Baja Sol reopens at Oakdale Village

Shuttered last fall when its franchise owner could no longer run it, the doors at Oakdale's Baja Sol are open again.

The Mexican restaurant in the Oakdale Village shopping center began serving its new margarita chicken and barbecue ranch chicken salads along with its full menu of tacos, burritos and fajitas on Friday.

The expanded menu also includes the beef barbacoa (similar to a pot roast), a Mexicali fish burrito, Baja sundae and Jarritos, Mexican bottled soda in three flavors -- strawberry, mandarin and pineapple, said corporate chef Bille Roche.

Customers also will notice new artwork on the walls and a new menu board. And perhaps the biggest change is that disposable paper plates, glasses and plastic wear are out and meals will be served on "real" plates with silverware and glassware.

Baja Sol, which has reverted back to corporate ownership, will employ 15 people and will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.

In addition to the reopening of the Oakdale store, a new Baja Sol recently opened in Maple Grove. The company is based in Inver Grove Heights.

Lakeview to show off new facilitiesLakeview Hospital spent $4 million to expand its emergency department by adding two trauma rooms, 10 treatment rooms and an attached ambulance garage with room for two ambulances. To celebrate, the Stillwater care facility at 927 W. Churchill St. will hold an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The emergency department was expanded to meet a growing patient load, hospital officials said. Before the addition, the emergency department was designed to handle about 5,000 patients per year. Last year, it saw more than 12,250.

The existing space will be remodeled this summer as will three endoscopy rooms. The expansion and remodeling was the final phase of a recent spate of improvement projects included in the Lakeview Foundation's Best Medicine capital campaign, which raised more than $20 million.

Family Pathways has new locationFamily Pathways recently held a grand opening for its thrift store in Forest Lake. The agency bought the former Marketplace Foods, and moved its retail operations from the Northland Mall to its new home at 935 S. Lake St.

The store, which serves 175 to 200 customers a day, will occupy about 14,000 square feet. The remainder is being used for a food shelf and a teen center that will relocate there, said manager Vicki Sanvick.

The store is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.