One of Frederick, Maryland’s most beloved restaurants will close its doors for the final time on Sunday. La Paz owner Graham Baker decided it was the right time to retire.
“This business, it all started (after) a skiing accident in ’77,” Baker said. “I came back here to convalesce, and it all just kind of took off.”
While Baker was resting up after shoulder surgery, he noticed there weren’t any Mexican restaurants in Frederick. He said he chose the name “La Paz” after seeing the seaside city on a map of southwestern Mexico and from how easy it’d be to write on checks.
“So, the idea presented itself and kind of blossomed into this, 46 years later. It’s truly crazy,” Baker said.
As people lined up outside waiting for the restaurant to open, WTOP spoke to a few of the employees. Known as “Bubbles,” Lisa Cromwell has worked for La Paz for 16 years.
“I met my husband here,” Cromwell said.
Her husband works in the kitchen, manages and has worked there for 30 years.
Cromwell told WTOP that at least 10 couples have gotten married after meeting each other while working at La Paz, adding, “Who knew tacos could bring so many people together?”
“My parents included, met here,” Lindsay Baker said. “My mom worked here and that’s how they met.”
Lindsay, a manager at La Paz, is the daughter of the owner.
“No La Paz, no me or my brother,” Lindsay said with a laugh.
“We opened in April of ’78, and my wife came like two weeks after we opened, as a waitress,” Baker said. “We became friends, best friends, and we got married in 1980 and we’re still going strong.”
Not only have all of Baker’s children worked at La Paz, but so have his grandchildren, and the children of different couples that met as employees, which Baker described as “heartwarming.”
Asked if he had a message for his customers, he choked back tears and said: “Thank you for a great run. I mean, it’s been really, really good. It’s emotional.”
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