VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It was a simpler time...
"A time when everyone was barefoot. You would come in off the beach," said Jimmy Reeve of his restaurant Baja's early years.
But, as they say, the more things change...the more they stay the same.
“My front door to here, this barstool, in less than five minutes," Baja frequenter Jon Hall told News 3.
The restaurant opened at the southern end of the Sandbridge community of Virginia Beach in 1975.
“The last old beach bar," is how Reeve describes the place.
And through all the growth of homes and developments in Sandbridge since then, Baja has also added on and even merged with other buildings on the property.
But the laid-back atmosphere is the same and, this year, it's celebrating 50 years.
Reeve has been around for 20 of them and bought the restaurant in 2009. He's planned an anniversary event for the end of the month.
“(It's) gonna be the end of April, with the Hotcakes band. Oddly enough, it’s their 50th anniversary too. One of the local dance bands that’s been around here forever. They’ve played here since I’ve worked here," he said.
But Baja's history goes back decades prior to Reeve's arrival.
The original building dates back to 1965 when Reeve says it opened as a Tasty Freeze ice cream stand. And there are still signs of its past life.
“The reason why the roof slopes to the center is because that’s how Tasty Freezes were designed," pointed out Reeve. "This whole entry area was sand and you walked up to a countertop."
Now, people walk up and sit at a bar tended by Erika Bartley.
"This is my 15th summer," Bartley told News 3. "Both of my children worked here."
That's multiple generations working at the same place, which tends to happen when you've been around 50 years. And Bartley says she sees the same faces come back, year after year.
"There’s a lot of locals that come down here and are very dedicated," she said. "I’ve seen family reunions, I’ve seen bachelorette parties that come back the next year."
It's an eclectic mix of people and Reeve says the menu is designed with that in mind, serving everything from seafood to pizza and burgers.
One wall is covered in pictures showing events and smiling customers from years past.
“[50 years] says a lot. It speaks for itself that it’s been here this long," said Hall.
But it hasn't always been fun and games. Reeve points to the 2008 recession and COVID-19 pandemic as major challenges. News 3 last visited Baja when the restaurant set up socially-distanced seating outside.
Reeve says those changes "kept the cash flowing" and also highlighted what might be the restaurant's greatest asset.
Its unique location on Back Bay, offers the rare waterfront sunset in Virginia Beach.
“Best sunset you’re ever gonna find," said Debi Tripp, who works at Baja and is also a frequent customer during her off hours.
Reeve says he frequently sits as many as 60 people for outside dining and during the height of the summer, as many as 400 diners come through each night.
But looking to the next 50 years and things aren't as certain as Reeve would like.
He says the restaurant's previous owner still owns the property on which the building sits and has that property up for sale. There is a chance it could be redeveloped at some point, but he also says he's not sweating it.
“My hope is whoever does come in to rebuild this realizes what an asset the Baja is to the community and finds a way to reincorporate it in the new design," he said. "I would love to design a new building. I’ve been putting lipstick on this great pig for 20 years and hope to do it another 25 years.”
And certainly, Baja fans would love for the restaurant and bar to continue to be that gathering place for locals and visitors seeking an escape.
“Probably, the biggest thing is how personal we still are. We’re not corporate. We will never be corporate," said Reeve. “And I think it’s because it’s been organically grown from this neighborhood.”
A neighborhood that's seen so much change, yet, at its heart remains the same.
