K38 Baja Grill Opens Sixth Location in Carolina Beach

Wilmington Business News - Live.Eat.Surf Restaurant Group has opened its sixth K38 Baja Grill in May at 100 N. Lake Park Boulevard in Carolina Beach, marking the first restaurant activated in the new Proximity mixed‑use development. This project totals more than 25,000 square feet of dining and retail, delivering high visibility and foot traffic for early tenants.

Founded in Wilmington in 1993, K38 has built a reputation on west-coast‑inspired Baja‑style menu offerings anchored by their signature fish tacos and cantinarita margaritas. The brand now counts four locations in Wilmington, this new Carolina Beach site, and a location in Raleigh, with another Raleigh location expected at Seaboard Station later this year. Tower 7, a sister concept, also operates in Wrightsville Beach and Morehead City.

This Carolina Beach location is a deliberate upgrade in design and guest experience. It features a refreshed interior architecture, a large semi‑covered patio with garage‑style windows, and an indoor‑outdoor bar—elements that elevate the brand and appeal to both locals and seasonal visitors. The grand opening on May 3 included live music, a custom surfboard giveaway, dog caricatures, and free queso with orders, demonstrating marketing flair and local engagement.

Operationally this expansion is grounded in strong employee retention and brand culture. Live.Eat.Surf maintains unusually low turnover for the industry with many team members with tenures spanning 10 to 20 years—well above the U.S. restaurant industry average tenure of roughly 110 days. That contributes to consistent quality and customer loyalty.

Why this matters to Wilmington investors and real‑estate watchers: the Carolina Beach site aligns with population and retail growth trends. The Proximity development serves not only seasonal tourism but also rapidly expanding residential communities like Riverlights and Echo Farms. The parent company’s choice to anchor early speaks to high confidence in long‑term customer demand and development momentum.

For commercial property stakeholders, this expansion underscores the power of home‑grown brands scaling strategically. Owning prime tenancy in new mixed‑use nodes like Proximity adds value to both the tenant and development. For investors in restaurant or hospitality assets, the model combines strong brand equity, design-forward execution, and community-first marketing.

From a strategic standpoint Live.Eat.Surf demonstrates a disciplined growth playbook: build deep loyalty in Wilmington, refine their operational model over decades, and extend through well‑timed expansions into new but adjacent demand zones. This Carolina Beach launch is a textbook moment in incubation-then-scaling for local operators that grow through capital-light growth, strong culture, and design-led guest experience.