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Dickhead
05-09-15, 21:48
Personally I have not been in Tijuana for many years but some poster wanted a thread on this. Here ya go.

ScatManDoo
05-09-15, 22:39
Thank you Dickhead for starting a food thread, since I am currently a regular member and I cannot start any threads.

Why not begin with some pictures of Tito's Tacos. Here are two pictures of their sidewalk menu that I took this winter, soon after they raised the cost of their flagship fish tacos from 10 pesos to 12 pesos,

ScatManDoo
05-10-15, 02:40
Some of these pictures are dishes served by Tito's Tacos.

The other fish tacos pictures are from the place right next door (which also serves non-fish main courses).

Can you guess which side-by-side restaurant each dish comes from and what each taco contains?

Phordphan
05-11-15, 23:32
Some of these pictures are dishes served by Tito's Tacos.

The other fish tacos pictures are from the place right next door (which also serves non-fish main courses).

Can you guess which side-by-side restaurant each dish comes from and what each taco contains?I'll bite. What are they?

They all look a lot alike. 6 and 7 might be camaron.

Can you compare and contrast these with the fish taco place on 5th and Negrete? (Memory's a bit fuzzy. I know it's Negrete, I think it's 5th. It always has a crowd of locals and the fish is very good).

Jackie888
05-12-15, 01:35
BTW the bakeries around 1st street arent too bad. I got a couple of giant muffins this last weekend for under 10 pesos that some of the SG had to help me finish. Its an alternative to Mexican meals that tend to be enormous and greasy. And its cheap. Sure breaks the ice with the girls better than your typical "how much for a fuckie-suckie. ".

GolfSexRroll
05-12-15, 03:32
I love the handmade flour tortillas they serve at El Torito Grill in the USA. I was wondering if there is a bakery in Tijuana that makes them. Not the flat pressed tortillas they sell in the street, but the puffy fresh baked on the "stone" ones. Any help?

Phordphan
05-13-15, 22:36
Where was this pic taken?

ScatManDoo
05-15-15, 23:32
I'll bite. What are they?

They all look a lot alike. 6 and 7 might be camaron.

Can you compare and contrast these with the fish taco place on 5th and Negrete? (Memory's a bit fuzzy. I know it's Negrete, I think it's 5th. It always has a crowd of locals and the fish is very good).Sorry for the slow answer to my quiz PhordPhan. And I can't compare because I don't remember going to a fish taco place on 5th & Negrate. This last trip I made to Tijuana four days ago I tried going to the taco stand on Madero & Second that you recommended, but I'm not if I ate at the one you recommended.

Now back to my photos and earlier quiz regarding Tito's and the place next door to Titos:

At both Tito's tacos and the restaurant in the big building next door I ordered one (fried) fish taco and one camaron gobernador. My best description of the gobernadore is a grilled shrimp taco with cheese. At this time, in December, the fish taco cost 12 pesos at Tito's and their camaron gobernador, which is very filling, ran 38 pesos.

Both tacos at the place next door sold for less. The fish taco was still 10 pesos and I think the cameron gobernador was maybe 25 pesos.

While both were tasty, the Tacos at Tito's contained about twice as much fish, and were thus the better value.

Getting both tacos on the same day at Titos was too much to eat at one time (even though the two tacos arrived five minutes apart).

I've included a few exterior pictures of both places.

Prices likely have risen on all of these seafood tacos. From my early morning stroll past Titos on Sunday, they've raised the price of their basic fish taco up by one more peso to 13!.

Jackie888
05-17-15, 23:42
I want to recommend the shrimp and octopus appertizer plate from La Perla. I was having their combo shrimp / octopus combo yesterday and the waitress brought out this appetizer plate. It looked hugh! Definitely prepared for more than one person.

Captain Solo
05-18-15, 01:21
You mean Botana Fria de Camaron y Pulpos?

I am salivating. I think they go for 70 pesos small to 150 pesos large. Do us a favor and take pictures of La Perla's menu.

I just hate the stupid band who plays at ear-splitting volume while I eat. Last Friday there was another free band playing in front of La Perla like they did not have enough music. The policias were hassling the free band near the popular tacos stand on Ninos. I hope they take them to Tijuana jail so they can entertain the murderers and [CodeWord127] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord127).

The mariscos guy on Constitucion at the school girl corner made a salad of shrimp, octopus with salsa to go for a street girl. The full plate went for 70 pesos. I can order something similar. That street girl was young and hot. The mariscos guy was saying she could be had for mere 200 pesos. She took the plate to a hotel door where she ate it with her padrote.

Jackie888
05-20-15, 00:59
http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/11/anthony-bourdains-fave-tijuana-restaurants-and-bar/

Hey, this restaurant on Constitution SE from the Playboy club made the list of top restaurants according to Anthony Bourdaine. I walk by it everytime I'm in town and never tried it. The name of this hole in the wall is the Kentucky Fried Bouches.

BTW Is Bourdaine married? Because I will bet that he made a visit to AB / HK before leaving.

ScatManDoo
05-21-15, 00:52
I've enjoyed many meals at Kim Mon over the years. They do noodle dishes, like chow mein, very well. I rate their fried rice dishes as just so-so. I didn't like the favor of their egg rolls. A better Chinese food restaurant in LZ, IMHO, is a restaurant with very good Cantonese dishes call El Cielo. I prefer chop suey and rice dishes, and for my tastes El Cielo serves better dishes than Kim Mon. El Cielo is located on the SW corner of Primera (1st St.) and Martinez. Just a few steps away from the Verario Hotel on Primera and Tito's Tacos on Primera. Martinez is the next North-South running street to the west after Nino Heroes. El Cielo's egg rolls are very good IMO and my favorite complete lunch dish there is their puerco chop suey for around $5. They use a cut of pork in that dish that tastes a lot like bacon.Well, I managed to get their name wrong when I wrote nearly two weeks ago about my favorite Chinese food restaurant in LZ.

Yes, I've eaten numerous times at the two Chinese restaurants located on the cross streets at each end of the alley, but I think Rio Cielo is the best of the three.

And due to Mexican's disgust at the idea of eating dog, you'll find no crowds slowing down the service at any of Tijuana's chino restaurants this summer.

Rio Cielo is located on the SW corner of Martinez & Primera (1st street) - that's one block west on Nino Heroes. I actually got a picture of the restaurant's outside sign as I was standing in the street in between Tito's Tacos and the Velario.

My first lunchtime dish picture is of my favorite meal at Rio Cielo, the (pork) Puerco Chop Suey. Lunch meal #22 - 78 pesos (or $5.25 equivalent).

The next afternoon dish picture is what my Quasi wingman always orders, the Cantonese chicken. Lunch meal #2 - 60 pesos (or $4 equivalent). When I took the low angeled picture of both our dishes, you can better see how high the food is piled onto these lunchtime plates. One time I ordered the calamari, and it was pretty good also.

I'll complete this post with pictures of some of the pages from their menu.

Phordphan
05-21-15, 02:14
I made a run yesterday. After Mrs. Robinson got done draining me dry, and after I dropped her off at the taxi ruta stand, I decided I'd go have a fish taco. I hadn't been in quite a while and I'd forgotten the exact location.

It's on the NW corner of 3rd and Negrete. Tacos Machatlan. They have fish, shrimp and tacos de marlin, which is a mish-mash of marlin, with spices and what-not (think tuna salad without the mayonnaise), put into a corn tortilla and grilled over charcoal. I didn't get a pic of them. I've had them before and they're tasty.

The pic is of a shrimp taco (nearest my hand) and a fish taco. They are huge and you can't get the tortilla folded properly around the filling in order to eat the taco. I usually pick out a few shrimp, or a couple of fish pieces, and eat them separately. Now the down side to this trip is that it was about 5:30 pm. They close around dusk, so even though business was still steady, it was not packed and you could tell things were beginning to wind down. That means that the odds of getting fish fresh out of the fryer go down, plus the oil has gotten dirty throughout the day, slightly altering the taste. It's usually so busy that the fry continuously, and keep the fish / shrimp in a pan, and use a sort of First-in-first-out inventory control method. The minor problem with this is that, if it's not super busy, you may get fish that's been sitting for a few minutes. It's best to go earlier in the day, preferably sometime around noon-ish.

Having said that, they were still very good. I enjoy local taco stands because it's fun to watch the people, listen to the strolling minstrels singing for tips, watch the controlled chaos of a busy taco stand. I enjoyed my two tacos, then hit the road for the border. Total damage was 34 pesos. I don't know how that's broken down. I assume 14 for the fish, 20 for the shrimp.

ScatManDoo
05-23-15, 01:20
Before this thread was started by Dickhead, there was a heated discussion between two posters over whether restaurants in Mexico or on the US side in Southern California were better. One poster was asserting that Mexico, and Tijuana in particular, contained many good restaurants that offer far better values than can be found in the United States. I couldn't agree more.

The other poster very aggressively disagreed and asserted that the quality of the food ingredients commonly available in the US were far better than in Tijuana, and thus the food dishes served in restaurants in the United States were far superior. While I agree that restaurants in the US have the opportunity to obtain better quality ingredients, I never ignore prices. Dollar for dollar (or pesos for peso) the poster favoring Tijuana eateries saw things more as I observe them.

If you are not trying to be snobby about what fine dining is the finest, Tijuana has San Diego, LOS Angeles & the OC beat for their relative dining values at low end and medium-priced dining options.

At the higher end of dining options, Tijuana will still offer much cheaper high-end options. They have a great advantage over SoCal with far lesser labor and rent costs. But their variety and options and quality will always be behind what the SoCal market has to offer. Tijuana, with between one and two million residents, is of course much smaller than the three SoCal counties I mentioned above that have a combined population of between 20 to 25 million residents.

While Tijuana is developing more and more, and constantly improving, high-end dining options, that part of the dining spectrum will always be better developed in SoCal, where hundreds of thousands of California's are served every day in high-end eateries. I doubt there is much more than a thousand Tijuanses that can afford and choose to eat out daily in fine dining establishments.

RickyVee
05-23-15, 14:09
What are your guys thoughts on the viability of a pizzeria in the zona. In a past life I was a chef for a high end Italian eatery in SoCal. As a result I learned how to make authentic Neopolitan pizza. I read a while back that there is no decent pizza in or around the zona. I have access to ingredients so that would not be an issue. Figured since there is a void in the market why not fill it. There would definitely be some concerns as far as shakedowns and security issues. I know since nothing like that exists down there it would attract a lot of good and bad attention. Your guys feedback would be appreciated.

HorseTrader
05-23-15, 18:23
What are your guys thoughts on the viability of a pizzeria in the zona. In a past life I was a chef for a high end Italian eatery in SoCal. As a result I learned how to make authentic Neopolitan pizza. I read a while back that there is no decent pizza in or around the zona. I have access to ingredients so that would not be an issue. Figured since there is a void in the market why not fill it. There would definitely be some concerns as far as shakedowns and security issues. I know since nothing like that exists down there it would attract a lot of good and bad attention. Your guys feedback would be appreciated.Are you sure you want to open a business at all in Zona Norte? As you are aware, the food service business is hard work. Food prices in Tijuana are so low that there seems to be little money to be made. Your concerns about shakedowns and security would be enough to stop me from opening such a business.

Who is your target customer base? As an American monger, I wouldn't buy pizza anywhere in Tijuana. That's because I look forward to getting real Mexican food while I'm there. And, we have many good pizza options at home.

On the other hand, some of the girls have mentioned pizza, perhaps the locals would buy it. Don't know if they are thinking PapaJohns/Dominos or Neopolitan. I've only had a few meals with Zona Norte girls (all from Hong Kong) and these girls were very concerned with their weight; they may stay clear any type of pizza (even Neopolitan). I have no idea if pizza would appeal to the chubby bar girls or street girls or men around Zona Norte.

Just my opinion without doing any real market research.

Jackie888
05-23-15, 19:14
Are you sure you want to open a business at all in Zona Norte? As you are aware, the food service business is hard work. Food prices in Tijuana are so low that there seems to be little money to be made. Your concerns about shakedowns and security would be enough to stop me from opening such a business.

Who is your target customer base? As an American monger, I wouldn't buy pizza anywhere in Tijuana. That's because I look forward to getting real Mexican food while I'm there. And, we have many good pizza options at home.

On the other hand, some of the girls have mentioned pizza, perhaps the locals would buy it. Don't know if they are thinking PapaJohns/Dominos or Neopolitan. I've only had a few meals with Zona Norte girls (all from Hong Kong) and these girls were very concerned with their weight; they may stay clear any type of pizza (even Neopolitan). I have no idea if pizza would appeal to the chubby bar girls or street girls or men around Zona Norte.

Just my opinion without doing any real market research.I was recently with a pretty Tropical girl. When asked what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this instead of HK, she replied that she gained a couple of pounds and was sent to Tropicals gor rehabilitation. However she is on a strict diet and will be returning to HK in a month or two. To me she had curves (a beautiful pompi), but HK absolutely has a no-chubbie standard that the girls must meet to work there.

Pizza will give them mommy bodies. So Ricky, how about openning a gourmet salad joint instead?

RickyVee
05-24-15, 00:34
Thanks for the feedback guys. Gourmet salad bar is funny because I actually grow hydroponic lettuce herbs and vegetables as well as ornamental flowers. For a living. That is why my food costs would be next to nothing. But since you mention weight is a concern to most of the girls then I can be pretty creative with a menu. Nothing is set in stone. Just figured I would ask real world people what they're thoughts are. There is definitely some cool stuff happening in the Baja food scene. I have seen the little produce market at the end of the alley and the produce was abysmal at best. How they could sell that to anybody is beyond me but that is the way it is. Now I just need a catchy name. How about toss my salad?

Jackie888
05-24-15, 03:09
Thanks for the feedback guys. Now I just need a catchy name. How about toss my salad?Once the chicas figure what the name means, they'll probably line up to kill you in your sleep.

Dickhead
05-24-15, 03:24
Instead of opening up a business in a Latin American country, especially a restaurant which is a fuck of a lot of work no matter where you do it, it would be far preferable and more enjoyable in both the long run and the short run to pour gasoline on your nuts and then set them on fire.

Phordphan
05-27-15, 06:43
Located on Calle 8 and Negrete. Small place, good service, good food.

Attached are pix of the mushroom appetizer. This one was 'shrooms sautéed in a garlicky butter sauce (for lack of a better term) with cheese. Tasty.

The other is their version of a puttanesca. The penne was cooked perfectly. There are lots of variations on puttanesca. This one was pretty tasty.

I don't have pix of the other entrée, which was a breaded and sautéed chicken breast. I think it was their version of piccata, but memory is fuzzy without pix. Rocky the Flying Squirrel gave it a hearty thumbs up.

Also, no pix of the red sangria. Pretty decent.

Their version of the garlic bread is soft, warm and delicious. The pizzas looked very good and authentic. I'll try on another trip and report back.

Price for app, 2 entrees, half-litre of sangria, just over 300 pesos. Not bad.

Overall, I'd give it a solid 7 out of 10. Definitely worth the (modest) price.

QuackUp
05-29-15, 23:13
Maiz.

Gobernador Balarezo 366.

Col. Thevila.

Tijuana, Baja California.

Mexico.

Zona Centro.

664 - 686 4371.

A very small but very good restaurant, just a bit off Blvd. Aqua Caliente.

Went with a friend and were lucky enough to find a table. All the time we were there, all the tables were occupied. Maybe 7 - 8 tables and we got there around 13:00. Not sure what to get we both ordered the sampler plate which has 5 items on it, and we both had two taco's de casa. For me the highlight was the pozole on the sampler plate. The quesadilla came in second with the taco's being third. We both had the stawberry lemonade. Total cost for the two of us, $210.00 mx. Very reasonable and we both left full.

Sitting next to us was a couple who had ordered the pozole by itself and the enchilada plate. It looked so good I had to ask her how it was. She smiled and said she orders this everytime she comes here. I'll have to try that next time.

Phordphan
06-30-15, 06:35
For those with a sweet tooth.

Watnow78
07-06-15, 18:36
If any of you love beer like I do, I would recommend Mamut Brewrey Co. In Zona Norte and Plaza Fiesta (Across from Plaza Rio). The first 2 pictures are from Zona Norte, Address:

Carrillo Puerto why o Tercera 8161, Zona Centro, Tijuana, be. See. , Mexico. The second 3 pictures are from the same company in Plaza Fiesta Address: Paseo de LOS Heroes No 9415.

Tijuana, Baja California. These are really cool spots to hang out during the day and maybe grab a bite to eat.

The last picture was from a restaurant I stumbled onto in search for a bowl of Pozole, and damn it was good. I can't for the life of me remember the name of this place but its on Constitution just a half block North of Calle Galeana, on the northeast Corner. This place looks very new because I can't find it on google maps. This looks like the building I walked into:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.530369,-117.038011,3a,75y,64.77h,81.04t/data=!3 m6!1 e1!3m4!1sx_zVzpPrCKyosy2iUMjM5g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1.

Phordphan
08-10-15, 04:22
This place is located in Col. Chapultepec, a rather upscale part of town. It's on Av. Sonora, just off of Agua Caliente. There are a bunch of interesting places here, one being Tabula, which I will visit on an upcoming visit.

Anyway, this is a busy, rather trendy establishment with a rather young clientele. I was the oldest guy in the joint. Everybody was in their 20's - 30's and well dressed. Not fancy, but obviously not poor. We had tried to get into a food and tequila place across the street, in Plaza Chapultepec, but it was swamped with a line. So, being hungry, we opted for a place we could get into fairly quickly.

Lots of high tables, a few low ones, pub-style atmosphere. I opted for, IIRC, the Ginger Mark cocktail, made from Makers Mark bourbon and ginger beer, something like 90 pesos. Rather good. My date opted for the very pedestrian Tecate Light.

She decided on the chicken fingers, I had the sliders. The fingers (called Buffalo Boneless on the menu) didn't present well, but were hot, very crispy, and had good flavor. About 100 pesos.

Don't let them tell you that Mexican beef isn't tasty. These sliders were quite good. I would quibble that I would like a bit more sear on the meat, but they were thick and flavorful. They sported some arugula and a sort of tequila aioli. Although there were only three, it turn out that they were filling. About 120 pesos.

All in all it was worth the visit. It's a bit pricey by Mexican standards, but not outrageous. I've never really understood the gastro pub concept, but these guys seem to do it rather well. You should check it out the next time you're in the area.

Jackie888
08-10-15, 21:42
How do you guys navigate Tijuana without getting lost? Old fashion paper map? Or modern GPS navigation?

Phordphan
08-11-15, 03:04
How do you guys navigate Tijuana without getting lost? Old fashion paper map? Or modern GPS navigation?Google maps works *fairly* well, and that's what I use. There are caveats. Once it too me all over hell-and-gone when I was trying to get to a concert near Otay. I saw barrios I hope to never see again. Sometimes it doesn't know about 1-way streets, but not often. The most consistently annoying thing is the Via Rapida exits. Often you have to exit well before the actual turn. Sometimes it knows, other times it doesn't.

But overall it gets you to where you want to go if you have a specific address.

Paper maps? What's that?

Phordphan
09-01-15, 06:58
Colectivo 9 is a covered patio arrangement, surrounded by a bunch of food vendors, much like a food court in a mall, but with more interesting food. It's located near the NW corner of Revu and 6th. I didn't get a picture of the sign, but it's hanging over the sidewalk. You enter down a small alleyway and it opens up into the food court.

This particular day I thought I'd try something offbeat. I went to the Lebanese booth and got a Gyro. The meat was tasty, although preprocessed, as it usually is in the states. The vegetables were very fresh. The tzatziki sauce was pretty much just a yougurt-based sauce with no dill or mint. It needed work. The pita was fresh and warm. As typical in a lot of Mexico, the fries were limp and a bit on the greasy side. Mexico, in general, hasn't got the hang of fries yet, and the oil is always too cold to properly fry them. They did have a good flavor. The combo, which included a small Coke, was 80 P.

I scoped out several other dishes and the pizzas looked pretty good. I'll return and report back, because pizza seems to be on the ascendency in Tijuana. The burgers looked pretty good, too, although they looked like the might also suffer from limp-fries syndrome.

My companion had the ensalada atun, from the Italian place, and it was pretty decent. Their strawberry-infused Jamaica was also quite tasty. IIRC, the salad and drink was also 80 P.

So, the Gyro rated a 5, the salad a 7. Not a home run, but a solid double. The place bears more investigation. The place is open until midnight on Friday and Saturday, so it looks to be an excellent alternative to the same old taco stands of the Zona Norte.

Phordphan
09-01-15, 07:12
El Tinieblo is a rather cool, funky little bar right next to La Corriente, on the NE corner of Madero and 5th. There is even a connecting hallway between the two places.

It was too dark to take decent pix, so I could only get one. The place's theécor consists of these Victorian-esque wingback chairs, a nice long bar, a combination of real and porcelain animal heads on the walls, and some pinstripe wallpaper straight out of Beetlejuice. Their specialty is mescal-based drinks.

We got seated, ordered a couple of drinks and relaxed. The tall drink is their version of a mojito, the short is the mezcalita el tinieblo, I think. Memory is fuzzy. Total was about 150 P for the two.

Just as things were getting good, the DJ started. He launched into a gawd-awful trance mix. Some may dig it, but we certainly didn't. It just got worse, so we drank up and split for Dandy del Sur.

I liked the place and the ambiance, until the music started. I suspect when the DJ isn't in, and one is left with only the jukebox, it would be a good little watering hole.

RickyVee
09-01-15, 19:20
Been there a few times with some chicas OTC they have DJs certain nights so sometimes it is chill depending. Overall cool vibe. I agree about Mexican fries. Problem is the prep with fresh potatoes. They need to be rinsed and soaked overnight. Then blanched cooked for a couple minutes then refried to crisp outside. Otherwise the potatoes absorb the oil and become oil blobs as you described not very good. Hopefully they up their French fry game.

Jackie888
09-01-15, 21:23
I'm unsure why it's so. But the fried food in Tijuana is extremely greasy. They're often literally dripped with oil while on your plate.

Phordphan
09-02-15, 07:50
I'm unsure why it's so. But the fried food in Tijuana is extremely greasy. They're often literally dripped with oil while on your plate.That generally denotes oil that's too cold. When it's too cold the food takes too long to cook and winds up absorbing a lot of oil. My guess is that either the equipment is old and rickety or the cook doesn't know any better because nobody has complained and/or showed him the right way. I know that I always order my fries "bien dorada" and sometimes they come out crispy, but often they don't. Major exception are the potatoes served with the Omelet Arrachera (sp?) at the Ticuan's restaurant. They always seem to come out nice and crispy.

Phordphan
09-07-15, 08:18
Dropped into Chewin's on Thursday, about 2:30. It was very busy, but not like a weekend, when there is a line out the door.

This place is in Otay, not far from the airport. It's near the corner of Limon Padilla and Lazaro Cardenas, in a somewhat dumpy strip center with lots of different restaurants.

They specialize in pescado and filete sarandeando, but they have lots of other dishes.

Pictured here is the molcajete Chewin, which consists of raw shrimp, a few cooked shrimp, octopus and a scallop-like shellfish called a callo, IIRC. It was bathed in a nice citrus sauce, very heavy on lime juice, with red onion, cucumber and bits of tomato. Similar to aguachile, but nowhere near as spicy (and not green). In fact, I thought it was a bit on the bland side but my company requested something not too pico. But I quibble. The seafood was very fresh and very tasty. It needed a bit of salt (they have large shakers of the local grind, which is somewhere between kosher and regular table salt in coarseness) and a dash of hot sauce and it slid down quite nicely. IIRC, about 200 pesos.

But the bomb was the Quesadilla Chewin. These babies are a thick corn tortilla filled with their signature shrimp and cheese and spice mixture. Yes, it shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully. They then fold them over and grill them over their wood-fired grill pit. They come out hot, with a very nice smoky flavor. These, alone, are worth the trip. 45 pesos each.

Not pictured was the cubeta of ficha size beers. 10 for 90 pesos. I could have sworn the menu said 140, but the bill said 90.

An added bonus is the army of very cute meseras.

I can think of worse ways to spend the better part of 2 hours. The bill came to just under 400 pesos.

Afterwards, we repaired to the Motel Ensueno, which is very close-by. Highly recommended if you're in Otay. 340 pesos for a "Sencillo. ".

Jackie888
09-08-15, 18:35
Dropped into Chewin's on Thursday, about 2:30. It was very busy, but not like a weekend, when there is a line out the door.

This place is in Otay, not far from the airport. It's near the corner of Limon Padilla and Lazaro Cardenas, in a somewhat dumpy strip center with lots of different restaurants.

They specialize in pescado and filete sarandeando, but they have lots of other dishes.

Pictured here is the molcajete Chewin, which consists of raw shrimp, a few cooked shrimp, octopus and a scallop-like shellfish called a callo, IIRC. It was bathed in a nice citrus sauce, very heavy on lime juice, with red onion, cucumber and bits of tomato. Similar to aguachile, but nowhere near as spicy (and not green). In fact, I thought it was a bit on the bland side but my company requested something not too pico. But I quibble. The seafood was very fresh and very tasty. It needed a bit of salt (they have large shakers of the local grind, which is somewhere between kosher and regular table salt in coarseness) and a dash of hot sauce and it slid down quite nicely. IIRC, about 200 pesos..Are there any restaurants on the way to the Zona from the border with comparable food to what are in the photos?

Otay is really out of the way even in relatively mild traffic.

Phordphan
09-09-15, 01:39
Are there any restaurants on the way to the Zona from the border with comparable food to what are in the photos?

Otay is really out of the way even in relatively mild traffic.Nope, you're going to have to leave the "safe and secure" confines of the Zona and venture out into the hinterlands, braving cartel shoot-outs and dishonest locals. :D

But, seriously, I haven't seen anything equivalent to Chewin's. Look down a few posts to El Tinieblo. It's next to La Corriente, which has really good mariscos, and would be a good substitute, although they don't have the same grill.

Jackie888
09-09-15, 18:09
Is there anything noteworthy between the Zona and the Playa? One would think that there'd be more seafood restaurants towards the beach.

QuackUp
09-10-15, 00:08
Tried this place the other day. I guess this would be considered new age taco's? All I know the tacos were pretty good. The octopus tacos were great. Here's there link:

http://kokopelli.mx/

Q.

Phordphan
09-10-15, 03:39
Tried this place the other day. I guess this would be considered new age taco's? All I know the tacos were pretty good. The octopus tacos were great. Here's there link:

http://kokopelli.mx/

Q.Ooh. Thanks for the pix! These look great and I'll try them this weekend. I thought that name looked familiar. I've been past it but always on the way to someplace else.

Phordphan
09-10-15, 03:43
Is there anything noteworthy between the Zona and the Playa? One would think that there'd be more seafood restaurants towards the beach.There are tons of great places in Playas. Between the Zona and Playas? Not so much. There are probably some good ones, but it will take a lot of research to find them. Some of that in some pretty dicey neighborhoods.

LOS Arcos (don't know if it's any relation to the one in town) is on the beach and has great ceviche tostadas. Several other places along the waterfront are good, too. It's hard to get bad fish there. Blow 100 pesos for a cab ride to Playas and have a ball. It's worth the trip.

Jackie888
09-13-15, 17:04
It was too hot to take a taxi anywhere on Friday so I settled for the Shrimp coctail. It was decent. They give you just enough shrimps to cure the hunger bug. And it was cold which is great on a blistering hot day. Talked to a waiter there and he tells me there are tons of seafood restaurants in the Playa. Apparently it's easy getting there also as there is a direct highway from the border to the playa. 10 minutes he said. I presume that is not during peak hours.

Phordphan
09-13-15, 22:05
Just a couple of quick pix of a decent place in Playas.

LOS Arcos II is one of several places lining the street near the border fence. They're all up above the beach and all have nice ocean views. It's very popular to grab a chair along the "bar" and eat while watching the goings-on on the beach.

As all of the other joints here, they specialize in seafood. I've yet to try all of the other places, because the ceviche here is so good I usually just gravitate here. The 10 peso ceviche tostada is sort of a tradition around here, and many places advertise them as sort of a loss-leader to get bodies in the door.

The taco pictured here is the taco de camarones enchilados. It's made from shrimp, cheese and spices. It's very tasty, but not in the same league as Chewin's. It's still very good and worth the 30 pesos.

The tostada is their traditional 10 peso ceviche de pescado. It may look a bit small, but it's heaped with very good ceviche. Unless you're starving, it's difficult to eat more than 2 or 3. Worth every centavo.

So, a nice lunch of this taco, this tostada and a couple of cold beers set me back about 100 pesos. About $6 in real money, but with a million-dollar view.

Phordphan
09-13-15, 22:32
Based upon Mr. Q's recommendation, I had to check out Kokopelli.

This one is in Las Palmas, which is conveniently located near absolutely nothing. It's a major PITA to locate, and parking isn't great. But it's worth the drive. The one in Zona Rio is much more convenient.

Anyway, the place is a small open-air affair, like most of the taco places in Tijuana. But the employees were all trendy hipster-types. The waitress had face hardware and a tat sleeve. The head cook had a major Rastafarian thing going.

The menu consists mostly of tacos based upon some sort of fish. I say mostly because there is a section of the menu (not pictured) with their "Experimental" things.

They specialize in several interesting salsas, pictured and with their accompanying descriptions. The Tears of Lucifer is very, very hot. I like extremely spicy stuff, so it wasn't a big problem. But I don't particularly like the taste of habaneros, so I didn't care much for it. The next one, hocico de perro (misspelled as ocico) was still plenty spicy but had enough other flavors from the vinegar and onion, to make it interesting. The Robo de Dante I found a bit boring. The Castigo Azteca, by popular vote, was considered as having the most interesting flavors. The Espuma de Mar was rather sweet, and good on shrimp.

The first taco pic is of the Kraken. It really doesn't present well, but is very good.

The next pic is of two items from the vegetarian page. The top one is the Funky, the bottom the Italiano. Both were based on Portabella mushrooms. The Funky had a sort of Italian Basil leaf which added a nice brightness to the dish. The Italiano was a bit bland, IMHO, but my companion liked it.

The next pic is of one of their experimental items. IIRC, it's the Pambazo de atun. It's smaller than it looks. It's on an extremely soft and tasty pambazo bun. You can kind of see where it's been dipped in the guajillo sauce (the exterior was much redder than it appears in the pic). But, these are extremely soft and not tough, making it perfect for a sandwich of this nature. It has avocado, their special sauce, a couple of cheese tuiles, and the tuna concoction below. Delicious, although a bit messy.

Not pictured were the Gringo en vacacion and the Rasta. My other companion reported that there were very good.

Drinks were sodas and some very good agua de pepino.

My only quibble is that the tacos and tuna thingy had so many layered flavors that the taste of the main ingredient, the fish, was lost. You really couldn't tell if what you were eating was octopus, tuna, or whatever. But, that's a minor quibble.

So, let's see. My 2 items, Companion 1 had 3, Companion 2 had 2 plus a ceviche tostada, and 3 or 4 drinks. Total was just under 400 pesos. Say about $25. Well worth the trip.

Jackie888
09-13-15, 22:56
Any driving tips to avoid the cops and Tijuana Traffic? As I understand it, there is a freeway that is on the edge of Tijuana going around it and the city itself is in the middle. The Zona is the most favorite shakedown area. And cops likes to stop California plates. So in theory I should use the freeway as much as possible and avoid driving in the Zona right?

It's too difficult to visit all the restaurants in a Taxi.

Phordphan
09-14-15, 02:40
Any driving tips to avoid the cops and Tijuana Traffic? As I understand it, there is a freeway that is on the edge of Tijuana going around it and the city itself is in the middle. The Zona is the most favorite shakedown area. And cops likes to stop California plates. So in theory I should use the freeway as much as possible and avoid driving in the Zona right?

It's too difficult to visit all the restaurants in a Taxi.Tijuana has bad traffic, especially on Friday and Saturday. No avoiding that.

The freeway isn't exactly like, say, a beltway where you can circumnavigate the city and hop off at a destination, then hop back on again. You can avoid a lot of the north end of town by using the Via Internacional, and that dumps you onto the Via Rapida, so you could get around that way. But the Zona is smack in the "middle" (not literally) of the old downtown area, and there really is no good way in and out. I find the easiest way to get out is to head up Ninos Heroes to 8th, then over to Sanchez Taboada. From there you can get to anywhere in Zona Rio easily, or get onto the Via Rapida for points east. Reverse course to get back into the Zona. 3rd used to be easier but I stopped during all the construction.

I have no personal evidence that the cops stop CA plates more often in the Zona, but I'm always nervous driving through there at night anyway, so I avoid it. I know that lots of gringos drive into the Zona, get likkered up and then want to drive home. So, my theory is that they stop more in the Zona than elsewhere, looking for potential DUIs.

I don't know if, in general, cops jack up CA plates more often, or not. Lots and lots of locals have cars with CA plates. I have a friend who used to have a car until she blew up the engine. It had CA plates and she thought that CA plates got jacked up more, but it sounded to me like the cops simply assumed that, if you have CA plates, you have more money and can extract larger mordidas.

I've had a few run-ins with the cops while driving. It's been a mixed bag. I got jacked up by a cop in Mexicali when I made a marginal left turn. The local guy just ahead of me did it, but I had CA plates so I'm sure that's why I got stopped. Rocky the Flying Squirrel talked the cop's ear off and I got out of it with a 200 peso tip. Once I got snagged in an alcoholmetrico (or whatever the fuck they call it). That's no fun. I blew a. 04 and walked. Another time I got pulled over leaving La Cueva. I wasn't anywhere near even a. 04 but I really didn't want to fuck with it. After some foxing around and oblique suggestions, and 200 pesos, I walked. However, when I got hit by the bus the transit cop stopped, shook my hand, and tried to explain what my options were, even though he didn't speak a word of English. The Perito guy was very polite and professional. My point is that traffic cops are no picnic, but they' not that bad. My suggestions are that you DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH. Be polite. If he's after a bribe you'll know it and it'll be up to you to pay or go see the judge. Don't act scared (easier said than done). MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR LICENSE AND REGISTRATION. If money is discussed (and it may not be directly addressed) keep it low. 200 pesos seems to be a more than adequate mordida. And, DON"T RIDE DIRTY.

Sorry for the rambling. To answer your question, you can use the "freeway" to the extent possible but it won't be possible to avoid driving on the city streets a lot. In my case, I see everything I want to see during the day and early evening. I don't drink much (couple of beers with a meal) during the day. At night, when the booze starts flowing, the car gets parked and it's 100% taxis.

One last tip, practice during the day. The traffic patterns, especially in the glorietas (round abouts), can be confusing at best. And some of the locals drive as if they had a major death wish.

QuackUp
09-14-15, 03:45
Hey Phord,

Are you part Mexican? LOL! I couldn't handle the pink salsa. I had to wait awhile to cool my tongue down. Glad you and you companions enjoyed the food. I need to stay more than a day trip so I can try out your places at the playas. Keep the recommendations coming.

Phordphan
09-14-15, 05:01
On Paseo de los Heroes, in the Abraham Lincoln glorieta, are several places. La Encomienda and LOS Remedios are sort of twins.

Inside it's lots of dark wood, very masculine, with a style a bit like an old Mexican Hacienda. Lots of wine racks adorn the walls. It was a very pleasant night, so we sat outside. It's nice, but the view is of the parking lot and the street got a bit noisy at times.

They have a very large wine list, mostly from Mexico, with a few Spanish and French labels tossed in for good measure. I've stopped buying bottles of wine at California restaurants due to the insane pricing system that's become the norm lately. Most places now seem to charge between 300% and 400% of retail. I refuse to pay like $80 for a $20 bottle of wine. Fortunately, that trend hasn't gained as much traction in Mexico. The waiter recommended a very nice Vino de Reina Sangiovese from the Valle de San Vicente area. Very nice, for 335 pesos, or about $21. As near as I can tell, that's about a 60% of retail markup, very fair.

We weren't too hungry so we opted for a couple of small plates.

The bread they serve for starters is very interesting. It's dome shaped with a nice crust. It looks all the world like a sourdough or maybe some sort of bolillo. But it has a very coarse crumb and tastes almost identical to a baking powder biscuit. It was delicious.

The casserole-looking thing is their queso fundido. QF in the states is usually some wretched combination of Velveeta and green / red peppers. Ugh. I was very underwhelmed when my companion ordered it. But what showed up was this dish, which had been filled with a mild white cheese (perhaps Oaxacan cheese, but I don't know and forgot to ask), put under the salamander and broiled until it melted and got this wonderful brown caramelized crust on it. Dayum!

Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but the other item is their homemade Chorizo Uruguayo. I'm not exactly sure what all is in it, but this dish, alone, is worth the drive. From LA. In the rain. Yes, it's that good. I think it's mostly pork, with some beef and maybe bacon. Very slightly spicy, very rich and pairs well with the wine.

The trick here is to take a piece of that great bread, put some of the sausage on it, cover it with a blob of that cheese and bliss out. Wash it down with some of the wine. There are certainly worse things to eat in Tijuana.

Oh, the tortillas weren't worth unwrapping. Maybe the most uninspired tortillas I've eaten in Mexico. The flour ones were edible, the corn ones, well...

Total damage was 487 pesos, or about $30, including the wine.

Jackie888
09-26-15, 19:38
How do you guys drive across the border? There are 6 lanes into Mexico, which is the Sentri? Which is the fastest lane? Any tips in avoid pissing off Mexican border patrol when entering, and pissing off American Border Patrol when driving back?

(Yeah I know, no guns and pot).

ItsMeBeyatch
09-27-15, 01:38
I had 2 tostadas de ceviche and 1 shrimp taco with 2 beers to wash it down this Saturday. Worth every penny and mighty good. Keep these reviews coming


Just a couple of quick pix of a decent place in Playas.

LOS Arcos II is one of several places lining the street near the border fence. They're all up above the beach and all have nice ocean views. It's very popular to grab a chair along the "bar" and eat while watching the goings-on on the beach.

As all of the other joints here, they specialize in seafood. I've yet to try all of the other places, because the ceviche here is so good I usually just gravitate here. The 10 peso ceviche tostada is sort of a tradition around here, and many places advertise them as sort of a loss-leader to get bodies in the door.

The taco pictured here is the taco de camarones enchilados. It's made from shrimp, cheese and spices. It's very tasty, but not in the same league as Chewin's. It's still very good and worth the 30 pesos.

The tostada is their traditional 10 peso ceviche de pescado. It may look a bit small, but it's heaped with very good ceviche. Unless you're starving, it's difficult to eat more than 2 or 3. Worth every centavo.

So, a nice lunch of this taco, this tostada and a couple of cold beers set me back about 100 pesos. About $6 in real money, but with a million-dollar view..

Hargow20
09-27-15, 02:20
I am looking for a place in Tijuana that serves lobster Thermidor. ? I found a place in Puerto Nuevo that servers lobster thermidor at a reasonable price. It's a hassle to go visit Puerto Nuevo so I would rather find a place in Tijuana.

Phordphan
09-27-15, 20:22
I had 2 tostadas de ceviche and 1 shrimp taco with 2 beers to wash it down this Saturday. Worth every penny and mighty good. Keep these reviews coming.Thanks. I appreciate the props. Another review next week, I hope.


I am looking for a place in Tijuana that serves lobster Thermidor. ? I found a place in Puerto Nuevo that servers lobster thermidor at a reasonable price. It's a hassle to go visit Puerto Nuevo so I would rather find a place in Tijuana.Lobster Thermidor? Seriously? With the sauce, and the Gruyere cheese and everything? Welcome to 1962! LOL.

Tijuana isn't exactly a hotbed of French cuisine. There are a few places but, AFAIK, none of them serve Lobster Thermidor.

Phordphan
11-16-15, 08:58
I've been lazy in TRs and food info. So, I'll try to catch up this week.

Just a quickie. A couple of weeks back I was leaving Centro after dropping off Miss Scatterbrain. I was hungry but, being a weekday, my favorite hot dog stand on Revu wasn't there. So, I spotted this place and figured I had little to lose. As you exit Centro on Calle 8, you turn right on Sanchez Taboada. This joint is on the right side of the road, before you get to the Pemex station. So, it's right on the way to the SENTRI line.

First, don't let anybody tell you that Tijuana doesn't have good burgers. The beef may not be as good as that in the USA, but, if done properly, it can still be mighty tasty.

They had a sign on the sidewalk with their daily special, in this case the Tradicional (IIRC). I was expecting some small burger with a paper-thin meat patty. Boy, was I surprised.

The picture doesn't do it justice. There was nobody in the joint, being between lunch and dinner, so I couldn't take too many pix without looking like an idiot. So I couldn't get a picture of the insides. Anyway, the burger is huge. It's a very large bun and the thick meat patty fills it up. The meat was well done (I prefer hamburger medium or medium well) but still very juicy, so no problem. The charcoal fire imparted a nice flavor. The burger came with mayonnaise, IIRC a sort of Thousand Island sauce, fresh tomato slices and fresh iceberg lettuce. A pleasant surprise was the small order of fries. They really don't look good in the photo, but they were hot, very crisp and had a good flavor. Far different from the standard Mexican limp greasy things that pass for fries in some places. In fact, I had to compliment the serving lady on how good they were.

I didn't try their drinks, as I had a long drive and didn't want to stop to take a whiz. TMI, I know.

The upshot is that I left pleased and very full. Total damage was 50 pesos plus 10 peso tip. I'd give the burger a solid 7 out of 10. Worth repeating.

Phordphan
11-16-15, 20:01
If you find yourself in Otay, and in need of some really good mariscos, you can do worse than checking out Walter Jr. Technically, it's on the corner of Lazaro Cardenas and Julian Adame Calderon, but Calderon is just a little side street. It fronts onto the semi-paved frontage road that parallels Hwy. 2 that runs south through Otay. It's directly opposite the giant Comercial sign on the other side of the road, and just down the block from Chewin's. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the sign, but it's hard to miss.

The tend to specialize in really fresh shrimp and octopus. The prices are very reasonable.

The taco pictured is pulpo enchilada. Octupus with cheese and spices, which sounds revolting but, in fact, is delicious. They also have camaron enchilada, which is the same thing, but with shrimp. Again, sounds terrible but it's delish. My lunchmate was impressed. Not quite as good as Chewin's, but darn close.

The molcajete is full of aguachile. It looks small, but the bowl was deep and full of raw shrimp marinating in the slightly spicy citrus juice. As you can see, lots of cucumber and red onion. The large is plenty for 2 people. They offer raw shrimp or cooked, so if you're scared of raw shrimp, you'll still have something to eat.

The taco was 28 pesos. The aguachile grande was 125 pesos, only 20 pesos more than the mediana. The beers were 25 pesos. So, with 4 beers the damage was 281 pesos, about $17.50.

Phordphan
11-17-15, 07:35
I finally found a decent pizza place in Tijuana. It's more than decent, it's quite good.

The place is a bit hard to find. It's on the corner of Salinas and Escuadron 201. It's across the Escuadron 201 from LOS Arcos. Google Maps will take you to the back of the place on 201, but you can't get in from there. It's in a dumpy little area with terrible parking. In fact it's mandatory valet, at least on weekends. Maybe every night.

I was looking for a good pizza place, they got pretty good online reviews and it was near my hotel. So, why not? Turned out to be a good call. Rocky the Flying Squirrel and I went on Friday. The joint was packed, with a 20 - 30 minute wait, and I can see why. While we were waiting I watched the chefs hand-stretch the pizza dough, always a good sign. It was dark and hard to get pix. I got one of part of the menu, and another of part of the wine list. The list was pretty extensive, but rather pricey, by Mexican standards. My guess is that it's somewhere between 200% - 300% of retail.

We ordered 2 pizzas to go because neither of us wanted to wait for a table. When we got back to the room and dug in I was very pleasantly surprised. They have a stone pizza oven, and they obviously know how to use it. The heart of a good pizza is the crust and that's where most of the Tijuana pizzas have problems. Horneo doesn't have that problem. The crust was thin, but not cracker-like. The edges were nicely charred. What I really liked was the yeasty flavor of the crust. Had I been able to eat it when it was fresh I think it would have scored a 9. 5 out of 10. It had become a tad soggy by the time we got it back to the room, but that's not their fault.

The large one is their Fugazzeta Especial. It has white onion cured with olive oil and lots of oregano, strips of roasted red chili pepper and slices of prosciutto. Delicious. The small one was pepperoni and mushroom. Again, very good flavors. Minor quibble, could have used a bit more cheese, and the tomato sauce is a bit bland. Small quibbles, to be sure.

I think the large was 125 pesos, the small was 85. Well worth the money. They have an extensive pizza menu with lots of interesting combinations, so you won't get bored. Next time I think we'll get the 5 cheeses one.

Jackie888
11-17-15, 18:49
Nice Authentic ones.I'm going to try this too. Glad it is made well done. There is no way I am eating ground beef medium rare especially in Mexico.

Phordphan
11-18-15, 09:26
Maybe this belongs in the Ensenada thread, but that thread is totally dead. "Thread's dead, baby!" <groan!

I try to hit every AB site, in as many countries as possible. So, here's one:

If you want some of the very best ceviche on the planet, here it is. I think AB's term was Michelin-class. The middle-aged lady who runs it is justifiably famous. You see her on Mexican TV, US TV sometimes, and her stand has pix of her with all the famous Mexican chefs, as well AB and Rick Bayless.

Anyway, this tiny little ceviche cart, located on the corner of Lopez Mateos and Alvarado, serves up some of the best ceviche I've ever eaten, at unbelievably low prices. There is a line from morning until they run out of stuff, around dusk.

The white tostada pictured is the Ensalada de jaiba con callo de hacha. It was very good, but a bit bland for me and, at 70 pesos, there are better things. It was still delicious, and others were snarfing it up, so I may have been in the minority.

In the picture with two tostadas, the one of the left is the La Guerrerense, the one on the right is the Almeja. I have no idea what's in the La Guerrerense. Clams, fish, who knows what else? It's slightly sweet and addictive. The almeja is clams, onion, cilantro, citrus and, again, highly addictive. They don't present particularly well, but they are worth every centavo of the measly 18 peso price. They are expert at blending the various flavors together to make something simple, but delicioius.

This place alone is almost worth the drive to Ensenada. If you're going, make sure to stop here. Go early because they run out of everything by afternoon. I couldn't help myself and I went back in the afternoon and all they had was the almeja. Not that it was a bad thing. You could certainly do worse.

I apologize for not being able to sample more. After those 3 items I could eat no more. As I said, I went back later in the day, but virtually everything was gone. Next time...

Jackie888
11-30-15, 19:37
What is a very good dish to order while in Tijuana (other than tacos and burritos) that no restaurant can screw up?

Phordphan
12-01-15, 09:49
What is a very good dish to order while in Tijuana (other than tacos and burritos) that no restaurant can screw up?Huevos con chorizo.

If you'll be a bit more specific as to the type of food and what part of town you're willing to go to, I might be able to offer better information.

Jackie888
12-01-15, 20:21
Huevos con chorizo.

If you'll be a bit more specific as to the type of food and what part of town you're willing to go to, I might be able to offer better information.On foot, from the bridge to the Church on LOS Heros to HK, I want to stop at every decent (doesn't need to be the best) eatery and try something new on every visit.

Phordphan
12-03-15, 09:47
On foot, from the bridge to the Church on LOS Heros to HK, I want to stop at every decent (doesn't need to be the best) eatery and try something new on every visit.You're pretty much SOL if that's the only area.

There is a taco cart on 2nd and Madero, NW corner (not the SW corner) that has probably the best al pastor I've eaten. They are there at night, until they run out. They are also dirt cheap.

If you can venture outside of the zona, barely, during the day, the very best birria de res tacos are on 4th and Ninos Heroes. SW corner. You can't miss it due to the mobs surrounding it.

The rabbit warren of food shops in the "food court" next to the church will yield some good, home-style Mexican food.

There is some interesting food in Colectivo 9, Revu and 6th, west side.

Chiki Jai has great tapas. 7th and Revu, NE corner.

That's about it within walking distance. You'll have to scrounge up some courage and venture into the more dangerous parts of Tijuana, like the Zona Gastronimico, to get some of the really good stuff. Take a date.

Captain Solo
12-03-15, 18:37
The area you described is the Grand Ma track.

Not much is decent there, except perhaps the rotten and drippy crotches of street walkers and old Mexican women.

La Perla is a very good sea food restaurant, but the rest of the other seafood on Primera and 8th street just smell horrible with lots of dead fish. How the hell can you eat anything in places like that?


On foot, from the bridge to the Church on LOS Heros to HK, I want to stop at every decent (doesn't need to be the best) eatery and try something new on every visit.

Phordphan
01-02-16, 21:50
I'd been wanting to try this place for quite a while but the stars never aligned. One weekend in November they did.

The place is located near Office Depot, just down the street from the delicious taco truck Tacos Aaron. Those of you who are brave enough to venture into Zona Rio will know exactly where this is.

They have a large menu, but they have a lot of different breakfasts, which is what I wanted. I have included a pic of the Desayuno menu.

My companion ordered the mushroom omelet, which was very light, cooked properly and tasty. She digs 'shrooms and said it was very good.

Mine was the Jarocha. Unfortunately it does not present well. In fact, it looks a bit off-putting. But looks can be deceiving. It consists of 3 small corn tortillas filled with the fluffiest omelet I can recall outside of a Waffle House (and that's a compliment). One of the three also had cheese within. They are covered with a puree of frijoles negros, and crumbled grilled chorizo on top. Everything is accompanied by some chilaquiles, some delicious roast potatoes and some chicharron. The chicharron had a very good taste, but being a gringo the texture was intolerable. LOL.

No pictured was the fresh OJ, very good. The coffee was also excellent.

It's probably a 50 or 60 peso cab ride from Centro. So, if one is willing to ignore the headless bodies in the street, if one can dodge the bullets from the narco gun battles on every corner of the Zona Rio, if one isn't scared of running the gauntlet of cops lined up along Paseo de LOS Heroes waiting to shake down gringos, then this place is absolutely worth a visit for food that you can't get elsewhere.

ItsXJustXJizz
01-28-16, 18:32
Any driving tips to avoid the cops and Tijuana Traffic? As I understand it, there is a freeway that is on the edge of Tijuana going around it and the city itself is in the middle. The Zona is the most favorite shakedown area. And cops likes to stop California plates. So in theory I should use the freeway as much as possible and avoid driving in the Zona right?

It's too difficult to visit all the restaurants in a Taxi.I recently moved to playas, so I've been doing a lot of driving and exploring and so far the only experiences I've had with federales or transitos (traffic cops) was a DUI checkpoint and my buddy getting pulled over for talking on the phone, he actually got a ticket. But it's actually super cheap to take uber in Tijuana. You basically get local taxi prices. For example my Amiga who is from Tijuana pays about $80 mxn from libertad Tijuana to my apartment in playas, for that same trip for me they would try to charge 180 mxn even with my knowledge of prices and decent Spanish but when I took uber from my apartment to otay border I only paid 125 mxn, which depending on the time of day you could get charged anywhere from 10 to 20 usd.

Captain Solo
02-22-16, 23:02
This is a good tip.

After eating a few La Zona's pussies, I always wanted to find some good restaurants outside of La Zona, but I just hate the haggling with taxi drivers and the their costs are too high to go for meals. So I will try to order UBER drivers for short rides to El Centro for better food than those pissy carts around La Zona.

I just found Tito Mariscos on O'Campo and Calle 6. Damn. Their sea food was so good and so cheap. They serve large and fresh shrimps, not the tiny type in LA Zona. 4 large dishes cost me 105 pesos which was $5. 50. I was full after 1 shrimp taco and a soup, and had to pack 2/3 of the lunch to go. Will try to find more good eat places near downtown.

Is there a Mexican equivalent of UBER?

Mexican taxi drivers are very rough. In Mexico City they attacked UBER drivers with clubs and rocks, breaking glasses and beating up drivers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948Jn3ggJUQ


I recently moved to playas, so I've been doing a lot of driving and exploring and so far the only experiences I've had with federales or transitos (traffic cops) was a DUI checkpoint and my buddy getting pulled over for talking on the phone, he actually got a ticket. But it's actually super cheap to take uber in Tijuana. You basically get local taxi prices. For example my Amiga who is from Tijuana pays about $80 mxn from libertad Tijuana to my apartment in playas, for that same trip for me they would try to charge 180 mxn even with my knowledge of prices and decent Spanish but when I took uber from my apartment to otay border I only paid 125 mxn, which depending on the time of day you could get charged anywhere from 10 to 20 usd.

Captain Solo
02-23-16, 02:35
On the way in on Calle 3 at O'Campo at the pintura paint shop, tell the cab driver to turn left and take you to Tito Mariscos on calle 6. It's on the East side. The cab driver should know where it is, cannot miss.

The place is nice, fairly clean, smelling good. Their seafood is so much better than La Perla, and the portions are huge. Their shrimps are large size, not the small ones in La Perla. I was hungry so ordered 2 tacos, 1 Shrimp tossed salad and 1 soup. I was full after 1 taco and the soup. Had to pack the rest to go. 4 dishes, the bill came to 105 pesos or $5. 50.

I will come back to this place with a 6-pack of cold beer or a bottle of wine.


On foot, from the bridge to the Church on LOS Heros to HK, I want to stop at every decent (doesn't need to be the best) eatery and try something new on every visit.

EagleRoamer
03-02-16, 06:59
Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla?

Thanks in advance.

Long Don Silva
03-02-16, 22:16
Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla?

Thanks in advance.My very limited experience is that the price quoted on the menu is what I've paid. No added tax.

ScatManDoo
03-02-16, 23:33
Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla?

Thanks in advance.There is a tax (an IVA tax) on prepared food served in restaurants. However you may or may not be charged a separately stated (IVA or sales type of) tax on your restaurant check. Many restaurants include (absorb) the tax in their menu prices, so it may seem like there's no tax. If you see tax separately stated as an add-on in some restaurants, it most likely is not a scam.

If you want to appear like a local, you won't tip waiters or waitresses at all. Tipping is not customary for many restaurant customers in Mexico. I tip around 10% for good service, and less for poor service in Tijuana. Even my tips, which are small by USA Standards, appear to be greatly appreciated in places I frequent.

Phordphan
03-03-16, 07:27
Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla?

Thanks in advance.


There is a tax (an IVA tax) on prepared food served in restaurants. However you may or may not be charged a separately stated (IVA or sales type of) tax on your restaurant check. Many restaurants include (absorb) the tax in their menu prices, so it may seem like there's no tax. If you see tax separately stated as an add-on in some restaurants, it most likely is not a scam.

If you want to appear like a local, you won't tip waiters or waitresses at all. Tipping is not customary for many restaurant customers in Mexico. I tip around 10% for good service, and less for poor service in Tijuana. Even my tips, which are small by USA Standards, appear to be greatly appreciated in places I frequent.Yes, as SMD said, the Mexican VAT applies to restaurants (and just about everything else you buy). Many of the "nicer" places have menu prices that include IVA, then on the bill the items will have oddball prices (excluding IVA) and then the IVA broken out separately on the bill. On rare occasions you may see an item with full menu price, and then IVA added on top. Usually the menu states somewhere that the prices include IVA.

Unfortunately, due to Tijuana's proximity to the USA, tipping has become endemic. At most places now, if you use a credit card, there is a line for Propina. Often, if you choose to pay by CC, the guy brings a portable machine to your table, scans your card, then asks you if you wish to add a tip, and, if so, what percentage. Very weird and a bit off-putting.

My rule of thumb is at nicer places I'll do 10%, maaaayyybeeeee 15% if it's an outstanding meal with outstanding service. 10% is always appreciated, anything more is greatly appreciated. Yes, it feels like being a cheapskate in the USA, but it's not. At local joints you either don't tip at all, or leave a couple of coins, like 10 or 15 pesos. It's a very tough habit to break and I'm always asking my companions about correct tip amounts, and I feel like a total pinche codo when I put down the equivalent of $1.00 or $1.50 for meal in a semi-casual joint, but that's the way it's done.

10% is plenty at La Perla.

LifeIsABeach
03-03-16, 08:10
Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla? Thanks in advance.If there is a sales tax, I have never seen at any time additional to the price of the food. Regarding tipping, as others have said, it's been brought over from USA. When I go to MX or any other other country, I go to spend money. So, I always tip in dollars, regardless of the exchange rate even though I may never see the waiter again in the bar. There usually is bad service but I do not want to fret over small change and just have fun. It's up to you and you can always tip less. The person I least I want to tip is the guy in the bathrooms who takes away the paper towles and hands you a piece expecting a tip. I could easily rear a paper towel myself.

Captain Solo
03-03-16, 11:38
La Perla is a fairly fancy restaurant and the service is very good. There is a skinny, good-looking, smiling blonde who has been working there many years. The poor young girls have to work very hard. They would crack a big smile when they see a good tip. So I usually tip 20%.

The friends from China all wanted to take pictures with these blondes to show off to their friends at home. She was always complying and smiling graciously, so I have to be more generous with propinas to her. These guys from China are used to women acting cold and reserve, lest they be known as sluts. So they were delighted with the warmth, fun and friendliness by La Perla's waitresses.

In less fancy restaurants I would tip 10% if the restaurants have no waiters, I would not tip at all.


Are there additional sales tax on the amounts posted in the menu, and what is the norm when it comes to tipping in the restaurant, such as La Perla?

Thanks in advance.

HorseTrader
03-03-16, 15:47
The person I least I want to tip is the guy in the bathrooms who takes away the paper towles and hands you a piece expecting a tip. I could easily rear a paper towel myself.I tip that guy because he keeps the bathroom spotlessly clean. Very small tip, perhaps a quarter or a 5 peso coin. Sometimes more or less, depending on what I pull out of my pocket.

Sometimes they keep the tip box empty except for a dollar taped to the bottom, perhaps to make small tippers feel cheap.

Jackie888
03-04-16, 03:15
I generally tip 100 pesos or $1 per person for food served. So if it's only me, it's $1. If I'm with a girl, it's 2 x. If it's poor food or service, no tips. If it's a purely local restaurant that serves only Locals, no tip because locals don't tip. Bathroom attendants get a quarter unless I use products such as hairspray, then it's 100 pesos or $1. If they make a face when they see only a quarter, then I stop tipping.

At the bar, bartenders get no tip. In the clubs, waiters get $1 unless they're pushy or take a girl's drink prematurely (they love to do this) then no tip just to make it crystal clear who's the boss.

Captain Solo
03-04-16, 05:53
You should count your money again. 100 P is more like $5 not $1. Perhaps you mean the 20-peso notes.

You should tip the bathroom attendants because he has to pay for that job, keep the joint clean, then hope to make it back in tips. The guy in Adelita is very rude and aggressive. I give him minimum.

HK's bar tenders are on salaries. They don't work for tips. Any tips given to them go straight into the boss' fat pocket. So I don't tip bar tenders.

You seem to have the right attitudes about tipping.


I generally tip 100 pesos or $1 per person for food served. So if it's only me, it's $1. If I'm with a girl, it's 2 x. If it's poor food or service, no tips. If it's a purely local restaurant that serves only Locals, no tip because locals don't tip. Bathroom attendants get a quarter unless I use products such as hairspray, then it's 100 pesos or $1. If they make a face when they see only a quarter, then I stop tipping.

At the bar, bartenders get no tip. In the clubs, waiters get $1 unless they're pushy or take a girl's drink prematurely (they love to do this) then no tip just to make it crystal clear who's the boss.

Jackie888
03-04-16, 18:12
Typo. It's 10 pesos tipping, not 100 pesos.

Phordphan
03-04-16, 21:28
I generally tip 100 pesos or $1 per person for food served. So if it's only me, it's $1. If I'm with a girl, it's 2 x. If it's poor food or service, no tips. If it's a purely local restaurant that serves only Locals, no tip because locals don't tip. Bathroom attendants get a quarter unless I use products such as hairspray, then it's 100 pesos or $1. If they make a face when they see only a quarter, then I stop tipping.

At the bar, bartenders get no tip. In the clubs, waiters get $1 unless they're pushy or take a girl's drink prematurely (they love to do this) then no tip just to make it crystal clear who's the boss.If you're handing out 100 peso notes like $1 bills, no wonder you're popular. :D

$1 is fine for Zona eateries. It's absolutely not for more upscale places.

And to say that locals don't tip is actually untrue. Locals tip for lots of things, but they don't tip like gringos.

The guy who directs traffic and "helps" you back out of your parking space at any one of a bazillion strip malls around town expects, and gets, a small tip. They guy who bags your groceries gets a small tip. In many cases their entire livelihood consists of these tips and if they had to rely on tips from gringos they'd starve.

The biggest difference is that gringos toss money to anybody within shouting distance. Locals tip peso coins, in smaller amounts, and the tipping is more "targeted. " Locals know who to tip and who not to tip.

ScatManDoo
03-04-16, 22:36
The biggest difference is that gringos toss money to anybody within shouting distance. Locals tip peso coins, in smaller amounts, and the tipping is more "targeted. " Locals know who to tip and who not to tip.When I check into a hotel room in Tijuana for an overnight stay, I typically tip the desk clerk 5 or 10 pesos. My friends in Tijuana are always suggesting to me to cease that practice (but I won't, primarily because I want a lot of cooperation from the person manning that post).

A post by Jackie has me thinking: I've always tipped bartenders who serve me drinks at the bar the same way as I tip the waiters (10% to 45% due to numerous variables).

Am I messing up by doing that?

I understand that a bartender is performing essentially the same services whether they serve me directly, or serve my waiter (for which bartenders get no tip).

I'd be interested in people's opinions here.

Phordphan
03-05-16, 01:11
When I check into a hotel room in Tijuana for an overnight stay, I typically tip the desk clerk 5 or 10 pesos. My friends in Tijuana are always suggesting to me to cease that practice (but I won't, primarily because I want a lot of cooperation from the person manning that post).

A post by Jackie has me thinking: I've always tipped bartenders who serve me drinks at the bar the same way as I tip the waiters (10% to 45% due to numerous variables).

Am I messing up by doing that?

I understand that a bartender is performing essentially the same services whether they serve me directly, or serve my waiter (for which bartenders get no tip).

I'd be interested in people's opinions here.In my case, I treat the bartenders and the bar waiters (not restaurant waiters) the same. 10 pesos per round. That may be a bit on the generous side, and lots of local bartenders don't really expect it (tipping the bartender is just a habit that is extremely hard to break). The meseros appreciate it. Occasionally I think they expect something larger due to my pasty white skin. But it's a rare day indeed when I pay for anything in Tijuana with greenbacks.

Sometimes it pays to bit a bit more generous. A couple of weeks ago Rocky the Flying Squirrel wanted to go to a particular club. The mesero wanted to sit us away from the stage. Rocky said no and wanted a reserved table close to the stage. He acquiesced, so for the first round I think I gave him 50 pesos for the round and for the nice table. He really appreciated that and was extremely attentive all night (not pushy, just attentive). I watched him chase away some other mesero who tried to poach us. In this case, 10 pesos was a bit more than 10%, but I couldn't bring myself to tip 5 pesos. But if there had been 3 or 4 of us, it still would have been 10 pesos per round.

So, I don't think you're messing up by tipping the bar staff a bit. 45% sounds a bit steep, but I'm sure there were good reasons.

Jackie888
03-05-16, 01:16
When I check into a hotel room in Tijuana for an overnight stay, I typically tip the desk clerk 5 or 10 pesos. My friends in Tijuana are always suggesting to me to cease that practice (but I won't, primarily because I want a lot of cooperation from the person manning that post).

A post by Jackie has me thinking: I've always tipped bartenders who serve me drinks at the bar the same way as I tip the waiters (10% to 45% due to numerous variables).

Am I messing up by doing that?

I understand that a bartender is performing essentially the same services whether they serve me directly, or serve my waiter (for which bartenders get no tip).

I'd be interested in people's opinions here.Me personally, it comes down to my personal relationship with each person. If I like them, I tip them. My favorite waiters also provide the latest news such as who the new girls are, which one is a *****, which to avoid. What time my favorite is scheduled to work, where cops are shaking people down, etc. What areas I should avoid. And I often share one of my 2 for 1 beer with them. Well OK, I also took one waitress arriba. But as a result, I've ran into waiters over at Valentina Bar who bought me a drink. Funny world. Bartenders on the other hand, contribute nothing extra. If one day they contribute something, then I would tip.

LifeIsABeach
03-05-16, 06:31
A post by Jackie has me thinking: I've always tipped bartenders who serve me drinks at the bar the same way as I tip the waiters (10% to 45% due to numerous variables). Am I messing up by doing that? I understand that a bartender is performing essentially the same services whether they serve me directly, or serve my waiter (for which bartenders get no tip). I'd be interested in people's opinions here.I treat bartenders the same as waiters. I tip everybody. As I am only there for two nights, I do not bother changing dollars to pesos even though the exchange rate is quite good. For the two bears that come with a single order, I tip USD 1. 00. It's rare that I get to see the waiter ever again after the tip. I do not tip the staff at the hotel I stay as I have know the people there for years. Normally at Christmas, I give them gifts and also get a couple of bottles of brandy etc and every body drinks. I may over tip in restaurants as it is my habit. For even a small bill under USD 10.00, I may tip USD 2-3. 00.

ItsXJustXJizz
03-17-16, 03:22
This is a good tip.

After eating a few La Zona's pussies, I always wanted to find some good restaurants outside of La Zona, but I just hate the haggling with taxi drivers and the their costs are too high to go for meals. So I will try to order UBER drivers for short rides to El Centro for better food than those pissy carts around La Zona.

I just found Tito Mariscos on O'Campo and Calle 6. Damn. Their sea food was so good and so cheap. They serve large and fresh shrimps, not the tiny type in LA Zona. 4 large dishes cost me 105 pesos which was $5. 50. I was full after 1 shrimp taco and a soup, and had to pack 2/3 of the lunch to go. Will try to find more good eat places near downtown.

Is there a Mexican equivalent of UBER?

Mexican taxi drivers are very rough. In Mexico City they attacked UBER drivers with clubs and rocks, breaking glasses and beating up drivers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948Jn3ggJUQFor mariscos, my favorite spot hands down is la ola in zona rio. You can Google map it and it will come up. They have marlin burritos that are out of this world, as well as the best shrimp tacos ala diabla. There is another restaurant that is awesome called jaggers in zona rio, also on Google maps directly on Paseo de Los Heroes. I had a steak in red wine sauce, with baked potato for about $9. 50 usd. And jaggers also has a great selection of craft beers.

ItsXJustXJizz
03-17-16, 03:31
In my case, I treat the bartenders and the bar waiters (not restaurant waiters) the same. 10 pesos per round. That may be a bit on the generous side, and lots of local bartenders don't really expect it (tipping the bartender is just a habit that is extremely hard to break). The meseros appreciate it. Occasionally I think they expect something larger due to my pasty white skin. But it's a rare day indeed when I pay for anything in Tijuana with greenbacks.

Sometimes it pays to bit a bit more generous. A couple of weeks ago Rocky the Flying Squirrel wanted to go to a particular club. The mesero wanted to sit us away from the stage. Rocky said no and wanted a reserved table close to the stage. He acquiesced, so for the first round I think I gave him 50 pesos for the round and for the nice table. He really appreciated that and was extremely attentive all night (not pushy, just attentive). I watched him chase away some other mesero who tried to poach us. In this case, 10 pesos was a bit more than 10%, but I couldn't bring myself to tip 5 pesos. But if there had been 3 or 4 of us, it still would have been 10 pesos per round.

So, I don't think you're messing up by tipping the bar staff a bit. 45% sounds a bit steep, but I'm sure there were good reasons.I always tip 20 pesos, which is basically a dollar. Whether is getting my car washed, or getting food. 20 pesos is usually appreciated no matter what the circumstance. But I tend to do more drinking in bars like el copeo on revo, and get my beers by the bucket, so I give them 20 pesos for every 6 beers (90 mxn /5 usd per bucket).

LukeSkywalker
03-17-16, 07:44
Both places look good.

Will try them when I go to Tijuana on weekends.

Thanks for the tip.


For mariscos, my favorite spot hands down is la ola in zona rio. You can Google map it and it will come up. They have marlin burritos that are out of this world, as well as the best shrimp tacos ala diabla. There is another restaurant that is awesome called jaggers in zona rio, also on Google maps directly on Paseo de Los Heroes. I had a steak in red wine sauce, with baked potato for about $9. 50 usd. And jaggers also has a great selection of craft beers.

Jackie888
03-26-16, 19:48
What are the decent restaurants for fish tacos near the Arc? I know that it's a tourist trap area, nevertheless convenient for those like me who like to nose around that tourist area before strolling to the Zona.

Phordphan
03-27-16, 03:32
What are the decent restaurants for fish tacos near the Arc? I know that it's a tourist trap area, nevertheless convenient for those like me who like to nose around that tourist area before strolling to the Zona.Fish taco cart, 3rd and Negrete. About 4 blocks from the arch. Look for the crowd of locals. Closes about dusk.

La Corriente, la cevecheria nais for more upscale surroundings. 6th and Madero. About 7 blocks from the arch.

Jackie888
04-04-16, 17:42
Fish taco cart, 3rd and Negrete. About 4 blocks from the arch. Look for the crowd of locals. Closes about dusk.

La Corriente, la cevecheria nais for more upscale surroundings. 6th and Madero. About 7 blocks from the arch.Cool, I'm going to try this. But it's real fish and not the breaded McDonalds fish filet right?

Phordphan
04-05-16, 02:23
Cool, I'm going to try this. But it's real fish and not the breaded McDonalds fish filet right?Oh, puhleeze. Do you think locals would mob a taco cart for a Filet-O-Fish? This is Mexico.

Phordphan
04-24-16, 19:55
Friday evening and I decided to check out a few of the craft beer purveyors. Luckily there are several within easy crawling distance of each other. So, armed with my Uber-equipped phone, and Rocky the Flying Squirrel in tow, I set off.

The first up was Azteca. It's a small place, accessed by entering Pajase Revolucion (between 3rd and 4th, east side of Revu) and going down a couple flights of stairs, in the "back. " Friendly bartender, poured tastes of what they had on tap. I had the coffee IPA, RtFS the Blonde Ale. Blonde Ales are a bit weak for my taste, although this one was decent. The coffee IPA was suitable hoppy, with the flavor of, well, coffee. Not bad. They have a couple of outside tables, some what appear to be small-batch potato chips (20 p) as bar snacks and a menu from the burger place across the street at Colectivo 9 if you want a burger delivered. We shot the shit with the barkeep for a while, finished our beers and headed for the next joint. 95 pesos in damages.

Next up, Bajabrewlabs, is conveniently located in the same floor as Azteca, just a few steps away. It's a much larger venue, with a Ping-Pong table, a TV, several chairs in secluded nooks, a kitchen and a small bar. I didn't get a picture of the fantastic burger that went past, on its way to another patron, but I was assured that the in-house chef was very good. If it tasted as good as it looked, then it was delicious. But, I digress. In addition to the food they have a rotating stock of beer, as seen on the menu board. After sampling each, RtFS and I settled on the Conejo, their version of a Pale Ale. Very hoppy, very drinkable, with a strong scent and flavor of pine. Probably my favorite of the evening. I got to chatting with the cute bartender (born in SD and just helping out her friend who owns / runs the joint) about traveling, Anthony Bourdain, Thai food, etc. , until RtFS started kicking me because she felt left out. So, on to the next stop. 120 pesos damages.

Next stop was Mamut, just a few steps down 3rd, west of Revu. I thought I had pix, but they don't seem to exist. I guess if you can't document it, it never happened. But it did. I had a pint of their version of an IPA, rather dark and reminiscent of Bohemia Dark, RtFS whatever blonde ale they had. We hit the balcony but soon came back inside due to one of us being "cold. " No matter, shortly thereafter the clock struck midnight, a guy came around and poured our beers into to-go cups, and summarily turfed us out. 100 pesos in damages.

Back up on Revu we spied the sign for La Especial, a beer and coffee place, wandered in and grabbed a couple of barstools. Nice bilingual barlady, she assisted with the beer selection. This one is a somewhat hoppy Pale Ale, drinkable, but without some of the character of the previous brews. They also had some nice, spicy popcorn as a bar snack. Don't remember the prices, slightly higher than the other places. You're paying for the ambiance, which was nicer than the other places, which are a bit on the Spartan side. But the object is good beer, so I'm willing to put up with a bit of Spartan-ness.

Next stop was a trip to the old Peanuts & Beer which is a tequila bar and dance venue, and has nothing to do with craft beer. They have a nice balcony, a decent but overly loud sound system, the beers are 25 pesos IIRC. We took a break and had a Tecate Light and danced a bit. There was some serious eye candy. I took a brief video of a couple of girls with painted-on jeans and asses that just wouldn't quit. But I don't think I can post it here. I took a still, but the lighting was poor, it's a bit out of focus and it makes her look like a whale. I'll post it anyway, but it really doesn't do her backside justice at all.

It was time to get out of the loud music. Unfortunately, I was looped enough to think that a trip to Kentucky Fried Buches was a good idea. We Ubered over but, luckily, it was closed. So, we opted for tacos at the stand right outside of Playboy. I recommend the al Pastor quesadilla, and they have a kick-ass chorizo. After hoovering up several tacos, it was time to head for the barn. RtFS was hammered and wandering off. Mr. Uber was kind enough to drop us at the hotel.

The take-away is that I will return to Bajabrewlabs for the beer and Mamut for the balcony.

LifeIsABeach
04-24-16, 20:36
What are the decent restaurants for fish tacos near the Arc? I know that it's a tourist trap area, nevertheless convenient for those like me who like to nose around that tourist area before strolling to the Zona.Walk down 2nd street West up to the big Church. Turn right and on the left is a seafood place and they also serve fish tacos.

TJ2015
04-24-16, 21:25
Friday evening and I decided to check out a few of the craft beer purveyors. Luckily there are several within easy crawling distance of each other. So, armed with my Uber-equipped phone, and Rocky the Flying Squirrel in tow, I set off.

The first up was Azteca. It's a small place, accessed by entering Pajase Revolucion (between 3rd and 4th, east side of Revu) and going down a couple flights of stairs, in the "back. " Friendly bartender, poured tastes of what they had on tap. I had the coffee IPA, RtFS the Blonde Ale. Blonde Ales are a bit weak for my taste, although this one was decent. The coffee IPA was suitable hoppy, with the flavor of, well, coffee. Not bad. They have a couple of outside tables, some what appear to be small-batch potato chips (20 p) as bar snacks and a menu from the burger place across the street at Colectivo 9 if you want a burger delivered. We shot the shit with the barkeep for a while, finished our beers and headed for the next joint. 95 pesos in damages.

Next up, Bajabrewlabs, is conveniently located in the same floor as Azteca, just a few steps away. It's a much larger venue, with a Ping-Pong table, a TV, several chairs in secluded nooks, a kitchen and a small bar. I didn't get a picture of the fantastic burger that went past, on its way to another patron, but I was assured that the in-house chef was very good. If it tasted as good as it looked, then it was delicious. But, I digress. In addition to the food they have a rotating stock of beer, as seen on the menu board. After sampling each, RtFS and I settled on the Conejo, their version of a Pale Ale. Very hoppy, very drinkable, with a strong scent and flavor of pine. Probably my favorite of the evening. I got to chatting with the cute bartender (born in SD and just helping out her friend who owns / runs the joint) about traveling, Anthony Bourdain, Thai food, etc. , until RtFS started kicking me because she felt left out. So, on to the next stop. 120 pesos damages.

Next stop was Mamut, just a few steps down 3rd, west of Revu. I thought I had pix, but they don't seem to exist. I guess if you can't document it, it never happened. But it did. I had a pint of their version of an IPA, rather dark and reminiscent of Bohemia Dark, RtFS whatever blonde ale they had. We hit the balcony but soon came back inside due to one of us being "cold. " No matter, shortly thereafter the clock struck midnight, a guy came around and poured our beers into to-go cups, and summarily turfed us out. 100 pesos in damages.

Back up on Revu we spied the sign for La Especial, a beer and coffee place, wandered in and grabbed a couple of barstools. Nice bilingual barlady, she assisted with the beer selection. This one is a somewhat hoppy Pale Ale, drinkable, but without some of the character of the previous brews. They also had some nice, spicy popcorn as a bar snack. Don't remember the prices, slightly higher than the other places. You're paying for the ambiance, which was nicer than the other places, which are a bit on the Spartan side. But the object is good beer, so I'm willing to put up with a bit of Spartan-ness.

Next stop was a trip to the old Peanuts & Beer which is a tequila bar and dance venue, and has nothing to do with craft beer. They have a nice balcony, a decent but overly loud sound system, the beers are 25 pesos IIRC. We took a break and had a Tecate Light and danced a bit. There was some serious eye candy. I took a brief video of a couple of girls with painted-on jeans and asses that just wouldn't quit. But I don't think I can post it here. I took a still, but the lighting was poor, it's a bit out of focus and it makes her look like a whale. I'll post it anyway, but it really doesn't do her backside justice at all.

It was time to get out of the loud music. Unfortunately, I was looped enough to think that a trip to Kentucky Fried Buches was a good idea. We Ubered over but, luckily, it was closed. So, we opted for tacos at the stand right outside of Playboy. I recommend the al Pastor quesadilla, and they have a kick-ass chorizo. After hoovering up several tacos, it was time to head for the barn. RtFS was hammered and wandering off. Mr. Uber was kind enough to drop us at the hotel.

The take-away is that I will return to Bajabrewlabs for the beer and Mamut for the balcony.I would love some good IPA in HK, maybe a Sculpin or West Coast.

Sound7
04-25-16, 20:12
Opens late 8 pm for clubbing crowd. Has anyone been there lately.

Best Pizza slice. A slice is quarter of the 13 inch whole pizza. Four variety available.

Sorry no Pic.

TJ2015
04-26-16, 05:08
Opens late 8 pm for clubbing crowd. Has anyone been there lately.

Best Pizza slice. A slice is quarter of the 13 inch whole pizza. Four variety available.

Sorry no Pic.Do they deliver to HK?

Phordphan
04-26-16, 07:09
Do they deliver to HK?It's tiny hole in the wall with a counter facing the street. It smells very good, but doesn't look that great. I don't think they deliver to HK or anywhere else. You'll have to venture out into the wilds and associate with dangerous Mexicans.

Captain Solo
04-26-16, 16:46
Each slice of pizza is delivered to your room in hotel Cascada by a naked, nubile, pretty, horny girls, who will jump on you and beg to offer her passionate sexuality for free.

Just wait patiently in your hotel room for her to show up.


Do they deliver to HK?

Sound7
04-26-16, 20:01
Good short physical description of the place quoted below. The counter is OSB and steel stud material, avoid eating reheat, cold and delivery. Wait for the fresh oven slice. Well worth it.

A real lifetime activity it you love pizza and more so the very thin margarita. Total mouth watering experience.

My favorite slice is the Margarita slice. They do serve soft drinks and juice only. No beer bottles or drinks in the street.

When It gets crowded one has to eat in the Clubbing street, 6th Avenue. Capacity for 10 standing like in a bar. True Italian St. Magarita pizza place. Has two wonderful sauces to add to the pizza other than the standard. Wait for the fresh oven slice and not the reheat. Mouth watering and wonderful fresh smelling. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday after 8 pm.

Opposite and slightly up the road towards revolu is a tequila and mexcail place, Mexican fire power available too.

Yes the place is a true Hole-in-the-wall place due to the counter material, three blocks North of Ticuane Hotel (9th Street) towards the Arch. No reheat slice. Go when it is crowded 11 pm?

Safety of 6th Street Clubbing: As stated it is a local scene with various Latino flavors. Police presence late at night, club security and yes maybe chola (not a day worker) at the high end clubs without gang identifications. Americans are generally well accepted and treated unless I missed reading any current thread treats or posting by the State Dept.

Be kind and courteous when standing in line, pay in peso correct change if possible and watch for the drunks.

It would be a late Day Trip with more associated safety concerns in border crossing issues.

6th Pizza vs HK food? No contest when it comes to pizza.

Viva Tijuana, 6th Street, Be safe.

Disclaimer: Yes, No financial interest, for health risk visit CDC site for the latest update on Tijuana, Other 6th Street clubs are stocking with window Pizza that are to be avoided; Visit State Dept site for personal Security and Safety review. 6th Street Counter top construction not to standard material. A Tiny Hole in the Wall Place.


It's tiny hole in the wall with a counter facing the street. It smells very good, but doesn't look that great. I don't think they deliver to HK or anywhere else. You'll have to venture out into the wilds and associate with dangerous Mexicans.

Sound7
04-27-16, 04:37
Sushi place.

Head south past Rio and turn right away in the circle from Hotel Del Rio it is on the right as heading up. One story structure in front of all you eat Mexican. Sushi Mexican style and traditional Japanese dishes. The name starts with F character.

Taco Run.

The best I found is near Grand Hotel and the Super Market in the back street. Closer to the market. Tres Taco. If you at the Sushi place head up the road pass the Super Market on your right and turn left and then right. Three stalls in from the corner. Open 7/24.

BBQ on Friday and Weekends.

Soreno Market near Tuciane hotel has BBQ service starting at noon. Buy the meat and vegies and present it for cooking for a fresh taco experience.

Dare to experience Sushi, Taco run, BBQ of weekends. Ice cream, No. 1 Slice

Lay Market near Hotel Amegio has it on Sunday starting at noon.

Ice Cream Place.

The famous Mochocan fruity ice cream opposite the cross walk of Sheraton? Very close to Tres Taco.

Costco, two places.

Mango slush.

Piza Maragita.

6th St.

Captain Solo
05-05-16, 00:56
I was worried that raw seafoods in Tijuana may bring about the Montezuma revenge, but after eating raw clams, shrimp and fish for 10 years, I had not had any problems with my stomach.

The clams served raw in coctel by food carts and seafood restaurants in Tijuana are super fresh, smell and taste delicious, even the picky Japanese eaters are impressed. The alleged live clams bought in premium US supermarket all have bad odors.

Despite being a fishermen's port, the clams and seafood served in Ensenada's restaurants just don't taste or smell as fresh as Tijuana's.

Besides La Perla on Ninos, walk South 2 blocks, there is a small sea food restaurant on the South East corner of Ninos and Calle 2, diagonally across the Cathedral. It serves about the same sea food items as La Perla starting 8 AM, with same quality but lower prices and without the annoying loud band, recommended.


Sushi place.

Head south past Rio and turn right away in the circle from Hotel Del Rio it is on the right as heading up. One story structure in front of all you eat Mexican. Sushi Mexican style and traditional Japanese dishes. The name starts with F character.

Taco Run.

The best I found is near Grand Hotel and the Super Market in the back street. Closer to the market. Tres Taco. If you at the Sushi place head up the road pass the Super Market on your right and turn left and then right. Three stalls in from the corner. Open 7/24..

Jackie888
05-05-16, 16:31
Where are some decent breakfast places? And what are some breakfast dish recommendations?

Captain Solo
05-05-16, 20:23
Don't you normally eat HK's juicy pussies for breakfast? Hehe, J / K.

It's hard to beat La Perla's low-priced breakfast menu, 50 pesos for eggs and bacon / sausage, good brewed coffee, with clean tables and chairs, also equipped with clean, sexy, smiling, good-smelling waitresses, right across the intersection from Hong Kong club. You can also order their sea food items in the morning.

Depending on whether Rosa, the pretty, sexy and smiling spinner head waitress was fucked hard and got enough sex the night before, you can potentially take her behind the bar and give her a passionate fuck session to satisfy her tight and insatiable pussy, while waiting for your fish being grilled in the kitchen. Hehe. OK, this is hypothetical so guys, who prefer skanky, drippy street walkers and dumb, obese, old escorts, won't cry it's mission impossible. Hehe.

In front of the Cathedral on calle 2 there is a large restaurant, serving breakfasts with all sorts of eggs and chorizos and coffees starting at 9 AM for 45 pesos. The place is pretty grimy. I would rather not sit there and eat.


Where are some decent breakfast places? And what are some breakfast dish recommendations?

Captain Solo
05-06-16, 03:07
Try the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, brewed out of Chico, CA.

This beer is so spicy and full of hop aroma it's my favorite.


I would love some good IPA in HK, maybe a Sculpin or West Coast.

Phordphan
05-06-16, 06:02
Where are some decent breakfast places? And what are some breakfast dish recommendations?There are many but, as you never leave the Zona, you'll never get to experience them. :)

Sticking close to your comfort zone, Praga on Revu has a rather extensive breakfast menu. I've only had their crepes, which were much thicker and chewier than a normal crepe, although they had good flavor. The omelet arrachera at Ticuan is good and their pan tostado is excellent. There is a food court just north of the cathedral. Several places to eat there. Huevos con chorizo is always a good bet. Ricardo's on 8th and Revu (has very decent breakfasts, Rocky the Flying Squirrel enjoys their fluffy omelets and I usually get another of their egg dishes. Good fresh OJ.

BeHeMoth904
05-15-16, 18:08
My maiden voyage is now within grasp! 10 days out and staying for 4 nights. I was wondering if there are any restaurants / markets / grocery stores within the red light area that serve fresh fruit and veggies? If not where could I go to get some? Also, what restaurants in the zona have the healthiest menu? Any suggestions on good food in the zona much appreciated. Would rather not have to take the chance of walking all over Tijuana and cabbing just to eat 1 decent healthy meal a day. Thanks brothers.

ScatManDoo
05-15-16, 19:49
My maiden voyage is now within grasp! 10 days out and staying for 4 nights. I was wondering if there are any restaurants / markets / grocery stores within the red light area that serve fresh fruit and veggies? If not where could I go to get some? Also, what restaurants in the zona have the healthiest menu? Any suggestions on good food in the zona much appreciated. Would rather not have to take the chance of walking all over Tijuana and cabbing just to eat 1 decent healthy meal a day. Thanks brothers.There is a 24-hour independent grocery store on the west side of Nino Heroes with two adequate full racks of produce and a very large cold beverage section. It used to be called "La Lagunilla", but I noticed on my trip last weekend that their name has changed. I don't remember the new name.

This grocery has good prices and also has a full butcher section. The in-house butcher is not there 24-hours, however. The grocery store is half-way between Primera and the alley's intersection at Nino Heroes. (Half-way up the hill to Primera, in-between Christian Bar and a Lavamatica).

Lots of different restaurants in LZ offer healthy menu options. You can even tell most guys operating taco carts to not add grease to the tortillas.

HorseTrader
05-16-16, 16:06
There is a 24-hour independent grocery store on the west side of Nino Heroes with two adequate full racks of produce and a very large cold beverage section. It used to be called "La Lagunilla", but I noticed on my trip last weekend that their name has changed. I don't remember the new name.

This grocery has good prices and also has a full butcher section. The in-house butcher is not there 24-hours, however. The grocery store is half-way between Primera and the alley's intersection at Nino Heroes. (Half-way up the hill to Primera, in-between Christian Bar and a Lavamatica).

Lots of different restaurants in LZ offer healthy menu options. You can even tell most guys operating taco carts to not add grease to the tortillas.I've many times bought the cups of cut up fresh fruit at the various street vendors. My favorite being at the southwest end of the diagonal near the arch. Also, bought a lot of fresh squeezed juice on Constitution just north of the alley, but I think that place closed down. All of those places have questionable sanitary practices. I attribute my only intestional problem to a Caesar salad from Caesar's Hotel on Revolution (sure was good, but suffered for a couple days). Since that event I've been minimizing my raw food intake.

If you buy at a grocery store, how will you wash and/or cook your food. Is hotel water sufficiently clean to wash fruits and veggies? It can't be worse than the street food I've eaten many times without problem. If you are a clean freak, you won't like a lot of what you see in Tijuana.

A couple of my favorite girls frequently order fresh steamed veggies for lunch while working at Hong Kong (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with nothing added). The little that I've sampled has been quite good, though I don't know from where they were ordered.

Jackie888
05-16-16, 16:29
I've many times bought the cups of cut up fresh fruit at the various street vendors. My favorite being at the southwest end of the diagonal near the arch. Also, bought a lot of fresh squeezed juice on Constitution just north of the alley, but I think that place closed down. All of those places have questionable sanitary practices. I attribute my only intestional problem to a Caesar salad from Caesar's Hotel on Revolution (sure was good, but suffered for a couple days). Since that event I've been minimizing my raw food intake.

If you buy at a grocery store, how will you wash and/or cook your food. Is hotel water sufficiently clean to wash fruits and veggies? It can't be worse than the street food I've eaten many times without problem. If you are a clean freak, you won't like a lot of what you see in Tijuana.

A couple of my favorite girls frequently order fresh steamed veggies for lunch while working at Hong Kong (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with nothing added). The little that I've sampled has been quite good, though I don't know from where they were ordered.All of the times that I have gotten sick in the last 10 years of traveling have been after eating raw vegetables and fruits, presumably washed in the local water. So now I make it a point to only eat cooked (well done) vegetables and only fruits with its own cover such as oranges or bananas. I think that you got sick because they must have used the local water to wash your lettuce. It's so damn easy to forget what you're eating when on vacation.

Captain Solo
05-16-16, 16:56
It's a little walk but this little seafood shop has some fresh and delicious seafood.

Their concome is thick and tasty, approaching the pureed fish soup in France, 15 pesos for a cup of delicious hot soup.

They also serve all sorts of ceviche and fried fish relatively cheap. The place is cleaner than most seafood places and a good place to sit and view all sorts of people at the Cathedral plaza (pretty and religious chicas too hehe).

Outside of the US, I would only eat fruits with thick covers that I can peel, like orange, bananas, rambutant, jack fruits, mangosteen or even durian. Never eat the fruits' covers. There are way too many bacteria and harmful pesticides on them. I would rather eat clean pussies. Hehe.

BeHeMoth904
05-17-16, 00:54
Thanks to the vets, Scatmandoo, Horsetrader, Jackie and the hilarious El Capitan! I've learned Loads of info from you guys! I will def not be eating raw veggies with the warnings from you legends. Also will eat only fruits with thick covers. Hopefully I run into a few vets while I'm in putaland. I m so excited for this journey across 3 time zones to puta paradise!

BeHeMoth904
05-30-16, 18:05
Thursday and Friday I ate at a upscale restaurant / store called Sanborns. I would play blackjack and bet on horse racing at the casino then head over to Sanborns next door. If you head south on Revoluction prolly 6 blocks from the arch you will see it on the east side of the road. Right next to the casino that's by the big jai alai castle looking building, just down the street from hotel Ticuan. This place had the freshest best food that I ate while in Tijuana for 4 days. The buffet was excellent with all fresh food, fruit and steamed veggies. Perfect place for those trying to eat a tasty healthy meal. Really an upscale place with decent prices. It was right around 10 $ for the buffet.

Phordphan
05-31-16, 02:15
Thursday and Friday I ate at a upscale restaurant / store called Sanborns. I would play blackjack and bet on horse racing at the casino then head over to Sanborns next door. If you head south on Revoluction prolly 6 blocks from the arch you will see it on the east side of the road. Right next to the casino that's by the big jai alai castle looking building, just down the street from hotel Ticuan. This place had the freshest best food that I ate while in Tijuana for 4 days. The buffet was excellent with all fresh food, fruit and steamed veggies. Perfect place for those trying to eat a tasty healthy meal. Really an upscale place with decent prices. It was right around 10 $ for the buffet.Jajaja. I'm glad you liked it. You're in the minority, but as long as you liked it, that's all that matters.

But, Sanborn's is far from upscale. For reasons unknown they are still around, and all over Mexico. But they tend to have the worst, blandest food in Mexico. They are basically Mexico's answer to Denny's, but the food isn't as good. A block to the east was Ricardo's, similar ambiance, with much better food. Or, on Revu, NE corner of 7th, near Jai Alai, is Chiki Jai. Excellent tapas and been there since about 1945, easy walking distance from the Jai Ala Caliente branch.

TJ2015
05-31-16, 02:38
Thursday and Friday I ate at a upscale restaurant / store called Sanborns. I would play blackjack and bet on horse racing at the casino then head over to Sanborns next door. If you head south on Revoluction prolly 6 blocks from the arch you will see it on the east side of the road. Right next to the casino that's by the big jai alai castle looking building, just down the street from hotel Ticuan. This place had the freshest best food that I ate while in Tijuana for 4 days. The buffet was excellent with all fresh food, fruit and steamed veggies. Perfect place for those trying to eat a tasty healthy meal. Really an upscale place with decent prices. It was right around 10 $ for the buffet.Where were you playing blackjack at? And how was it? Pays 2-1 on blackjack? Play in pesos or US money? Double deck??

Jackie888
05-31-16, 22:17
Where were you playing blackjack at? And how was it? Pays 2-1 on blackjack? Play in pesos or US money? Double deck??Easy TJ2015. You're from So Cal, a 1/2 hour flight to Vegas where you are used to world class gambling.

TJ2015
06-01-16, 01:23
Easy TJ2015. You're from So Cal, a 1/2 hour flight to Vegas where you are used to world class gambling.Haha I'm not a big Vegas fan. . I do my Gambling at Pala Casino. .

BeHeMoth904
06-01-16, 21:39
Jajaja. I'm glad you liked it. You're in the minority, but as long as you liked it, that's all that matters.

But, Sanborn's is far from upscale. For reasons unknown they are still around, and all over Mexico. But they tend to have the worst, blandest food in Mexico. They are basically Mexico's answer to Denny's, but the food isn't as good. A block to the east was Ricardo's, similar ambiance, with much better food. Or, on Revu, NE corner of 7th, near Jai Alai, is Chiki Jai. Excellent tapas and been there since about 1945, easy walking distance from the Jai Ala Caliente branch.Right on. I ll try them places next time in in Tijuana. My first trip so not much to compare it too. I thought it was great though.

BeHeMoth904
06-01-16, 21:43
Where were you playing blackjack at? And how was it? Pays 2-1 on blackjack? Play in pesos or US money? Double deck??I was playing at the casino on revolucion right next to jai alai and just down the street from hotel Ticuan. Pays 2-1. Play is in pesos. I exchanged there for 16-1. Yes I believe it was double deck. I had a blast. Chatting it up with the 2 young hotties that were the dealers. I hung out there Thursday and Friday for at least 3 hrs each day. Bet on horse racing and baseball too. They have a nice sports betting area with lots of TV to watch all your action. It was awesome!

Caprese7
06-07-16, 10:25
Have been to this "Caliente" just a block or so from Ticuan and found the place to be "decent", and much better than the one located in the ZN. The race and sports area seems a little tight / crowded however. Did not care for that much. Still, it was cleaner & more friendly than the one in the ZN. As for 2/1 on Blackjack, (double-deck as well), there must be some extreme limitations on that game to counteract. Any advantage player would have a "field day" with this IF all things were equal (Dealer stands on soft 17, allowing double after splitting, allowing to double on any first 2 cards, surrender available, allowing to hit or re-split Aces, etc.). "If" blackjack paid 2 to 1 AND these conditions were met, the theoretical House advantage would drop to -2. 1% (Casino theo loss). Thus, there must be quite a few restrictions on this game at Caliente. On a 6-deck shoe with the 2/1 payout on Blackjack, you are likely looking at a -1. 9% House theo loss. Thus, you might want to take a close look at the "options" available to the player the next time you are playing this game. Just food for thought .


I was playing at the casino on revolucion right next to jai alai and just down the street from hotel Ticuan. Pays 2-1. Play is in pesos. I exchanged there for 16-1. Yes I believe it was double deck. I had a blast. Chatting it up with the 2 young hotties that were the dealers. I hung out there Thursday and Friday for at least 3 hrs each day. Bet on horse racing and baseball too. They have a nice sports betting area with lots of TV to watch all your action. It was awesome!

QuackUp
06-10-16, 05:07
Here's another very good high end restaurant. It is located at Plaza Marub, Ave. Rio Tijuana 2554, Col. Revolucion 22015 (664) 681 - 7452. It's kind of near Restaurant Komasa, if you know where that is. Very clean, modern and small restaurant. This is a restaurant that doesn't have any silverware on the table. Depending on the dish, that's when they bring whatever utensils you need. Switched out on every dish or at least with what I ordered. I ordered the $700.00 tasting menu and here is what I got.

Started with a mouth cleanser sorbet.

A tiny taco which was about 1 inch in length.

Oysters.

Sorry, I forgot what the waiter said that he brought.

Croquet.

Duck.

Beefhead.

Octopus.

Some kind of white fish.

Roast duck which was different from the other duck.

Pork belly.

And finally, dessert which looked like Lego bricks but tasted pretty good.

Everything was good but the standouts for me was the roast duck and the white fish. You can order any of these item alacarte. Drinks of course are separate.

Captain Solo
06-14-16, 22:49
That tasting menu looks fantastic. I am drooling.

In the map it's only 1.5 to 2 miles from La Zona. Saved that address in the phone for the next visit.

Will try to erase the indelible images of pussies out of my brain for an hour and stuff my face.


Here's another very good high end restaurant. It is located at Plaza Marub, Ave. Rio Tijuana 2554, Col. Revolucion 22015 (664) 681 - 7452. It's kind of near Restaurant Komasa, if you know where that is. Very clean, modern and small restaurant. This is a restaurant that doesn't have any silverware on the table. Depending on the dish, that's when they bring whatever utensils you need. Switched out on every dish or at least with what I ordered. I ordered the $700.00 tasting menu and here is what I got.

Started with a mouth cleanser sorbet.

A tiny taco which was about 1 inch in length.

Oysters.

Sorry, I forgot what the waiter said that he brought.

Croquet..

Johnny Five
06-17-16, 04:53
I forgot to mention an excellent meal I had during my recent trip to Tijuana. I'm a big fan of ceviche and found this place called El Corriente which is a block or two East of Revolution on Sexto I believe. The place was pretty empty which concerned me. I ordered a couple red snapper ceviche tostadas (that was their self-proclaimed specialty) and an ahi tuna ceviche tostada. They were brought to the table with a few different types of salsas and mayo all of which were delicious. I'm not sure if this place is popular down there or not, but I thought it was great.

Phordphan
06-17-16, 19:21
I forgot to mention an excellent meal I had during my recent trip to Tijuana. I'm a big fan of ceviche and found this place called El Corriente which is a block or two East of Revolution on Sexto I believe. The place was pretty empty which concerned me. I ordered a couple red snapper ceviche tostadas (that was their self-proclaimed specialty) and an ahi tuna ceviche tostada. They were brought to the table with a few different types of salsas and mayo all of which were delicious. I'm not sure if this place is popular down there or not, but I thought it was great.Yes, it's very popular. It's usually pretty busy on weekends during the day and early evening. Their ceviche is very good, and the snapper tends to be excellent. I've not been to that branch, but I've eaten at their other branch several times and it's always been very good, and reasonably priced. Of course, good ceviche is not difficult to find in Tijuana, that's for sure.

Captain Solo
06-17-16, 19:45
Most are in the Rio about 5 miles South of La Zona and have tasting menus.

I would skip Ceasar. Don't see anything special about that place. Tripadvisor should have checked out all 5-star food carts in La Zona.

Ceasar.

#1 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

El Mazateno.

#2 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

155 reviews.

Cuisines: Seafood Mexican.

Mision 19.

#3 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

259 reviews.

• "Get the tasting menu. You'll thank me la. " 05/30/2016.

Cuisines: Mexican Contemporary.

Cabanna.

#4 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

215 reviews.

Price: $3 - $12 Map.

Visitor photos (64).

Cuisines: Mexican International Seafood Fusion.

La Espadana.

#5 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

217 reviews.

Cuisines: Mexican Latin.

LOS Arcos Restaurant.

#6 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

199 reviews.

Price: $5 - $20 Map.

Cuisines: International Mexican Seafood Latin HealthyPacific Rim.

Villa Marina.

#7 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

141 reviews.

Cuisines: Seafood Mexican Sushi.

Mr Pampas.

#8 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

252 reviews.

• "Typical Brazilan All you can eat meat plac. " 05/11/2016.

• "Meat! 03/18/2016.

Price: $24.

Cuisines: Brazilian Steakhouse South American.

Villa Saverios.

#9 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

151 reviews.

• "Wow! Wow! Wow!" 06/15/2016.

• "Great Restaurant, Food Quality is Great" 06/01/2016.

Price: $15 - $100 Map.

Cuisines: Italian Mediterranean.

IPA'A Cocina Mexicana.

#10 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

69 reviews.

• "Fancy place" 05/04/2016.

• "Best food in town" 04/09/2016.

Cuisines: Mexican.

Marenca.

#11 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

84 reviews.

• "Excellent Fish" 06/01/2016.

• "Excellent place t have breakfast" 03/18/2016.

Cuisines: Mexican International.

Tacos El Franc.

#12 of 421 Restaurants in Tijuana.

68 reviews.

• "Authentic tacos" 05/04/2016.

• "Tacos El Frances!" 04/13/2016.

Phordphan
06-23-16, 15:23
Here are a few pix from when Rocky the Flying Squirrel and I ate back in March.

The lighting was low so a couple of the pix are fuzzy. The quail pic didn't come out well, but they were delicious. The wine was excellent but way overpriced.

The steak was plenty big for 2 people. In fact the kitchen was kind enough to split it before cooking, cooking Rocky's to mid-well (apparently the way most Mexicans like theirs) but cooking mine to medium when I explicitly ordered medium-rare. It was more mid-rare closer to the bone, and it wasn't enough to send it back.

Splitting the steak left a little room for their excellent dessert.

About $120 before tip. Very expensive for Tijuana, but you won't touch the same steaks in LA or Vegas for under $200.

Jackie888
06-24-16, 06:41
Here are a few pix from when Rocky the Flying Squirrel and I ate back in March.

The lighting was low so a couple of the pix are fuzzy. The quail pic didn't come out well, but they were delicious. The wine was excellent but way overpriced.

The steak was plenty big for 2 people. In fact the kitchen was kind enough to split it before cooking, cooking Rocky's to mid-well (apparently the way most Mexicans like theirs) but cooking mine to medium when I explicitly ordered medium-rare. It was more mid-rare closer to the bone, and it wasn't enough to send it back.

Splitting the steak left a little room for their excellent dessert.

About $120 before tip. Very expensive for Tijuana, but you won't touch the same steaks in LA or Vegas for under $200.How much of the $120 was the wine?

Phordphan
06-24-16, 16:24
How much of the $120 was the wine?The receipt is the last pic. Second from the bottom. 695 p.

Jackie888
07-07-16, 19:05
The receipt is the last pic. Second from the bottom. 695 p.Wow this is pricey. I am so used to impressing the chicas with a $10 dinner at La Perla.

Captain Solo
07-08-16, 16:34
$10 dinner is normal for 100-lbs spinners; $30 is minimum for old, fat, obese 300-lbs putas.


Wow this is pricey. I am so used to impressing the chicas with a $10 dinner at La Perla.

Phordphan
07-09-16, 03:03
Wow this is pricey. I am so used to impressing the chicas with a $10 dinner at La Perla.I no longer go to places to impress hookers from HK who have 7th grade educations. :) I go to experience different cuisines for myself. I have company tag along because it gives me someone to talk to. But it is interesting to watch the ladies. For some the entire experience is a waste. For others, it's a true learning experience and their horizons are broadened and they wind up truly appreciating it. Sadly, the American wine pricing model seems to have caught on in many of the fine dining establishments in Mexico. Or at least BCN.

Jackie888
07-10-16, 17:06
I no longer go to places to impress hookers from HK who have 7th grade educations. :) I go to experience different cuisines for myself. I have company tag along because it gives me someone to talk to. But it is interesting to watch the ladies. For some the entire experience is a waste. For others, it's a true learning experience and their horizons are broadened and they wind up truly appreciating it. Sadly, the American wine pricing model seems to have caught on in many of the fine dining establishments in Mexico. Or at least BCN.Any Mexican wine recommendation? Actual Mex wine, not imported.

Phordphan
07-11-16, 01:52
Any Mexican wine recommendation? Actual Mex wine, not imported.The trend among fine dining establishments in Tijuana is to source wines from Baja. That Baloyan you said was pricey is from Tijuana. L. A. Cetto has come a very long way in the last 10 years and they now have some very good wines. The Santo Tomas winery has some good vintages. In fact, these days it's hard to find a bad wine from anyplace in the Valle de Guadalupe. Like sex, some are just better than others.

So usually I ask what a restaurant's "house wine" is and where it's from. A decent establishment, like El Grill, or Corazon de Tierra or Casa Plascencia, just to name a few, will have a really decent, locally sourced, house pour. It will be "Actual Mex wine" and will usually be quite good.

SaltShaker
08-08-16, 20:00
My preference for good food in Mexico is, when in Rome go where the Romans go! I have gotten more miles with the chicas when the dinning is culturally tied. Whether you drive the toll road or the scenic road south, look for the double arch. It is south of Rosarito Beach Hotel approximately 7 +/- minutes. The arches are located at the end of the movie studio last gate entry / exit. At night time it is easy to miss. Turn right and drive down the road on the side of studio property wall. Do not stop for the amigos who will try to stop you. They are selling there restaurants. Drive to the end, turn left and park. Walk into village and go left down to beach. Down on the beach you will see fishing boats, parked vehicles and 20 or more canopies. Under each canopy you can pick the fish, shell fish, crabs, sharks etc that you want them to cook for you! They will fry the fish. They only fry the fish. Yes, it is not fancy. Bring pesos. You must pay to go to the bathrooms. Hot and cold water does not exist. Warning: The average uptight USA person should not go! However, if you want good / fresh sea food, drink, and real culture? You know you are at the right place when you see the pig! There is a very large pig (350 +lbs or so) just waking around enjoying the beach along with the people. I provided a photo of the pig next to truck for scale. It is a nice mid day break / adventure. Yes, it is safe.

Phordphan
08-09-16, 05:43
My preference for good food in Mexico is, when in Rome go where the Romans go! I have gotten more miles with the chicas when the dinning is culturally tied. Whether you drive the toll road or the scenic road south, look for the double arch. It is south of Rosarito Beach Hotel approximately 7 +/- minutes. The arches are located at the end of the movie studio last gate entry / exit. At night time it is easy to miss. Turn right and drive down the road on the side of studio property wall. Do not stop for the amigos who will try to stop you. They are selling there restaurants. Drive to the end, turn left and park. Walk into village and go left down to beach. Down on the beach you will see fishing boats, parked vehicles and 20 or more canopies. Under each canopy you can pick the fish, shell fish, crabs, sharks etc that you want them to cook for you! They will fry the fish. They only fry the fish. Yes, it is not fancy. Bring pesos. You must pay to go to the bathrooms. Hot and cold water does not exist. Warning: The average uptight USA person should not go! However, if you want good / fresh sea food, drink, and real culture? You know you are at the right place when you see the pig! There is a very large pig (350 +lbs or so) just waking around enjoying the beach along with the people. I provided a photo of the pig next to truck for scale. It is a nice mid day break / adventure. Yes, it is safe.You were in Popotla.

Captain Solo
08-09-16, 06:23
Be a gentleman and stop picking on someone's big date.

She just had a big seafood experience and is ready for some serious humping in bed.


You know you are at the right place when you see the pig! There is a very large pig (350 +lbs or so) just waking around enjoying the beach along with the people. I provided a photo of the pig next to truck for scale.

SaltShaker
08-10-16, 17:33
She used the same words after the meal and humping. Muy bueno!


Be a gentleman and stop picking on someone's big date.

She just had a big seafood experience and is ready for some serious humping in bed.

Captain Solo
08-11-16, 01:55
Did MS Piggy said out loud "Sal es muy bueno?

You should also try the fake zebras on revo for their objective opinions.


She used the same words after the meal and humping. Muy bueno!

Travv
08-11-16, 19:56
Different types of tacos, burritos, mulas and quesadillas. I thought the prices for the carne asada and pollo burritos at 20 pesos was a good deal. Tacos at 16 pesos. IMO, better salsa than Restaurante Azul and several other local restaurants. Has avocado and chopped green onion in the salsa. An opener of cucumbers and radishes are served with your order. The cucumbers are good to cool off your mouth. Next to Malquerida bar in the Alley. Open in the evenings. Suggested to the manager that they serve breakfast burritos and tacos but she did not go for my suggestion. I like a machaca burrito now and then.

SaltShaker
09-17-16, 20:57
When I ask for "A1" sauce, I got a blank look. WTF! It was a steak and potato meal. The meal did come with salsa!

Phordphan
09-19-16, 02:38
When I ask for "A1" sauce, I got a blank look. WTF! It was a steak and potato meal. The meal did come with salsa!If you're looking for American food, you'd be better off sticking to America.

Phordphan
09-19-16, 06:47
Located just south of 11th, on Ocampo, is a cool little park full of "food trucks. " They may not exactly be trucks, and it may be difficult to move them, but the concept applies. Within you'll find an incredible of delicious food. Modern takes on tacos, pork products, cheeses, Mexican-themed ramen noodles, burgers and more. All at reasonable prices, and with one thing so many US food trucks don't offer. Seating and beverage service.

Attached are some pix of three of the places. It's going to take several visits to cover them all.

The tuna tostada and taco de pulpo are from Ta'Costeno, who specialize in seafood taco combinations. Very good tuna, albeit a bit sweet for me. Good pulpo, but there are better.

The lone black plate, with wonderful presentation, is from a specialty taco shop at the very end. I had a brain fart and didn't snap a pic of the name. Maybe somebody else has it. If you followed View 2 all the way to the back, there it is. That day they had the pulpo, the camaron roca, conejo and Borrego (although memory is fuzzy on that last one. Among other things, of course. This pulpo, with cheese, was quite a bit better than Ta'Costeno, IMO. The shrimp was very good, too, and a bit on the sweet side. 35 pesos each. I wanted to try the rabbit but was too full.

So far, the star has been Humo. The guy who runs this knows his pig. The two sandwiches are the Bork and the Bacon. The pulled pork part of this is delicious, but the absolute stand-out of these sandwiches is the sausage. This has got to be some of the very best pork sausage I've ever eaten. Smokey, savory, extremely flavorful with a faint redolence of the barnyard. You can taste the entire pig here. It's like nothing I can recall tasting. And at 80 pesos, it's a steal. This, alone, is worth the trip to Tijuana.

Next trip I think the Mediterranean truck and possibly Javier Plascencia's Don Ramen.

CoolBeanz
09-23-16, 11:20
I am a newbie at this but the street taco vendors with the sit down stools in front of them. Do you pay after you are done eating? I paid him after he gave me the food and he gave me a weird look? Also was I supposed to tip?

Captain Solo
09-23-16, 17:06
Tijuana food vendors have an honor system. After eating you tell them how many tacos you ate, and pay the "managers. "

Seems like their honor system works without problems. I have never seen any disputes. One time I and 4 wingmen ate, paid and left the tacos stand on Ninos. The manager ran after, stopped us, and asked to be paid again. I pointed to the guy we paid to and all was cool.

Mexicans almost never tip street food workers, but you should if you can afford it. Most of those food workers don't own the carts; they work for someone else who own them. You usually see bottles for tip on the carts. One time I tipped the tacos cook on Nino for making custom tacos on my instructions. He took my tip and put them in the bottle so they all share.


I am a newbie at this but the street taco vendors with the sit down stools in front of them. Do you pay after you are done eating? I paid him after he gave me the food and he gave me a weird look? Also was I supposed to tip?

ScatManDoo
09-23-16, 21:55
I am a newbie at this but the street taco vendors with the sit down stools in front of them. Do you pay after you are done eating?Yes.


Also was I supposed to tip?No, not necessary nor expected.

Travv
12-19-16, 03:44
The food park got written up and recommended in the San Diego Reader, so I found the place and tried some of the food. It is right next to a large culinary school on the north side and apparently students get to work at the food trucks parked next to the school as a training exercise. One food truck "Don Ramen" specialized in Japanese food, such as Ramen and stir fried noodles and rice; another in freshly made ground bacon hot dogs and beef sausage sandwiches with steamed corn on the COB; and others in vegetarian food and seafood. Ramen prices start at 40 pesos for the "Nino" size serving and go up from there and you can request special ingredients not listed on the menu, such as marinated beef and extra soft boiled eggs in your Ramen. For those who want to try unusual foods that is freshly made in front of you, find the culinary school then sample your favorite cuisines at the food trucks next door.

Squid1234
12-21-16, 00:02
Raods across the street from HK is now closed. There is a sub shop down the street but I haven't tried it.

Travv
01-02-17, 03:42
I ate at Tacos Guanajuato the night before and then the next morning at La Perla for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast on the 31st, the stomach began gurgling and I began making visits to the white throne to throw up. Diarrhea then set in. I believe what caused it was that I was in the habit of putting the orange garnish provided in the breakfast and orange juice into the glass of orange juice to stretch the juice. And the skin of the orange that day was unwashed and had ecoli on it. Eventually I recovered enough to go and buy some Pepto Bismol but New Years eve was spent worshiping the white throne in my hotel. You might want to keep a small bottle of Pepto Bismo handy because when Montezuma's Revenge strikes, you are in no condition to walk anywhere to buy some.

Captain Solo
01-02-17, 18:02
Thanks for the alert. Diarrhea can sure kill your sexcapade quickly. It's the pit when you are out of the country. I keep a small box of Immodium in my shaving kit just in case.

The source of the bacteria could be from somewhere else and has to be verified to make prevent future infection. How soon the stomach problem started after you had La Perla's breakfast? It usually takes at least 1 hour for bacteria to breed enough quantity in your stomach to act up. I don't remember if La Perla's OJ was fresh-squeezed or not. If they squeeze fresh, whatever is on the skin would also make it into the juice. If you confirm La Perla was the source, you should do them a favor and advise the owner so they can clean up their act.

The fresh-squeezed juices sold in supermarket are mostly fruits picked and squeezed in Brazil, then shipped to the US in large containers. In the US factories, the juice is mixed with concentrates from the skin to enhance orange flavor, then pasteurized like milk, before packing into bottles. Orange in Brazil carry all sorts of dangerous carcinogens in the pesticides banned in the US.

That reminds me not to drink fresh-squeezed juices out of the country, but licking and eating pussies is OK. Hehe.


I ate at Tacos Guanajuato the night before and then the next morning at La Perla for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast on the 31st, the stomach began gurgling and I began making visits to the white throne to throw up. Diarrhea then set in. I believe what caused it was that I was in the habit of putting the orange garnish provided in the breakfast and orange juice into the glass of orange juice to stretch the juice. And the skin of the orange that day was unwashed and had ecoli on it. Eventually I recovered enough to go and buy some Pepto Bismol but New Years eve was spent worshiping the white throne in my hotel. You might want to keep a small bottle of Pepto Bismo handy because when Montezuma's Revenge strikes, you are in no condition to walk anywhere to buy some.

Squid1234
01-03-17, 00:52
There's many ways you could get sick. Pesticides on the veggies. Even defrosting chicken in water can give you e coli. I doubt the grills are cleaned between the different foods (chicken, pork, beef). Food not stored or transported cold enough. If he meat is stored in coolers under the cart, is the chicken in a separate cooler? I almost ate the the corner restaurant as it was crowded but earlier I watched bizarre foods in Vietnam. The host said how healthy the field rats were because the water and rice they fed on was clean and I got scared. I ate steak eggs rice beans once (at Asul I think, next to Adelita's) but drank a bottled coke and didn't use any salsa or anything that may have been left out. I've seen the standing girls eat from the carts but they would have a tolerance. HK staff used to eat at Rod's.

HorseTrader
01-03-17, 16:06
Sometimes it is difficult to know where you ate the bad food. A couple years ago I blamed my Caesers Salad from Caesar's Restaurant. Symptoms arrived about 20 minutes after leaving Caesar's. A few months later I learned that everybody in my breakfast group at a San Diego Doubletree became ill.

ScatManDoo
01-03-17, 20:53
I ate at Tacos Guanajuato the night before and then the next morning at La Perla for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast on the 31st, the stomach began gurgling and I began making visits to the white throne to throw up. Diarrhea then set in. I believe what caused it was that I was in the habit of putting the orange garnish provided in the breakfast and orange juice into the glass of orange juice to stretch the juice. And the skin of the orange that day was unwashed and had ecoli on it. Eventually I recovered enough to go and buy some Pepto Bismol but New Years eve was spent worshiping the white throne in my hotel. You might want to keep a small bottle of Pepto Bismo handy because when Montezuma's Revenge strikes, you are in no condition to walk anywhere to buy some.Sorry that your New Years were so negatively affected Travv.

As it turned out, my quasi-wingman and Big Gary and I had a late lunch on New Year's Day in La Perla, after first stopping by and finding Guiseppis & Ceasars on Revo both closed for the holiday. But we weren't as risk-taking in our dining choices as you were. I had a nice plate of cooked shrimp. I drank cups of hot coffee with my meal and my dining guests sipped Diet Coke. However, I think I ate my orange slice plate garnishment, but only my fingers touched the outer peel.

The next day one of us had some OJ in Guiseppis without incident, but I don't recall the other hombre being served any orange peel garnishment in Guiseppis.

The Tall Man
01-04-17, 03:17
I ate at Tacos Guanajuato the night before and then the next morning at La Perla for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast on the 31st, the stomach began gurgling and I began making visits to the white throne to throw up. Diarrhea then set in. I believe what caused it was that I was in the habit of putting the orange garnish provided in the breakfast and orange juice into the glass of orange juice to stretch the juice. And the skin of the orange that day was unwashed and had ecoli on it. Eventually I recovered enough to go and buy some Pepto Bismol but New Years eve was spent worshiping the white throne in my hotel. You might want to keep a small bottle of Pepto Bismo handy because when Montezuma's Revenge strikes, you are in no condition to walk anywhere to buy some.We all feel for you Travv, been there with severe food poisoning in May 20016 and was in bed for 4 days. Hell the acid in my vomit was so bad that it scared my throat for a month afterwards. Within an hour I was laid out and could hardly get the will and strength to crawl, get this, 12 feet to the White Throne to worship.

What sucks is that's how you spent your New years, ouch.

It's almost impossible to tell where you picked the bug up at unless others report the same.

TTM.

Phordphan
01-04-17, 08:34
I ate at Tacos Guanajuato the night before and then the next morning at La Perla for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast on the 31st, the stomach began gurgling and I began making visits to the white throne to throw up. Diarrhea then set in. I believe what caused it was that I was in the habit of putting the orange garnish provided in the breakfast and orange juice into the glass of orange juice to stretch the juice. And the skin of the orange that day was unwashed and had ecoli on it. Eventually I recovered enough to go and buy some Pepto Bismol but New Years eve was spent worshiping the white throne in my hotel. You might want to keep a small bottle of Pepto Bismo handy because when Montezuma's Revenge strikes, you are in no condition to walk anywhere to buy some.


There's many ways you could get sick. Pesticides on the veggies. Even defrosting chicken in water can give you e coli. I doubt the grills are cleaned between the different foods (chicken, pork, beef). Food not stored or transported cold enough. If he meat is stored in coolers under the cart, is the chicken in a separate cooler? I almost ate the the corner restaurant as it was crowded but earlier I watched bizarre foods in Vietnam. The host said how healthy the field rats were because the water and rice they fed on was clean and I got scared. I ate steak eggs rice beans once (at Asul I think, next to Adelita's) but drank a bottled coke and didn't use any salsa or anything that may have been left out. I've seen the standing girls eat from the carts but they would have a tolerance. HK staff used to eat at Rod's.


Sometimes it is difficult to know where you ate the bad food. A couple years ago I blamed my Caesers Salad from Caesar's Restaurant. Symptoms arrived about 20 minutes after leaving Caesar's. A few months later I learned that everybody in my breakfast group at a San Diego Doubletree became ill.Classic food poisoning, aka Traveler's Diarrhea, rarely starts a few minutes after eating. Typically it starts several hours, to a day, after eating whatever contained the e. Coli, or other nasty bacteria. So I suspect in your case it was something at the taco stand the previous night, and not at La Perla. Getting immediately sick from a contaminated orange peel would be very rare. Possible, but rare.

I know in my case I stopped getting "sick" (I never got really sick, just a mild case of the runs on occasion) when I stopped eating in the ZN. My rule of thumb wherever I travel is that if lots of tourists eat at a certain place, I will avoid it if possible. The food will be bad and the sanitation often marginal.

You don't get e. Coli from thawing chicken in water. E. coli, but most likely salmonella, may be present in the bird from processing. Assuming you're not eating raw or severely undercooked chicken, you don't get it from the chicken. You get it from cross-contamination. The cook preps the bird on a surface that gets contaminated with the salmonella. Then he preps a raw food, like a salad or garnish, on the same surface without cleaning it first. You eat the raw item, you get salmonella. By the same token, you can't get e. Coli from a grill that has cooked chicken, etc. , but not been cleaned. The heat of the grill is more than sufficient to kill any bacteria that may be transferred from the surface of the meat to the grill.

Squid1234
01-04-17, 19:38
It was on the food network, it said never defrost chicken in water. I've gotten sick in LA at Alberto's Taco and in SD at Slater's 50 50 at liberty eating a burger. We may not have a tolerance for foods were not accustom to either like Indian spices. Vietnam has field rats, Korea, Scotland and Mexico all have a version of menudo and Philippines has a dish with swine face, ears, feet, brains and the street food is a duck embryo. Thailand street food is bugs. Cheap hot dogs here may have similar Pig parts if the cart doesn't say all beef or kosher but it may be the mayo not kept cold that gets you sick. So even if the cart is clean with good intentions, we may not have a tolerance for tripe, brains, tongue, etc. But it may be the salsa and other stuff left out that was the issue. There's a pharmacy around the corner open all night. I'm not bashing the carts, Google Gastrointestinal illness and Norovirus and it will most likely return cruise ships.

Travv
01-04-17, 21:14
Tacos Guanajuato was just starting up that afternoon and I had a carne asada taco and a suadero taco with the free vegetable plate of cucumbers and radishes and the green salsa. Likely the grill wasn't hot enough to kill the bacteria then or a contaminated work counter. I just ate at La Perla this morning so I'll post if I get another case of the runs later on.


Classic food poisoning, aka Traveler's Diarrhea, rarely starts a few minutes after eating. Typically it starts several hours, to a day, after eating whatever contained the e. Coli, or other nasty bacteria. So I suspect in your case it was something at the taco stand the previous night, and not at La Perla. Getting immediately sick from a contaminated orange peel would be very rare. Possible, but rare.

I know in my case I stopped getting "sick" (I never got really sick, just a mild case of the runs on occasion) when I stopped eating in the ZN. My rule of thumb wherever I travel is that if lots of tourists eat at a certain place, I will avoid it if possible. The food will be bad and the sanitation often marginal..

Phordphan
01-05-17, 06:34
Tacos Guanajuato was just starting up that afternoon and I had a carne asada taco and a suadero taco with the free vegetable plate of cucumbers and radishes and the green salsa. Likely the grill wasn't hot enough to kill the bacteria then or a contaminated work counter. I just ate at La Perla this morning so I'll post if I get another case of the runs later on.Salmonella and e. Coli are killed at temperatures between 150 F and 160 F. So, there is virtually no chance it came from the meat unless it was still raw. Most food poisoning from taco carts comes from the salsas or improperly washed / unwashed vegetables. I got a hellacious case of (probable) salmonella many years ago from a taco at the wharf in Ensenada. Doc said it was almost assuredly the salsa. As I said earlier, I now only eat at street places that do not cater to tourists. When locals get poisoned they tend to have long memories and either stop patronizing said establishment, or perhaps extract revenge.


It was on the food network, it said never defrost chicken in water. I've gotten sick in LA at Alberto's Taco and in SD at Slater's 50 50 at liberty eating a burger. We may not have a tolerance for foods were not accustom to either like Indian spices. Vietnam has field rats, Korea, Scotland and Mexico all have a version of menudo and Philippines has a dish with swine face, ears, feet, brains and the street food is a duck embryo. Thailand street food is bugs. Cheap hot dogs here may have similar Pig parts if the cart doesn't say all beef or kosher but it may be the mayo not kept cold that gets you sick. So even if the cart is clean with good intentions, we may not have a tolerance for tripe, brains, tongue, etc. But it may be the salsa and other stuff left out that was the issue. There's a pharmacy around the corner open all night. I'm not bashing the carts, Google Gastrointestinal illness and Norovirus and it will most likely return cruise ships.I cook as a hobby and I've never heard of a prohibition on thawing chicken in water. Water is a great way to thaw items quickly, as water conducts heat much better than air. Leaving it set a room temperature, however, is another matter entirely. Burgers are a problem, as rare or medium rare isn't hot enough to kill e. Coli. E. coli is generally on the outside of the meat, so eating a mid-rare steak isn't dangerous. But if you grind up that same contaminated steak, the e. Coli gets into the center of the burger, the burger doesn't get hot enough, and bam, you get sick. I don't like mid-rare burgers anyway, so I tend to eat them medium or mid-well, but that still carries a slight risk.

Eating strange foods may give you the runs for a day or two, but not classic "Traveler's Diarrhea. " That may require and antibiotic to cure, or at the very least you KNOW it, I. E. Explosive shits, vomiting, toilet hugging, and all the other symptoms we all know and love. I will say I've had fiery foods in Sri Lanka, cobra in Vietnam, water bug in Cambodia, giant ant eggs in Thailand, crickets in Mexico, and never got sick. But the staff at a villa in Bali washed some breakfast fruit in some local water and laid me low for damn near a week.

Bill
01-05-17, 17:52
Parasites and bacteria are not always originating from the food.

A clueless meat carver who transferred his bacteria to the knife and tongs because he didn't wash properly with hot water and soap after taking a deuce.

The dirty rags they use to wipe down utensils and work area that has only been dropped once for 2 seconds on the street.

The carving board that is stored overnight where the rats play and is never bleached ever.

Member #2041
01-05-17, 19:06
Parasites and bacteria are not always originating from the food.

A clueless meat carver who transferred his bacteria to the knife and tongs because he didn't wash properly with hot water and soap after taking a deuce.

The dirty rags they use to wipe down utensils and work area that has only been dropped once for 2 seconds on the street.

The carving board that is stored overnight where the rats play and is never bleached ever.I have to say, this is really too much information.

Captain Solo
01-05-17, 20:19
Could use more info and the sweetest and cleanest pussies to eat.


I have to say, this is really too much information.

Jackie888
01-06-17, 11:11
I also ate at la Perla on Friday the 30th. Puked acid that night and the the next day. Don't know whether it was the excessive spice or bad fish. Or both. I will probably skip the Salsa next time as it would be the only thing Incan think of as the culprit.

Travv
01-06-17, 18:38
Noticed while driving to the Zona that a new Korean BBQ taco joint opened up at the corner of Galeana and Constitucion. Anyone try it or recommend Korean BBQ tacos?

WombatEd2
01-07-17, 04:25
Anyone try it or recommend Korean BBQ tacos?Korean Tacos? With Mexican Kimchi, no doubt!

Travv
01-08-17, 22:23
Walked up Constitucion to Galeana and on the corner was the Korean taco joint. Looked like all new stainless steel stoves and venting equipment in a freshly tiled eating area. A guy eating there recommended the chicken chipotle Korean taco like he was eating to me so I ordered one of those and a beef taco. The menu also included Korean tacos made of beef sausage, or of Chicharron or of Pulpo and ensaladitas and mulitas. Two tacos filled me up at 25 pesos each for a total of 50 pesos or roughly $2.50. Had an oriental flavor to the tacos (Mex / Korean flavor) and was topped with mild shredded cabbage (Kimchi?) Restaurant was clean and the cooking area was open for watching and the tacos flavorful. Worth the money.


Korean Tacos? With Mexican Kimchi, no doubt!

Travv
02-04-17, 05:46
Located on Diaz Miron, the buffet included beef and broccoli, chicken and broccoli, fried rice, egg flower soup, fried noodles, fried chicken nuggets and duck sauce, Chinese sprouts and celery in sauce, and my favorite. The fried imitation crab leg pieces. Upside, the food looked good, downside, the buffet table did not keep the food hot, so some of the items (beef and broccoli) tasted cold. A long walk from Zona Norte but it is difficult to find parking near this restaurant during lunch hours. Dessert at the buffet was a bucket of vanilla ice cream in a freezer for you to scoop, but I did not try this. Cost of the buffet was 78 pesos and I left a tip, which made the waitress happy, though I do not think you need to tip at self-service buffets.

Travv
02-20-17, 16:57
Place is like a health food restaurant. Seems to specialize in different types of health food smoothies made from vegetables and fruits and honey that might help you with a hangover. Good breakfasts, I particularly like the Spanish omelets or the egg enchilada platter with beans and rice for breakfasts for around 70 pesos. Located next to a health food store that sells bottles of 100 percent cane alcohol useful for party punch for about $7 - which cannot be purchased in California, as 100 percent pure alcohol is banned for sale, so I have read. Recommend this restaurant for a good view of Avenida Revolucion and their health food smoothies to sip while people watching. Avenida Revolución #868 interior local 12 why 13, Zona Centro.

22000 Tijuana Baja California (About a 5 minute walk from Zona Norte).

Travv
03-03-17, 04:29
Heard someone talking about the Las Pampas steak buffet in Zona Rio so I decided to try it for lunch. Took about 15 minutes of driving through heavy traffic before pulling into the parking lot on Sanchez Taboada where it is located to arrive a little after noon. A large soup and salad bar is in the center of the restaurant and after my waiter seated me, I began filling up a plate with a guacamole tostada, Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, cobb salad with hard boiled eggs and chips and salsa. There is a signal on your table: green means bring meat and red means stop. I flipped it to green and the waiters began bringing marinated beef steaks and tender prime rib chunks to my table along with garlic bread, which I used to make steak sandwiches. After 1 more trip to the salad bar for sushi and beef and vegetable soup, I was stuffed, even though there was more salads and desserts that I had room to try. Around $300 pesos for the buffet plus 80 pesos for the drinks I ordered. Left a tip of about 80 pesos for the good service by the waiters who cut the meat off the barby sticks to your order at your table. Recommended.

Squid1234
03-03-17, 17:41
Expected the continental bagel but there was a menu of six choices. I tried the huevos rancheros wbich is nothing like the texmex style we are uses to. It was 2 eggs with enchelada sauce, mashed beans and potatoes. I liked it. It was not too much and didn't feel weighed down or sleepy afterwards.

WindAngel
03-04-17, 04:02
There is a signal on your table: green means bring meat and red means stop. I flipped it to green ....I took some picutres. The quality is not good because it was dark.

WindAngel
03-04-17, 04:09
The soup came in a large bowl. I also ordered shrimp linguine. Too much food for one person.

Captain Solo
03-04-17, 06:07
Most people would eat 1 of the 3 items your ordered. That would be enough for a meal.

Are you sure you ate all 3?

Looked like you liked what you ate.


The soup came in a large bowl. I also ordered shrimp linguine. Too much food for one person.

WindAngel
03-04-17, 16:35
Most people would eat 1 of the 3 items your ordered. That would be enough for a meal.

Are you sure you ate all 3?

Looked like you liked what you ate.The pictures are for two different meals. I like the food.

Captain Solo
03-04-17, 20:56
The site mare, or seven seas, soup has a good variety of seafood and is delicious. It's similar to the famous French fishermen's Bouillabaisse, or the Greek soup, in which they use the scrap seafood, notably the ugly Monk fish, to make a tasty seafood stew. Recommended.

You should try the cold dishes, Botana, in which shrimp and octopus are blanched then marinaded in a spicy dressing. Mexico does have fresh and delicious seafood, which are marinaded in lime juice so they are safe to eat. Even the picky Japanese are impressed.

One of the Japanese bros keeps crossing the border from San Diego to buy a few cups of mariscos cocteles from the cart at the school girl corner. LOL.


The soup came in a large bowl. I also ordered shrimp linguine. Too much food for one person.

WindAngel
03-05-17, 05:20
The site mare, or seven seas, soup has a good variety of seafood and is delicious. It's similar to the famous French fishermen's Bouillabaisse, or the Greek soup, in which they use the scrap seafood, notably the ugly Monk fish, to make a tasty seafood stew. Recommended.

You should try the cold dishes, Botana, in which shrimp and octopus are blanched then marinaded in a spicy dressing. Mexico does have fresh and delicious seafood, which are marinaded in lime juice so they are safe to eat. Even the picky Japanese are impressed.

One of the Japanese bros keeps crossing the border from San Diego to buy a few cups of mariscos cocteles from the cart at the school girl corner. LOL.Man,

I miss Mexican food! I have been going out the last couple of days looking for street vendors and trying them out but they are just not as good. I will keep looking.

Is that the mariscos cart near the Adelita store corner? The old man is very friendly, and I really enjoy it.

Captain Solo
03-05-17, 16:58
The good mariscos cart is diagonal from the Adelita store, on the South East corner.

What city are you in?

The Mexican mariscos or seafood restaurants in South California just don't have the fresh sea food like what you find in Tijuana or Ensenada. Their seafood cocktails are all cooked, nothing raw and fresh due to lack of fresh ingredients.

Alleged live clams in US seafood stores or super markets are all dead or half dead with foul odors. There are Mexican guys who drive truck loads of fresh seafood from Ensenada to So Cal every day.


Man,

I miss Mexican food! I have been going out the last couple of days looking for street vendors and trying them out but they are just not as good. I will keep looking.

Is that the mariscos cart near the Adelita store corner? The old man is very friendly, and I really enjoy it.

Member #2041
03-05-17, 17:43
The good mariscos cart is diagonal from the Adelita store, on the South East corner.

What city are you in?

The Mexican mariscos or seafood restaurants in South California just don't have the fresh sea food like what you find in Tijuana or Ensenada. Their seafood cocktails are all cooked, nothing raw and fresh due to lack of fresh ingredients.

Alleged live clams in US seafood stores or super markets are all dead or half dead with foul odors. There are Mexican guys who drive truck loads of fresh seafood from Ensenada to So Cal every day.Actually, there is a new taco place that just opened in Escondido on Center City parkway called La Tacqueria San Diego last week that makes a great ceviche, as well as the most authentic Mexican food I have tasted in San Diego.

Captain Solo
03-05-17, 22:25
Ceviche is the right word for that cocktail of raw seafood in lime juice and hot pepper. The Mexicans call it Coctel.

This place is next to I 15, exit 17th street in Escondido.

Good suggestion. I will have to stop buy on the way down to try it out.


Actually, there is a new taco place that just opened in Escondido on Center City parkway called La Tacqueria San Diego last week that makes a great ceviche, as well as the most authentic Mexican food I have tasted in San Diego.

Captain Solo
03-14-17, 17:46
This seafood restaurant looks fantastic and cheap, ceviches 50- 90 pesos. It's near Agua Caliente, a few blocks South of Costco.

https://www.facebook.com/ErizoBaja/

http://menu.mx/v2/Erizo_Baja_Fish_House_and_Market/Tijuana/Espanol/NYB53W

http://www.streetgourmetla.com/2010/05/cebicheria-erizo-tijuanabc-top-ceviche.html

I would program all important Tijuana address in my GPS device so it won't forget.

Captain Solo
03-14-17, 22:52
The seafood dishes look great, but I would still like to have some meat along with them.

Sr Pampas has lunch for 150 and dinner for 210 pesos, all you can eat beef, veal, chicken, some grill tuna and shrimp. This is a good deal.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sr-Pampas/124751784385564

Captain Solo
03-19-17, 03:39
Was in El Centro Tijuana Friday PM for some business. Decided to find Erizo and Sr Pampas for dinner.

Don't plan to drive in Tijuana Friday afternoon. Traffic was horrendous. There were lots of cars on the streets with California plates, that would block intersections into gridlocks. I was inching along with an ambulance wailing its siren behind me, while some guys were potentially bleeding to death waiting for them, and drivers were blowing their horns in frustration like it would help speed up traffic. Tijuana drivers with CA plates are very rude and selfish.

My GPS device recognized the address for Erizo Mariscos, but brought me to behind the Cinemapolis mall. There is a food court in the mall but could not find Erizo anywhere nearby. Had a pretty good coctel de camaron for 140 pesos, equivalent to a 50-peso cup in La Zona, then set out to find Sr. Pampas.

The address for Sr. Pampas was incorrect; GPS did not have it. I was inching again in traffic in frustration back to La Zona Norte. Will have to try again with UBER or taxi.


This seafood restaurant looks fantastic and cheap, ceviches 50- 90 pesos. It's near Agua Caliente, a few blocks South of Costco.

https://www.facebook.com/ErizoBaja/

http://menu.mx/v2/Erizo_Baja_Fish_House_and_Market/Tijuana/Espanol/NYB53W

http://www.streetgourmetla.com/2010/05/cebicheria-erizo-tijuanabc-top-ceviche.html

I would program all important Tijuana address in my GPS device so it won't forget.

ScatManDoo
03-19-17, 18:46
Heard someone talking about the Las Pampas steak buffet in Zona Rio so I decided to try it for lunch. Took about 15 minutes of driving through heavy traffic before pulling into the parking lot on Sanchez Taboada where it is located to arrive a little after noon. A large soup and salad bar is in the center of the restaurant and after my waiter seated me, I began filling up a plate with a guacamole tostada, Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, cobb salad with hard boiled eggs and chips and salsa. There is a signal on your table: green means bring meat and red means stop. I flipped it to green and the waiters began bringing marinated beef steaks and tender prime rib chunks to my table along with garlic bread, which I used to make steak sandwiches. After 1 more trip to the salad bar for sushi and beef and vegetable soup, I was stuffed, even though there was more salads and desserts that I had room to try. Around $300 pesos for the buffet plus 80 pesos for the drinks I ordered. Left a tip of about 80 pesos for the good service by the waiters who cut the meat off the barby sticks to your order at your table. Recommended.Well Travv,

It seems as if you had no trouble finding and enjoying Pampas. Perhaps because you didn't try to change the restaurant's name? Pampas is great, but be sure to make reservations at peak times to avoid possibly waiting in line for a table. https://www.opentable.com/pampas-tijuana.

Can't understand why finding Erizo was difficult. It is located two half-blocks from the Grand Hotel Towers and just across from the Tijuana Country Club. Easy to find using google maps. https://www.facebook.com/ErizoBaja.

Hargow20
03-20-17, 07:48
I visited Pamapa's last year. Nice place, but it's to noisy for me. Reminds me of 3 alarm fire drill.


Well Travv,

It seems as if you had no trouble finding and enjoying Pampas. Perhaps because you didn't try to change the restaurant's name? Pampas is great, but be sure to make reservations at peak times to avoid possibly waiting in line for a table. https://www.opentable.com/pampas-tijuana.

Can't understand why finding Erizo was difficult. It is located two half-blocks from the Grand Hotel Towers and just across from the Tijuana Country Club. Easy to find using google maps. https://www.facebook.com/ErizoBaja.

Travv
03-20-17, 17:21
I got there just as it opened for lunch before leaving for San Diego, so easy to park and no waiting and plenty of tables. Recommended it yesterday to a group I met at Phil's BBQ. But I would not eat there then go to Zona Norte as you will be unable to walk, fit in your pants, or do anything but sleep due to being stuffed with so much BBQ like a bloated lizard! Love using the garlic bread to make steak sandwiches. So Zona Norte first then the buffet if you want to party.


I visited Pamapa's last year. Nice place, but it's to noisy for me. Reminds me of 3 alarm fire drill.

Captain Solo
03-21-17, 16:56
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Phordphan
03-21-17, 20:39
I got there just as it opened for lunch before leaving for San Diego, so easy to park and no waiting and plenty of tables. Recommended it yesterday to a group I met at Phil's BBQ. But I would not eat there then go to Zona Norte as you will be unable to walk, fit in your pants, or do anything but sleep due to being stuffed with so much BBQ like a bloated lizard! Love using the garlic bread to make steak sandwiches. So Zona Norte first then the buffet if you want to party.Just to inject a bit of anal retentive pedantry, the name is Mr. Pampas. For the directionally challenged, one of the easiest ways to get there is to take Calle 8 (the one in front of Ticuan) east until it dead ends. That's Sanchez Taboada. Turn right and keep straight for maybe a mile or so. It'll be on the right, on the corner of Sanchez Taboada and Abelardo Rodriguez. During rush hour it might take 15 or 20 minutes.

And yes, it's far too easy to overeat to an extreme degree.

Captain Solo
03-26-17, 13:04
Saturday 4 PM sunny and warm I had the car fixed, lots of food and and beers in HK, 2 rolls in bed with La Zona's day time beauties, so was heading home. But the border return traffic was congested way back at Benito Juarez. Decided to spend a beautiful and warm afternoon in Tijuana, finding that Eriza mariscos and Las Pampas to splurge rather than wasting time at the border.

There are many similar street names in zonas in Tijuana. So in the GPS you have to select which streets in which zona and which zip codes, or the GPS could take you far to the wrong locations. It led me south on Ave des Heroes in Zona Rio, a very nice, clean, leafy part of town with many upscale restaurants and clubs. It turned West on Gen Rodriguez and quickly found Las Pampas.

Left the car to valet. There were families with about 20 people waiting in front, not for tables but to pick up their cars. The place was packed at 4 PM, but I got my table out front in the open veranda after 10 minutes.

Their salad bar was above average, including a big Italian ham with shaved prosciutto, no sushi but a few plates of California rolls. The meats are above average. The big chunks of sirloin were tender and tasty, but the strips of filet mignon were dry and tasteless. The octopus grilled with star anise was very good, reminding me of the islands in Greece. Churrascarias in So Cal and Brazil would have dozens of sauces and condiments for guest, but Pampas only offers salt, pepper, red and green salsas.

Dinner costed total 475 pesos or $26 including tip and a 100-peso glass of wine. Pampas has no wine list, only a few choices. Its 400-peso per bottle private label wine was below average. Morton's in Socal serves better steaks with much better wines for about 2 x Tijuana prices.

Tijuana is sunny, dry, warm, a very nice place to spend weekends for good food and good, fun, sexy companies of chicas. It feels safer and more peaceful outside of La Zona Norte. I told my friends on the East Coast to stop flying to DR and head for San Diego / Tijuana every chance they have.

Captain Solo
04-15-17, 18:18
Had an appointment at 5 PM on Friday. Got there on California time but found Tijuana does not follow DLST, still 1 hour ahead, and the office was closed. Damn. All my times reported here in the Fall and Winter time should add 1 hour for normal Tijuana time.

What to do at 6 PM in La Zona Rio before heading to La Zona Norte to party with young, nubile chicas? I was 5 miles South on Agua Caliente so turned on the GPS device to find Erizo Mariscos. The GPS did not recognize the address and zip code numbers, but took me about 5 miles South on AC then turned West on Ave Sonora, past La Zona Gastronomica, and stopped me right in front of Erizo. Pretty damn impressive. I can now travel all over Mexico and never get lost hehe.

It was Friday dinner time but la Zona Gastro was deserted, restaurants empty with chairs stacked on tables. Erizo is a small, cozy, nice, clean place on a nice, clean, quiet side street, with about 15 diners, all Mexicans. The wait staff apparently sees very few gringos so did not know how to deal with them. It took 15 minutes before they brought out a kitchen helper who could speak a few words of English.

I ordered a beer and their special drink "Cuban" with a shellfish consome and the Green Mean Machine (unofficial US Army's name), Verda Cammaron, recommended by Street Gourmet LA, which is chopped shrimp marinaded in a spicy, herb vinaigrette. The food is fresh and OK, but bland and nothing special. Costed me only 180 pesos (about $10) before tip.

Erizo is a long drive from La Zona, not worth the trip. LOS Arcos is 2 short blocks East. The old menu in Las Perla had some much tastier seafood dishes, and it's right in the middle of La Zona with these pretty, flirty, sexy young girls, so what not to like? Someone just have to put out contracts on their noisy brass bands so we can enjoy the food in peace. The new menu has only half of the dishes as before. La Perla is now doing only about 20% business volume.

One of my favorite places is the hugely-popular Tacos Mariscos on OCampo near Calle 6 where they grill dozen large sea basses out front. That place makes some very tasty cocktails and ceviche with large portions and lower prices, not to mention their special whole grilled fish. Of course Las Pampas' AYCE grilled meat and seafood for $11 is a great deal.

Outside of La Zona Norte, Tijuana is pretty quiet and peaceful with a slow, relaxed pace of life, very tasty food and hot chicas Tijuana is the perfect paradise to live and hang out.

Artisttyp
04-15-17, 23:06
Had an appointment at 5 PM on Friday. Got there on California time but found Tijuana does not follow DLST, still 1 hour ahead, and the office was closed. Damn. All my times reported here in the Fall and Winter time should add 1 hour for normal Tijuana time.

What to do at 6 PM in La Zona Rio before heading to La Zona Norte to party with young, nubile chicas? I was 5 miles South on Agua Caliente so turned on the GPS device to find Erizo Mariscos. The GPS did not recognize the address and zip code numbers, but took me about 5 miles South on AC then turned West on Ave Sonora, past La Zona Gastronomica, and stopped me right in front of Erizo. Pretty damn impressive. I can now travel all over Mexico and never get lost hehe.

It was Friday dinner time but la Zona Gastro was deserted, restaurants empty with chairs stacked on tables. Erizo is a small, cozy, nice, clean place on a nice, clean, quiet side street, with about 15 diners, all Mexicans. The wait staff apparently sees very few gringos so did not know how to deal with them. It took 15 minutes before they brought out a kitchen helper who could speak a few words of English.

I ordered a beer and their special drink "Cuban" with a shellfish consome and the Green Mean Machine (unofficial US Army's name), Verda Cammaron, recommended by Street Gourmet LA, which is chopped shrimp marinaded in a spicy, herb vinaigrette. The food is fresh and OK, but bland and nothing special. Costed me only 180 pesos (about $10) before tip.

Erizo is a long drive from La Zona, not worth the trip. LOS Arcos is 2 short blocks East. The old menu in Las Perla had some much tastier seafood dishes, and it's right in the middle of La Zona with these pretty, flirty, sexy young girls, so what not to like? Someone just have to put out contracts on their noisy brass bands so we can enjoy the food in peace. The new menu has only half of the dishes as before. La Perla is now doing only about 20% business volume.

One of my favorite places is the hugely-popular Tacos Mariscos on OCampo near Calle 6 where they grill dozen large sea basses out front. That place makes some very tasty cocktails and ceviche with large portions and lower prices, not to mention their special whole grilled fish. Of course Las Pampas' AYCE grilled meat and seafood for $11 is a great deal.

Outside of La Zona Norte, Tijuana is pretty quiet and peaceful with a slow, relaxed pace of life, very tasty food and hot chicas Tijuana is the perfect paradise to live and hang out.Thanks for the review. It was on my list.

If you look across the street you will see a two level restaurant called TABULE. They have a very good Tuna Steak there. It overlooks the golf course.

Up the block from Erizo is a good coffee / pastry cafe that sells decent homemade cakes. I forget the name of it but you will see a terrace with tables.

Captain Solo
04-16-17, 06:54
I did see Tabule. I have big chunks of blue fin tuna in my freezer just waiting for the right occasions and good companies.

The coffee place was closed with chairs stacked on tables. Pretty sad really.

I think Tijuana outside of La Zona Norte is very nice, slow, relaxed, safe, civilized and cheap, a nice place to live in with or without the pretty chicas. Looks like you moved to Tijuana. Would appreciate you write up more about normal life in Tijuana.


Thanks for the review. It was on my list.

If you look across the street you will see a two level restaurant called TABULE. They have a very good Tuna Steak there. It overlooks the golf course.

Up the block from Erizo is a good coffee / pastry cafe that sells decent homemade cakes. I forget the name of it but you will see a terrace with tables.

Jicks
05-02-17, 07:41
Give a try if you like Goat meat, food is good and it's very close to center of action, adjacent to hotel Ibiza.

Travv
05-05-17, 00:58
The way the happy hour with a hot buffet and chips and salsa works at Casa De Pico at Grossmont Center in La Mesa is that you only get a paper plate to go to the buffet after you buy a drink. Around $6 for a strawberry margarita, which is what I usually order. This stops the freeloaders, since they have to buy a drink for each trip to the buffet, and since this is a restaurant / bar, the hot buffet is usually pretty good. Chicken wings, enchiladas, burritos covered with melted cheese or taquitos. Once the buffet had excellent chiles rellenos casserole. Since the margaritas are excellent and the food is excellent, the place is packed. They also have a Taco Tuesday with discounted tacos. This is the model Chicago Club should follow, IMO, make a deal with a local restaurant to run a happy hour buffet and pull in the tourists with food and dancers.


The free beers coupon is a good start. Have to come by and check it out.

If they hand out free spicy pork tacos, they could sell a lot of drinks. But they would still need hot chicas for the guys to want to come back and spend time and money on the girls.

This reminds me of Mr. J's, a topless strip joint near Orange County airport. Friday night for years they would have 2 dozens hot strippers and very good free snacks of cheese, pizza, wings, sausages etc. , hoping to attract the heavy drinkers and big tippers after work, but it never worked, even in a high-income area. They got mostly cheap skates who bought a $2 beer, ate prodigious amounts of free food, ogled but never tipped strippers.

I got a few tel numbers from their hot strippers, but could never arrange for sex them. After about 5 years of giving out free food, they folded. The place was owned and managed by a bunch of scary hoodlums. It may have been a front for something illegal, who knows? Recently a few popular bar chains in the US have been busted for selling drugs and prostitutes.

Captain Solo
05-05-17, 11:46
Chicago can't even keep their bar clean and their putas smelling good. You think they can keep their food clean and fresh? A buffet is a lot of work. Perhaps a discount menu with a local restaurant would be more realistic. But the restaurant next to Chicago has gone through many operators; none could survive long.

Bar Malquerida, Golden Corral and La Caretta in the alley occasionally would have free tacos days. They would cook the meat in boiling vats of oil or flaming hot grills right on the sidewalk. If that brought in more guys, they would have done it more often.

Most guys go to la Zona bars to flirt and fuck pretty girls and to drink, not to eat. Pretty girls is the main ingredient, not food. It's sick to see girls sit around all night in bars like Chicago and the&G, doing virtually no business. Supply appears in the excess. To increase demand, bar owners should do something, improving girls' quality, reduce prices, adding services, giving out incentives, targeting more specific clienteles etc. But they are too lazy and stubborn to change and adapt.

Dozens pretty girls sitting all night in bars in Puerta Vallarta and Cabo, asking for $300 sessions, doing no business. But they won't recognize the problems, find solutions and adapt. If they would just copy a few aspects of HK's operation, they would immediately have a share of the crowded HK's market.


This is the model Chicago Club should follow, IMO, make a deal with a local restaurant to run a happy hour buffet and pull in the tourists with food and dancers.

Travv
05-14-17, 04:36
Have been visiting Senor Pho for their Vietnamese Iced Coffee and today for another Vietnamese Lemonade. Always good on a warm day. The Vietnamese Lemonade is like a lemonade Slurpee with lots of crushed ice with a whole lemon blended in. Well worth the 40 pesos when you are thirsty for beyond ice cold lemonade with real lemons. I've tried the Vietnamese Pho with chicken and vegetables but I prefer the fried egg sandwich with Vietnamese vegetables on a baguette. Took refuge in the restaurant to escape the painfully loud band that plays by the taco shop and discovered how good the food is there. The restaurant also has a TV that shows current movies and National Geographic while you are sipping your drinks and watching the events in the street. Recommended: Vietnamese Iced coffee and Vietnamese lemonade, along with the fried egg sandwich. Haven't tried the appetizers yet but soon.

Captain Solo
05-14-17, 17:08
Menu looks delicious with many exotic dishes:

https://www.facebook.com/senor.pho.tijuana/?ref=py_c

Captain Solo
05-14-17, 18:15
It's right next to bar Tropical and Mermaids massage.


Menu looks delicious with many exotic dishes:

https://www.facebook.com/senor.pho.tijuana/?ref=py_c

ScatManDoo
05-16-17, 08:10
Have been visiting Senor Pho for their Vietnamese Iced Coffee and today for another Vietnamese Lemonade. Always good on a warm day. The Vietnamese Lemonade is like a lemonade Slurpee with lots of crushed ice with a whole lemon blended in. Well worth the 40 pesos when you are thirsty for beyond ice cold lemonade with real lemons. I've tried the Vietnamese Pho with chicken and vegetables but I prefer the fried egg sandwich with Vietnamese vegetables on a baguette. Took refuge in the restaurant to escape the painfully loud band that plays by the taco shop and discovered how good the food is there. The restaurant also has a TV that shows current movies and National Geographic while you are sipping your drinks and watching the events in the street. Recommended: Vietnamese Iced coffee and Vietnamese lemonade, along with the fried egg sandwich. Haven't tried the appetizers yet but soon.I stopped in to Mr. Pho two times this week. On their menu the third Pho dish that was offered was a bowl of Pho with thinly sliced steak and lengua. The sixth Pho dish was beef brisket with lengua. I think these were the only two bowls of Pho that offered lengua, which I like a lot. Fewer and fewer taco carts over the years seem to be offering lengua.

The medium size Phos cost 80 pesos and the grandes cost 125 pesos. On my first visit I ordered the brisket with lengua in size medium. I thought it was pretty good with the rice noodles well prepared. Not a lot of meat in the bowl, but it was consistent with the amount of meat I typically get in the cheaper Pho restaurants in Orange County.

On my second visit I went for a grande size bowl of the thin sliced steak and lengua. I was far less satisfied on my second visit. I was not carefully counting the slices of meat on my visits, but it sure seemed like there was just about the same amount of meat in the medium serving as there was in the grande-sized, which made the grande-sized bowl appear to be very skimpy. And not just in the meat. The garnishment plate with bean sprouts, cut limes and peppers were exactly the same size during both of my visits and even the amount of rice noodles seemed to be about the same (on my second visit the noodles seemed sticky and a little overcooked). I went there two days apart and it seemed as if all you got extra on the Grande size bowls was more broth and not more of anything else!

And then the guy tried to short change me twice on that second visit. I paid for the grande bowl with a 500-pesos note. The initial change I got was 345 pesos. On the counter by the cash register I refused to pick up my change and told him it was short as I pointed at it. He said it was correct, but when I still didn't pick it up he looked it over with greater scrutiny and then opened the register and added another 20-peso note to my change still sitting on the counter. I told him there should still be "diez mas" and he disagreed with me. We stared at each other. A couple more times I had to refuse picking up the change and instead say to him "there should be diez mas". So he finally replied by picking up the calculator next to the cash register and entering 500 and then subtracting 125 to get the displayed result of 375. He pointed at the calculator total and then my change.

On the counter I separated out the two cien notes. I pointed to them and said "Doscientos, si" and then I said to him in English "But this is not seventy five pesos" he looked at my change while shaking his head. And then he acted the part of suddenly realizing I was correct. He opened the register drawer once again and pulled out another ten pesos to add to my change.

For a second I though about taking back my twelve pesos tip I had left on my dining table, but decided to just leave it. I'm not sure if I will return there on future trips to La Zona. But if I do, I will only order the medium serving of Pho.

Captain Solo
05-17-17, 08:19
Is Senor Pho Orthodox or Reformed?

Is his restaurant Kosher?


It's right next to bar Tropical and Mermaids massage.

Travv
05-17-17, 21:28
I brought a friend over to try the food at Senor Pho yesterday afternoon and the manager gave a free fried rice bowl sample and a free iced Vietnamese coffee sample once he heard it was her first visit. Had another Vietnamese limonada and enjoyed the restaurant ambiance.

Captain Solo
05-18-17, 19:24
The restaurant is right across the street from Hong Kong's front door with a circular sign. The sign is very hard to read and does not spell out PHO clearly, so I was always assuming it was just another Mexican restaurant. This confusing circular sign is a big marketing mistake. The owner should post more signs in the windows, advertising PHO and Vietnamita cuisine.

After drinking 4 beers and ogling dozens hot girls in HK, my stomach needed soothing. So I crossed Coahuila to Senor Pho and ordered a medium bowl of PHO, rice noodle beef soup with brisket and tongue, for 80 pesos. The medium bowl is small, about the size of a grape fruit. It has enough flavor and aroma of beef pho, but the noodle was way under cooked, broth thin, meats sliced razor thin, leaving no texture or taste.

In comparison a cup of Sopa de Rez at the popular taco stand costs only 32 pesos, the broth is way too rich and fatty with about a quarter pound of chopped beef, eaten with corn tacos dipped in the soup. This Mexican sopa if served with rice, wheat ior corn noodle in bigger bowls would be a better balance between taste of meat, broth and starch and.

The quality and quantity of food of Mr Pho are way lower compared to other ethnic, Vietnamita, Chinese restaurants near La Zona, and far worse than Mexican's. The same mistakes were done by the Vietnamita guy next to Chicago a few years back. The Chicago's Pho was way tastier, better and more sumptuous, but he did not survive. Unless Mr Pho makes improvements quickly he will not be able to develop repeat clienteles to make a sustainable and profitable restaurant business, and the place will go down like other Vietnamita restaurants in La Zona.

Flyer47
05-20-17, 16:20
Anyone know where I can get a good elote in Tijuana?

ScatManDoo
05-21-17, 05:12
Anyone know where I can get a good elote in Tijuana?At La Linea.

IGotFingers
05-24-17, 16:36
Had the honor of making my 1st trip to HK / La Zona with Captain Solo last week for the Stripper of the Year event. Had a blast. During the intermission, we had a bite at the popular taco spot before the Captain gave me a tour of all the other clubs, restaurants, street girls. The al pastor was some of the best I've ever had when compared to what you can get in Socal. I believe they were 20 pesos each and the tacos were surprisingly a lot bigger than what I expected. The average eater would be happy with 2-3 tacos.

Captain Solo
05-25-17, 02:05
It was fun to see you gulp down the big tacos al pastor like a pro. Hehe. La Zona's tacos are exceptionally tasty with all fresh ingredients and just the right amount of spices in the marinade, leaving a delicious balance of taste, texture and flavor in the juicy meat. The other taco al pastor cart on Revo near Amnesia strip club, very popular with taxi drivers, puts too much cumin in their marinade taking away most natural flavors.

In comparison, Chipotle's beef tacos are tiny, tasteless and the meat smells like it's been around a few days. I don't think Chipotle's ingredients are fresh as they claim.

Big eaters should try Senor Pampas' Brazilian steak house in Zona Rio, AYCE meats and seafood dinner, $11 weekday. Would cost $70 in OC and LA.

It was fun to have you as a wingman. Let's do it again soon.


Had the honor of making my 1st trip to HK / La Zona with Captain Solo last week for the Stripper of the Year event. Had a blast. During the intermission, we had a bite at the popular taco spot before the Captain gave me a tour of all the other clubs, restaurants, street girls. The al pastor was some of the best I've ever had when compared to what you can get in Socal. I believe they were 20 pesos each and the tacos were surprisingly a lot bigger than what I expected. The average eater would be happy with 2-3 tacos.

IGotFingers
05-25-17, 20:55
Photos didn't attach the 1st time around.

Flyer47
05-27-17, 00:35
I agree about the quality of the la zona's tacos. The tacos al pastor outside of Hong Kong are the best tacos I've ever had. I honestly miss those tacos and I can't have tacos in the states anymore.


It was fun to see you gulp down the big tacos al pastor like a pro. Hehe. La Zona's tacos are exceptionally tasty with all fresh ingredients and just the right amount of spices in the marinade, leaving a delicious balance of taste, texture and flavor in the juicy meat. The other taco al pastor cart on Revo near Amnesia strip club, very popular with taxi drivers, puts too much cumin in their marinade taking away most natural flavors.

In comparison, Chipotle's beef tacos are tiny, tasteless and the meat smells like it's been around a few days. I don't think Chipotle's ingredients are fresh as they claim.

Big eaters should try Senor Pampas' Brazilian steak house in Zona Rio, AYCE meats and seafood dinner, $11 weekday. Would cost $70 in OC and LA.

It was fun to have you as a wingman. Let's do it again soon.

Flyer47
05-27-17, 08:15
Has anyone tried Colectivo 9 on Revolución? Looks interesting on Yelp, I was thinking of trying it out soon.

Captain Solo
05-27-17, 23:49
Good find. This place is on West side of Revo, half a block South of Calle 6, which is not bad. Have to try it next time.

Zona Gastronomica is just too far South. I would never drive down that far just for a meal. Senor Pampas is off Paseo de LOS Heroes, about 10 miles South of La Zona, but it's worth the drive to splurge.

There is a mariscos taco place on East side of O'Campo, half block South of 4, with a large menu, fresh seafood, grilled bass, very cheap shrimp, fish tacos, ceviche etc.


Has anyone tried Colectivo 9 on Revolucin? Looks interesting on Yelp, I was thinking of trying it out soon.

Flyer47
06-29-17, 05:09
So I decided to check out Taqueria Franc. I was too shy to ask anyone so it took me a while to figure it out it was a self seating place. Also, am I expected to tip the server at Taqueria Franc?

As for the food, I think the taco stand at the corner of Hong Kong is both tastier and less expensive.

Are there any other taco stands I should try?

Captain Solo
06-29-17, 18:14
The other 2 tacos stands on Coahuila, corner North Nino Heroes and Constitucion, are owned by the same people, rotating cooks among them. But the 1 near Hong Kong is still more wildly popular. WTF?

The guys at the taco restaurant next to that stand are pretty nice people. They would invite me in to sit down and eat. I usually buy the Taco El Tabor and order something inside the restaurant so I can sit down eat in peace, avoiding the annoying filthy beggars and shoe shines. Their brisket is deep fried and burned to a crisp. They also cook the carne asada and all sorts of offals. I would give them a tip for being nice.

There is another Taco El Tabor stand on Rev Near the Amnesia club and the Jai Ajai, very popular with cab drivers, open all night. It's not as good as the one next to Hong Kong for my taste due to too much cumin and other spices in the marinade.

The mariscos place on O'Campo and Calle 4 has lots of good, fresh, tasty sea food, sashimi, fish tacos cheap. Mexico has some of the freshest and tastiest sea food in the world. Restaurants in Tijuana are also much better and tastier than those in Ensenada. Two for two, both food and pussies, Ensenada loses to Tijuana. Hehehe.

$5 rib eye dinners in Azul is delicious, a very good deal and you don't have to waste time away from the sexy young HK chicas. If I go outside of La Zona Norte, I may as well drive to Senor Pampas churascos for a real classy dinner with AYCE grilled meats and sea food for $11. Fuck the cheap, grimy, filthy, low-life taco stands with their filthy beggars, dogs and shoe shines.


So I decided to check out Taqueria Franc. I was too shy to ask anyone so it took me a while to figure it out it was a self seating place. Also, am I expected to tip the server at Taqueria Franc?

As for the food, I think the taco stand at the corner of Hong Kong is both tastier and less expensive.

Are there any other taco stands I should try?

Artisttyp
06-29-17, 20:13
What would be a good place out of these 10 places to spend 3-4 hours on Saturday afternoon? All of them have mixed reviews. I am a foodie and don't mind window shopping. Avenida Revolucion? I was going to take a cab and check out beach, but then it seems far.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g150776-Activities-Tijuana_Baja_California.htmlGo eat at El Taller. One of the best restaurants in Tijuana.

JBoarman
06-30-17, 00:27
I was going to take a cab to Ave Revolution but then I checked google maps, its just 13 min walk from HK, not bad. I always thought its far. I've got my T-Mobile north american plan and it works in Tijuana. So should be set. Shopping mall Plaza Rio also sounds good. But for sure will eat my Lunch somewhere in Ave Revolution. What is "mariscos restaurants", is a type of a restaurant or name of a restaurant? Best place to eat in Ave Revolution?


You only have 4 hours. The beach in La Playa is a joke, not worth the time to cab there.

If you plan to spend 4 hours in the afternoon, I suggest you walk South to Ave Revolution, checking out the music and natives performance at the hotel Nelson's plaza, the handicraft stands and mariscos restaurants in that area.

Walk South on Revolucion, checking out trinket shops and farmacias catering to tourists. You may find some interesting and artistic gift items uniquely Mexican.

Take a cab about 2 miles South to the nice, clean, upscale, main shopping mall Plaza Rio, where the middle class goes for shopping, food and entertainment. There is a food court with nice, clean stores and good varieties of food:

Plaza Rio, Calle Paseo de LOS Heroes 96, Tijuana 22010.

On the way back, stop by Catedral de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe and confess all your sins. Hehe.

JBoarman
06-30-17, 00:30
This is rated quite high in reviews. Must be great. Far tho, 15 min cab ride down south.


Go eat at El Taller. One of the best restaurants in Tijuana.

Phordphan
06-30-17, 01:33
What would be a good place out of these 10 places to spend 3-4 hours on Saturday afternoon? All of them have mixed reviews. I am a foodie and don't mind window shopping. Avenida Revolucion? I was going to take a cab and check out beach, but then it seems far.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g150776-Activities-Tijuana_Baja_California.htmlIf you're a foodie, take advice from some of us who have actually been outside of the Zona.

Playas has lots of little seafood joints with incredible ocean views and dirt cheap ceviche. It's not far, but I think your time is better spent elsewhere your first trip.

CECUT can be interesting if there is an event the weekend you're going. Check their web site.

Plaza Rio is nothing but a shopping mall. BFD. Skip it.

The Cathedrals are always on TripAdvisor's lists, and I can never figure out why. The one in Tijuana is just this side of a dump. It's somewhat interesting externally, inside it just reeks of age, and not in a good way. Save it for Spain.

Stroll from 1st to 8th and back on Revolucion. It's nice to check out the various shops. No longer is it wall to wall trinket shops. Lots of different bars and restaurants. Trendy movie theaters and other hipster establishments now dot the landscape. One thing you MUST do, because it is a touristy tradition that stretches back into the mists of time is to get your picture taken with a Tijuana Zonkey. You'll feel stupid, but you'll treasure it later. You'll find a ton of interesting bars along 6th street, but they may not be going, depending on what time you're there. Dandy del Sur will probably be open, and is a taste of old-school Tijuana. It's worth a peek.

If you truly are a foodie, make an early dinner reservation at Mision 19. Trust me. Have the tasting menu, they have 2 sizes. You won't regret it. On the floor above is Bar 20. I love their cocktails, although the music sucks. But it's worth it to go a bit early and have a drink before dinner.

Between a leisurely 16 block stroll (8 up and 8 back), a stop for a donkey pic, a stop or two in a bar, and a dinner at Mision 19, you'll easily pass 4 hours.

Phordphan
06-30-17, 01:40
I was going to take a cab to Ave Revolution but then I checked google maps, its just 13 min walk from HK, not bad. I always thought its far. I've got my T-Mobile north american plan and it works in Tijuana. So should be set. Shopping mall Plaza Rio also sounds good. But for sure will eat my Lunch somewhere in Ave Revolution. What is "mariscos restaurants", is a type of a restaurant or name of a restaurant? Best place to eat in Ave Revolution?Mariscos is Spanish for seafood. The best place on Revolucion is Caesar's Restaurant, bar none. But, seriously, don't take your advice from somebody whose ne plus ultra is a food court or an all you can eat buffet.

Javier Plascencia runs Mision 19. Google him. The Plascencia Family runs, among other famous places, Caesar's. If you can't make it anywhere else, Caesar's is a very good spot. Have the tableside Caesar salad.

JBoarman
06-30-17, 19:15
Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.


You only have 4 hours to spend in Tijuana. It's not smart to cab half hour to some alleged restaurants in the boon dock and wait another half hour for them to serve their food. Traffic in Tijuana can be congested in many places during the day time. If you want to taste Mexico's basic cuisine, holes in the walls taco shops on Revo and various seafood and tacos carts on the streets serve their popular food. Find the shops or stands with lots of people and you will have fresh, tasty food.

Walk South on Constitution then East on Art123 towards the Arc. In the hotel Nelson's plaza half dozens sea food restaurants have touts, some very good-looking young girls, out front luring in tourists. Hotel Nelson serves a good menu of food and stiff drinks with tables out in the plaza, where you can sit and watch natives' performances and the locals who shop the area. Ave Revolucion has stores for tourists; Ave Constitucion has stores for locals, packed with pedestrians and shoppers on weekends.

You definitely want to cab 2 miles South to Plaza Rio on the nice, clean, leafy Ave LOS Heroes, to see how the middle class lives, with their nice, clean, artsy stores, clubs and restaurants. Afterwards just hail a cab back to the border or back to La Zona.

Captain Solo
06-30-17, 19:27
I like pork if properly prepared. How do they prepare the 10-inch thick pork chops? Deep fried or grilled over charcoal may be? Are the chops tender, flavorful and juicy? I have to try out this place.

The problem though, a heavy meal would kill off the libido for the whole night while the stomach tries to digest. That's why I prefer only light dinners with a single taco or a coctel of half dozen raw clams or oyster or cooked shrimp, eaten with crackers or crisp tostada. That way I can hang out in HK drinking, flirting with pretty girls all night, screwing 2 to 3 girls a night.

If I get hungry, I can order take out food with 2-for-1 coupons from Azul and treat my favorite girls to decent meals. Believe me the poor, hungry chicas are grateful for those caring gestures.


Order the Pork Chop (they have their own farm. Cuts are thick like a NY Steak) and Pizza Jamon Serrano (small size). Banana Pudding for desert and Roasted Garlic for appetizer. Afterwards take a nap!

It takes 10 minutes to get there from the Zona Norte by taxi. A meal will run you maybe $30 with ALL the trimmings. Appetizer entree drink Etc.

Well worth it. One of my favs.

Captain Solo
07-01-17, 01:06
Rest Monaco next to Adelita serves good, lean breakfasts with brewed coffee. I hate the tasteless breakfasts and instant coffee served in Azul.

La Perla also serves good breakfast with brewed coffee but it opens late at 9 and the service is usually slow.

OXXO stores have hot brewed coffee 24/7.

Or you can walk to the McDonald's on Calle 1, corner Constitucion, in the plaza South of Hotel Nelson and the Arc. Fried eggs in most other places are very greasy.


Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.

Travv
07-01-17, 03:20
La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. Or you can walk to Avenida Revolucion to Restaurante 58 near Sorianas and the Italian restaurant for their excellent egg enchiladas with frijoles - 90 pesos, or the omelette California with green peppers and cheese for 120 pesos. This restaurant also has great breakfast smoothies. Strawberry, apple and granola blended for about 50 pesos. Or the beet smoothy (Sangron) for extra HK staying power!


Rest Monaco next to Adelita serves good, lean breakfasts with brewed coffee. I hate the tasteless breakfasts and instant coffee served in Azul.

La Perla also serves good breakfast with brewed coffee but it opens late at 9 and the service is usually slow.

OXXO stores have hot brewed coffee 24/7.

Or you can walk to the McDonald's on Calle 1, corner Constitucion, in the plaza South of Hotel Nelson and the Arc. Fried eggs in most other places are very greasy.

Artisttyp
07-01-17, 03:38
I like pork if properly prepared. How do they prepare the 10-inch thick pork chops? Deep fried or grilled over charcoal may be? Are the chops tender, flavorful and juicy? I have to try out this place.

The problem though, a heavy meal would kill off the libido for the whole night while the stomach tries to digest. That's why I prefer only light dinners with a single taco or a coctel of half dozen raw clams or oyster or cooked shrimp, eaten with crackers or crisp tostada. That way I can hang out in HK drinking, flirting with pretty girls all night, screwing 2 to 3 girls a night.

If I get hungry, I can order take out food with 2-for-1 coupons from Azul and treat my favorite girls to decent meals. Believe me the poor, hungry chicas are grateful for those caring gestures.Pretty sure they are over charcoal on a grill. They truly are a sight to be seen. I've never seen a decent pork chop in Tijuana until I saw these. The entire menu needs to be explored.

I highly recommend this place. Not everything is superb but the menu has wonderful choices.

I find when I eat a good meal before drinking I have to [CodeWord111] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord111) less, which is a plus for me since many of my sessions are interrupted by bladder issues.

Phordphan
07-01-17, 20:32
Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.That's because a breakfast burrito is primarily an American invention. You'll be hard pressed to find one in any place that serves anything close to traditional food. I've never seen one in Tijuana. Although, as I sit here writing this from Uruapan, I did notice a cafe last night that served a sort of breakfast burrito, so they exist in some form or another, but nothing like you're thinking of.

Foodie, indeed.

Captain Solo
07-02-17, 05:37
Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem. Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.


I find when I eat a good meal before drinking I have to peeeee less, which is a plus for me since many of my sessions are interrupted by bladder issues.

WombatEd2
07-02-17, 19:38
Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem.After a certain age, most men do. From Wikipedia: "An estimated 50% of men have histologic evidence of BPH by age 50 and 75% by age 80; in 4050% of these men, BPH becomes clinically significant. ".


Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.Very good advice, but the stats I quote above are about BPH, not cancer. (The first letter of "BPH" stands for "benign".).

Artisttyp
07-02-17, 21:48
Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem. Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.Actually I don't. Neither do I have diabetes. It has been checked every year.

Captain Solo
07-02-17, 23:53
All my friends from overseas were impressed with la Perla's exotic thatch-roof building and its delicious, authentic Mexican seafood cuisine.

We had many fun, exciting dinner parties at La Perla. We would have gone there every night for dinner but for their extremely loud and offensive brass band. La Perla should only aloud small groups of mariachis to perform for dining guests on request.

Their business has shrunk significantly after 2008 with a much smaller menu and very few guests at dinner time. It's a sad sign of the general decline in business health in La Zona Norte, all except the Hong Kong Zoo. Hehe.

Perhaps La Perla should put its spinner waitresses to strip on the stage and perform in lap dance booths to spice up business?


La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. Or you can walk to Avenida Revolucion to Restaurante 58 near Sorianas and the Italian restaurant for their excellent egg enchiladas with frijoles - 90 pesos, or the omelette California with green peppers and cheese for 120 pesos. This restaurant also has great breakfast smoothies. Strawberry, apple and granola blended for about 50 pesos. Or the beet smoothy (Sangron) for extra HK staying power!

Member #2041
07-03-17, 01:52
While BPH is not Cancer, it is also not truly benign. I had a case of it that screwed up my normal urination to the degree that I suffered kidney failure that nearly killed me early last year. For 2 months I had to [CodeWord134] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord134) through a catheter into a bag, and in the middle of that span, I had to undergo prostate surgery which basically involved cutting a donut-shaped piece of my Prostate away to make room for my urethra to function without being constricted. BTW, the surgery was the best thing that ever happened to my health, and within a month after the operation, I was peeing and fucking like I was 20 years younger, and my kidney function completely returned to normal.

The moral of the story is, get it checked out. If it's left unchecked, it can kill you, even if it's not cancerous. If it's detected early, the surgery is straightforward and it works.

I should add that the most pleasant part of this entire ordeal was the really cute maybe 19-20 year-old pre-med intern who had the task of showing me how to tend to my urinary catheter when it was first installed.

Captain Solo
07-04-17, 05:20
Damn. I am glad you had your problem fixed.

The damn perverted doctor loves to stick his big finger up my rectum to check my prostrate. I am having a PSA test.


While BPH is not Cancer, I had to undergo prostate surgery which basically involved cutting a donut-shaped piece of my Prostate away to make room for my urethra to function without being constricted. BTW, the surgery was the best thing that ever happened to my health, and within a month after the operation, I was peeing and fucking like I was 20 years younger, and my kidney function completely returned to normal.

Captain Solo
07-05-17, 21:53
The menu printed on paper is la Perla's breakfast menu, which has basic eggs and ham breakfasts for 40 pesos. The breakfast menu also has various omelettes, pan cake, hamburgers, tacos and other sea food dishes etc. It's a big menu for breakfast.

The main menu is the big one in the clear plastic jacket. It was my error thinking the menu was reduced to the smaller paper breakfast menu. Instead, the dinner menu is still large, including all the old sea food dishes, hot and cold, but they have added a dozen meat dishes. The Spanish menu has all prices in pesos; marlin tacos start at 25 pesos which is not more expensive than street food.

I complained about the loud brass band making it difficult to enjoy the food. The senior English-speaking mesera, Nayva, confirmed they decided not to have brass bands to play on stage.

9 AM, I was the only in for breakfast, eggs, bacon white toasts with brewed coffee for 75 pesos. About 6 people were working the place.


La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. !

Long Don Silva
07-07-17, 21:17
I came here for breakfast on Friday since it got good reviews on Yelp. I ordered the Omelettes del Patron, consisting of shrimp, mushrooms, and a bed of some sort of cheese slightly similar to queso fresco but with a bit more of a soft mozzarella texture. It was one of the pricier options on the menu at 135 pesos plus an additional 25 pesos for a pretty good coffee, bringing the total to 160 pesos. A small quesadilla preceded the entre, which was served with frijoles, a basic form of chilaquiles, and three tortillas.

La Casa de la Esquina is located in Zona Este and provides a pleasant ambience. Service was good, as was indicated on Yelp. This came up in my search for breakfast restaurants, but it also appears to offer cuisine to accommodate meals throughout the day. This would probably be a good place to take a girl on a date.

Long Don Silva
07-11-17, 02:22
La Perla de la Mer is in the pedestrian traffic only area between the arch and the Wax Museum / Farmacia Piri. I was greeted by Panchito as I was walking by, who showed me the menu and had the respect to let me take my sweet time in the perusal thereof before making my decision. I opted for a dozen raw oysters, you know, to get the juices flowing as they say. He suggested that I go half-and-half with some mussels to which I oblige. When the oysters come out, I understand. The only other time I've had them were in New Orleans and they were full and fleshy, taking up almost the entire shell. These oysters were very scant like a drug-addled American street walker in Tijuana. The mussels, however, were solid. Panchito showed me that they're still alive, tapping a shell with a fork and watching it close up. Pretty cool. I ordered a Corona and he offered a shot of tequila, the brand I don't remember. But it was really, really smooth. Bill came out to 200 pesos.

This is a solid business that appears to be focused on providing a quality experience to create a regular clientele. Not many establishments have that long view and I commend them for that. I'll be looking forward to coming back, when I can ask Panchito if the oysters are any good this time before selecting them over the mussels.

Captain Solo
07-11-17, 13:48
Before 2008, the pedestrian Freedom Path, between the border to Ave. Revolucion, used to be crowded with tourists on weekends. I used to walk over and sit outside tacos joints for 3 tacos for $1 and $1 beers, watching people shopping, hanging out. The path has been deserted the last 10 years. Lots of stores and restaurants closed.

What day, what time were you on that Freedom Path? Were there lots of people or tourists on that pedestrian path? Were there other diners in this La Perla de la Mer?

I prefer oysters on the shell at the school girl corner, and sea food at La Perla, so I won't waste any time away from the SYTs in La Zona.


La Perla de la Mer is in the pedestrian traffic only area between the arch and the Wax Museum / Farmacia Piri. I was greeted by Panchito as I was walking by, who showed me the menu and had the respect to let me take my sweet time in the perusal thereof before making my decision. I opted for a dozen raw oysters, you know, to get the juices flowing as they say. He suggested that I go half-and-half with some mussels to which I oblige. When the oysters come out, I understand. The only other time I've had them were in New Orleans and they were full and fleshy, taking up almost the entire shell. These oysters were very scant like a drug-addled American street walker in Tijuana. The mussels, however, were solid. Panchito showed me that they're still alive, tapping a shell with a fork and watching it close up. Pretty cool. I ordered a Corona and he offered a shot of tequila, the brand I don't remember. But it was really, really smooth. Bill came out to 200 pesos.

This is a solid business that appears to be focused on providing a quality experience to create a regular clientele. Not many establishments have that long view and I commend them for that. I'll be looking forward to coming back, when I can ask Panchito if the oysters are any good this time before selecting them over the mussels.

Captain Solo
07-11-17, 17:31
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Long Don Silva
07-12-17, 00:18
What day, what time were you on that Freedom Path? Were there lots of people or tourists on that pedestrian path? Were there other diners in this La Perla de la Mer? I was there Saturday around 5:30 - 6:30. There was light foot traffic in the area. There were a few other cafe-type restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

Travv
07-14-17, 18:13
For guys who want to try middle eastern food that is within walking distance, you might visit Zula's Restaurant. Tried the mini Falafel with Pita bread for 75 pesos on Wednesday and it was a huge sandwich.

Typical review from Yelp: "Great place for middle eastern food. Also, the restaurant is exposed (no walls on 2 sides) so fun to people watch walking around Revu / Centro.

Got the falafel plate. Perfectly fried with lots of flavor. The plate looks small but it's alot of food. Had leftovers to go. And their sauce bar had so many options.

They didn't take credit card since they just opened. The owner said they should have it set up in a few months.

Highly recommend. Would come back. " https://www.yelp.com/biz/zula-tijuana.

Captain Solo
07-22-17, 17:33
Went to la Perla last week with a friend. The shrimp cocktail coctele de camarron was weak, only a few small shrimps in a weak broth. The shrimp ceviche is also small. Including 4 beers, the dinner costed us close to 1,000 pesos, which was high.

This week checked out the smaller "Mariscos de Los Damos" rest on Consitucion next to hotel El Degado. His medium shrimp cocktail costed 85 pesos and was delicious with big tasty shrimp and broth eaten with crispy tostada. Surprisingly they also serve premium beers like Bohemia for 25 pesos. Dinner was delicious and costed only 210 pesos, including beer. I was full. Dinner is a lot better to have a beer with the seafood. Sure beat sitting out at the school girl corner. This place also has raw clams, oysters, cockles and a huge, tasty shrimp soup.

I also checked out Mariscos Titos on O'Campo and Calle 4, a huge sea food place very popular with grilled fish, but it was closed at dinner time. WTF? Eating fresh, delicious seafood, and screwing even fresher, sexier young girls, in Tijuana make life so good. God has definitely given us a sexy and tasty paradise on earth.

Captain Solo
08-01-17, 17:23
I was waiting for this flaky Craigslist date Saturday afternoon. So went to Titos' for dinner. The place was crowded with 40 to 50 people dining this Saturday afternoon, but was close the Friday last week. Business in Mexico is as flaky as the amateur escorts.

The large shrimp coctele in the pic costed 190 pesos, about $11.6 oysters costed 60 pesos. The fish and shrimp tacos are huge here, for 25 pesos. The food was fresh and delicious.

A few comic Con figures were hanging out at the taco stand on front of bar Malquerida. Just imagine yourself hanging out in the alley in those colorful, funny flowing robes, going to the hotel to fuck the brown honeys. Hehe.

Hargow20
08-02-17, 05:58
Where is best steak place in Tijuana. ? I tried El Sombrero awhile, back but the steak was tough. I am also looking for a place that serves lobster thermidor in Tijuana. There is a few places that serve it Puerto Nuevo. But it's a bit hassle go down there.

TomJackin
08-02-17, 06:35
A few comic Con figures were hanging out at the taco stand on front of bar Malquerida. Just imagine yourself hanging out in the alley in those colorful, funny flowing robes, going to the hotel to fuck the brown honeys. Hehe.That is a hotdog stand and the people dressed up work at the bar. Hehe.:(

Artisttyp
08-02-17, 07:47
Where is best steak place in Tijuana. ? I tried El Sombrero awhile, back but the steak was tough. I am also looking for a place that serves lobster thermidor in Tijuana. There is a few places that serve it Puerto Nuevo. But it's a bit hassle go down there.Fonda Argentina close to El Gran Hotel on Blvd. Aguas Caliente.

Ninguno Especial
08-16-17, 01:59
Rarely go there the past year and often just to have a beer or 2 at the bar to get away from the loud music and chicas.

Was there today with an amigo (beer only) we were about to walk out as there was nobody at the bar save the bartender.

Then spotted a new cajera (cashier) said it was her 1st day on the job. Very pretty eyes, beautiful smile and welcoming friendly personality.

Told her I hoped she sticks around as so many cashiers can't stand the boredom in the daytime, plus they don't get tips usually which is a minus.

Also next to the cash register was a stack of new menus (at least to me) take home or to hotel for anyone staying over. 7 pages but each is tall and narrow. All in Spanish, color, nice paper. Will have to eat there again one day. Pleasant 30 min. Chatted with the cashier likely too much but she was bored and humored the gringo.

TJSteve
08-25-17, 23:59
Fonda Argentina close to El Gran Hotel on Blvd. Aguas Caliente.I love it. The best I ever had is at Tio Pepe's. It's in a residecial area behind the ice place on the free road, Maybe a $5 cab ride. It's an institution in Tijuana.

They also have their own tequila in a cask that they fill bottles with. My neighbor drinks it and he hasn't fallen over dead yet so it must be OK.

If you get down to Rosarito go to El Nido's for a steak cooked over a mesquite fire. Baked potato over the fire and tortillas (harina) made by a moma-san while you watch (also over a fire.) People come in just of pick up a bag of tortillas. Cost about half of a good steak dinner in the US. They have quail eggs for breakfast.

Reinaldo
08-26-17, 20:34
Unless there are two Tito's on Ocampo I think you got the cross street wrong. It's 6th street going towards 7th. The regular fish tacos are huge but it's because of all the breading. You can order them without it for a higher price which is what I will do it I go back.


So went to Titos' for dinner. ...
The large shrimp coctele in the pic costed 190 pesos, about $11.6 oysters costed 60 pesos. The fish and shrimp tacos are huge here, for 25 pesos.

Reinaldo
08-26-17, 20:45
Thanks for the review but just to clarify the place is not in Zona Este. That would be eastern Tijuana. It's in Zona Centro ie central Tijuana.


I came here for breakfast on Friday since it got good reviews on Yelp. I ordered the Omelettes del Patron, consisting of shrimp, mushrooms, and a bed of some sort of cheese slightly similar to queso fresco but with a bit more of a soft mozzarella texture. It was one of the pricier options on the menu at 135 pesos plus an additional 25 pesos for a pretty good coffee, bringing the total to 160 pesos. A small quesadilla preceded the entre, which was served with frijoles, a basic form of chilaquiles, and three tortillas.

La Casa de la Esquina is located in Zona Este and provides a pleasant ambience. Service was good, as was indicated on Yelp.

Hargow20
09-01-17, 09:01
Went to Pampa's and I was a bit disappointed. The meat was good, but not great. The other problem is that they only have to 2 or 3 waiters to bring the meat around so the service was slow.

Artisttyp
09-01-17, 14:51
Went to Pampa's and I was a bit disappointed. The meat was good, but not great. The other problem is that they only have to 2 or 3 waiters to bring the meat around so the service was slow.If you want good meat go to Fonda Argentina.

Long Don Silva
09-05-17, 06:42
Thanks for the review but just to clarify the place is not in Zona Este. That would be eastern Tijuana. It's in Zona Centro ie central Tijuana.My apologies. Google maps says zona este. But I defer to a veteran monger, considering my experience outside the ZN is almost nonexistent. Thanks for the clarification.

EagleRoamer
09-19-17, 22:03
Went to Pampa's and I was a bit disappointed. The meat was good, but not great. The other problem is that they only have to 2 or 3 waiters to bring the meat around so the service was slow.Based on recommendations, I recently went to Mr Pampa's.

Not all taxi drivers know where the restaurant is. I had to show him google maps on my phone. Hailed a taxi at the Arch, cost $5. Taxi back to Hotel Cascadas $6 ; Buffet 225 peso & beer 40 peso; At 7:30 pm there was a line up right out the door. Best you make a reservation for a large party, but for a party of 2 or less, I just walked in and got seated immediately. Food was better than average, plentiful, and service was sufficient for my needs. Since I don't speak Spanish, I don't know what they were offering, just pointed to what I wanted. For comparison, food quality on par with Las Vegas buffet at Excalibur, Tropicana, and Luxor, but below Caesars and Mirage.

Captain Solo
01-10-18, 20:36
Tuesday night it was rainy and cold. Was trying to eat shrimp and fish tacos at the Playboy corner, but it was closed. So went over to a new place in the alley.

An American guy, named DJ, recently opened Mi Casita, an American fast-food place in the alley, next to XOXO, across from hotel El Porton. The place is new, clean, tastefully decorated in Western theme.

He serves basic American fast-food, everything is home-made on order, pizza, hamburger, tacos, chicken rice dishes ect. Between $2 to $5. His nachos was surprising fresh and tasty with freshly fried chips and grilled beef with lots of cheese. A nacho with 2 small chicken soups costed 85 pesos or $4.70.

This place serves home-made American meals with view of the young, sexy chicas showing their big boobs and long sexy legs, worth a try.

EBoardbuilder
01-30-18, 10:27
Do anyone know where you can find Havana Club Rum in Tijuana? I'm running low and I not leaving the country by air for a few months so I won't be able to hit a duty free shop till spring.

Travv
01-30-18, 21:30
I don't smoke but someone asked me to pick her up a carton of her favorite Capri Menthol cigarettes. I checked at 7/11 and XOXO but nothing. Anyone recommend a place in Tijuana to buy these?

ScatManDoo
01-31-18, 20:04
I don't smoke but someone asked me to pick her up a carton of her favorite Capri Menthol cigarettes. I checked at 7/11 and XOXO but nothing. Anyone recommend a place in Tijuana to buy these?See the man with his cart on Revolution on the corner where the Burger King is.

AmazonLuver
03-13-18, 23:56
Can someone suggest a place to get cheap Marlboro Reds.

And what does it cost?

Thanks.

Artisttyp
03-14-18, 02:35
Can someone suggest a place to get cheap Marlboro Reds.

And what does it cost?

Thanks.All cigs are cheaper in Tijuana. Revolucion and 5th street in front of Ceasar Hotel has a well known tobacco stand.

ScatManDoo
03-14-18, 02:39
Can someone suggest a place to get cheap Marlboro Reds.

And what does it cost?

Thanks.I am not a cigarette smoker, but I have been bringing back cartons of cigarettes for friends, family members and co-workers for more than a decade.

The first thing to realize is that there are two types of Marlboro cigarettes readily available for purchase:

1). There are "Mexican Market" Marlboros intended for sale to Mexican residents in Tijuana. You can find them in Tijuana grocery stores and other brick & mortar locations. They are different than.

2). "Duty free" Marlboros, which are sold in duty free stores near the border and from sidewalk cart vendors on Revolution Ave.

To begin with, the packaging is different. The Duty Free versions look just like the Marlboro cigarettes you buy in the United States, with just the added printing of "Duty Free" on the packs and cartons.

The Marlboro "Mexican Market" cigarettes have dramatically different packaging that includes colorful pictures of cancer patients and other smokers with graphic smoking related diseases. So the two types are easy to tell apart.

Over the years, my friends whom I have purchased cartons tell me that the Duty Free cigarettes taste and burn exactly like the cigarette brands they buy in the United States. And with Duty Free cigarettes selling for around $30 to $35 a carton, they represent a big discount from the prices found in stores in the United States.

For one co-worker and one family member I once brought each back a carton of the Mexican Market brand of their preference. They both said that the Mexican Market versions tasted different than what they were used to, and were very undesirable. I now only bring back the Duty Free versions.

AmazonLuver
03-16-18, 07:26
I am not a cigarette smoker, but I have been bringing back cartons of cigarettes for friends, family members and co-workers for more than a decade.

The first thing to realize is that there are two types of Marlboro cigarettes readily available for purchase:

1). There are "Mexican Market" Marlboros intended for sale to Mexican residents in Tijuana. You can find them in Tijuana grocery stores and other brick & mortar locations. They are different than.

2). "Duty free" Marlboros, which are sold in duty free stores near the border and from sidewalk cart vendors on Revolution Ave.

To begin with, the packaging is different. The Duty Free versions look just like the Marlboro cigarettes you buy in the United States, with just the added printing of "Duty Free" on the packs and cartons.

The Marlboro "Mexican Market" cigarettes have dramatically different packaging that includes colorful pictures of cancer patients and other smokers with graphic smoking related diseases. So the two types are easy to tell apart..Thanks to all that have responded. I plan to buy a carton. Since I couldn't find a duty free store walking back from Ped West, I plan to buy from one of the duty free store once I cross at Ped East. I remember seeing a duty store along the freeway so I guess I would have to double back.

Flyer47
03-16-18, 23:04
So last time I got some tacos at the stand next to Hong Kong the tacos were 1 dollar and 25 cents and they refused to break dollars, luckily I had quarters on me. Is that the standard price or do the tacos guys just not like me?

WombatEd2
03-17-18, 02:51
So last time I got some tacos at the stand next to Hong Kong the tacos were 1 dollar and 25 cents and they refused to break dollars, luckily I had quarters on me. Is that the standard price or do the tacos guys just not like me?I don't know about this particular stand, but it often helps (and never hurts) to buy with pesos.