded this brand.

5 of 33 owners defaulted on their SBA loan

That is 15.2% — roughly 3 times the 5.7% average across all SBA 7(a) loans. It does not make this a bad business. It makes it an expensive one to finance.

Units financed
36
SBA 7(a), 2010 onward
Old enough to judge
33
loans at least 7 years old
Defaulted
5
charged off in 7 yrs
Default rate
15.2%
all 7(a) avg 5.7%
Typical loan
$380,000
median approved

How this brand compares

share of owners who defaulted within seven years
BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL
15.2%
Typical franchise brand
3.0%
All SBA 7(a) loans
5.7%

Who lends on it

most active lenders, 2010 onward
LenderUnits funded
PCB Bank6
EagleBank4
California Federal Credit Union3
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association3
Fulton Bank, National Association2
Hanmi Bank2

22 lenders have funded BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL since 2010. Fewer active lenders means less competition on your rate.

A note on sample size

BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL is a smaller-sample brand: 33 of its SBA loans are old enough to judge (our flagship brands have 60+). The default rate above is a real count, but read it as a signal rather than a verdict — with 33 loans, a handful of outcomes moves the number. We omit the year-by-year breakdowns shown on larger brands, which would be noisy at this size.

Common questions

How many BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL SBA loans have defaulted?

5 of 33 seasoned BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL SBA 7(a) loans charged off within seven years — a 15.2% default rate, against 5.7% across all SBA 7(a) loans.

Is a BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL franchise a safe SBA loan bet?

By the numbers its default rate is above the SBA-wide 5.7% average. That is a financing signal, not a verdict on the business — and with 33 loans it is a smaller sample than our flagship brands.

Which lenders fund BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL franchises?

22 lenders have made SBA loans to BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL since 2010, led by PCB Bank.

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