Food in Tijuana

[Captain Solo]

Mariscos Paisa across the street, in front of Hotel Rapido, does a delicious shrimp coctele, 70 pesos for a medium cup. His shrimp are steamed then peeled, not Costco frozen, sweet and spongy. He also does the raw oysters, clams, cockles, about 50 see a piece, delish and a few days or a week fresher than anything you can buy in CA. You can buy cervezas at the corner store, hide them in bags and drink with your seafood, delicious, but he said, if policias catches you, they will confiscate his seafood, and you would have to pay for it. So be careful.

For a delish seafood quesadilla walk one block South on Ninos to Mariscos Fedoro. They have special combos, like one cheese quesadilla, 1 cup of consommé, 1 soft drink for 70 pesos or $3. 50, a very good deal and will fill you up. There are a few other seafood places in the mercado next to the cathedral offering special deals, but their food are not fresh.

[BangBangBoy]

The name of this restaurant is "Senda Norte". They raised their prices very high a few months back (they seriously had a MX $1100 steak on the menu!) but recently lowered them. Most meals are MX $120 now. It's a decent place, but I'd only eat there if I were stuck in the zona and didn't want to leave to go to a nice place.

Thank you! Yes, not a cheap place, but a good alternative to Azul. The breakfast quality at Azul leaves much to be desired. I also find it interesting the cost of cup of coffee at Azul fluctuates between $40 to $70 pesos depends on which waiter I get, only in the Zona.

[BlackThought]

What are some good ubereats options? Preferably Asian cuisine. The chicken pho I ordered from "Pho Lucky" was decent, can pass as authentic pho.

[KC Questor]

One of the girls from Tropical showed me an alternative to Azul for breakfast after our TLN. It's on the side of Tropical, just around the corner on Nios Heroes. If you are staying in HK, you need to cross the street to the Tropical side and walk around the corner. Not sure if it is part of Tropical or independently owned, as the service was more professional, felt more like a real restaurant. The inside is nicely decorated and new. Only looked at their breakfast menu so not sure if they serve lunch / dinner as well. I ordered an omelette and it was definitely way better than Azul, that's why the girl I was with insisted we go there, although the service was a little slow (took 10 minutes to get our check). "Tecua" was the name it appeared under on my credit card. So if you don't mind walking across the street for better food in the morning, there you go.

The name of this restaurant is "Senda Norte". They raised their prices very high a few months back (they seriously had a MX $1100 steak on the menu!) but recently lowered them. Most meals are MX $120 now. It's a decent place, but I'd only eat there if I were stuck in the zona and didn't want to leave to go to a nice place.

[SeaBeeJoe]

Want to report on the excellent seafood taco cart at the corner of Av. Constitution and Coahuilla, right outside of La Gloria Bar. I have walked by it many times before and ignored it. But it smelled so good this last weekend when I walked by it, I had to try it and it did not disappoint. It became my daily routine until I left Tijuana this past Tuesday. Their signature taco is the "Enchiladons," which is a shrimp taco cooked with cheese and sauce, $40 pesos each. Their fish tacos are only $25 pesos each and has 3 large pieces of battered fish per taco, so a very good deal. Think Captain Solo reported on the fish tacos last month.

When I was eating there, I saw they were doing brisk business with many of bar workers ordering large quantity takeouts. It appears to be very popular with the locals, saw some bar girls, some bikers, even a mariachi band eating there as well. I got some funny stares from the locals as I was the only "gringo" eating there, unlike the adobada taco cart on the other end of street, which is usually surrounded by gringos. Give them a try the next time you are in the Zona.

I ate there before too, the spicy shrimp tacos are mmmmazing!

[BlackThought]

Taco spot across the street from HK Club, $1.50/ taco, absolutely disgusting. Avoid it.

[ScatManDoo]

Want to report on the excellent seafood taco cart at the corner of Av. Constitution and Coahuilla, right outside of La Gloria Bar. I have walked by it many times before and ignored it. But it smelled so good this last weekend when I walked by it, I had to try it and it did not disappoint. It became my daily routine until I left Tijuana this past Tuesday. Their signature taco is the "Enchiladons," which is a shrimp taco cooked with cheese and sauce, $40 pesos each. Their fish tacos are only $25 pesos each and has 3 large pieces of battered fish per taco, so a very good deal. Think Captain Solo reported on the fish tacos last month.

When I was eating there, I saw they were doing brisk business with many of bar workers ordering large quantity takeouts. It appears to be very popular with the locals, saw some bar girls, some bikers, even a mariachi band eating there as well. I got some funny stares from the locals as I was the only "gringo" eating there, unlike the adobada taco cart on the other end of street, which is usually surrounded by gringos. Give them a try the next time you are in the Zona.

Their Siete Mares (7 seas) soup is priced very competitively (better) than the other seafood carts.

Ay least it was before Covid.

[BangBangBoy]

Want to report on the excellent seafood taco cart at the corner of Av. Constitution and Coahuilla, right outside of La Gloria Bar. I have walked by it many times before and ignored it. But it smelled so good this last weekend when I walked by it, I had to try it and it did not disappoint. It became my daily routine until I left Tijuana this past Tuesday. Their signature taco is the "Enchiladons," which is a shrimp taco cooked with cheese and sauce, $40 pesos each. Their fish tacos are only $25 pesos each and has 3 large pieces of battered fish per taco, so a very good deal. Think Captain Solo reported on the fish tacos last month.

When I was eating there, I saw they were doing brisk business with many of bar workers ordering large quantity takeouts. It appears to be very popular with the locals, saw some bar girls, some bikers, even a mariachi band eating there as well. I got some funny stares from the locals as I was the only "gringo" eating there, unlike the adobada taco cart on the other end of street, which is usually surrounded by gringos. Give them a try the next time you are in the Zona.

[BangBangBoy]

One of the girls from Tropical showed me an alternative to Azul for breakfast after our TLN. It's on the side of Tropical, just around the corner on Nios Heroes. If you are staying in HK, you need to cross the street to the Tropical side and walk around the corner. Not sure if it is part of Tropical or independently owned, as the service was more professional, felt more like a real restaurant. The inside is nicely decorated and new. Only looked at their breakfast menu so not sure if they serve lunch / dinner as well. I ordered an omelette and it was definitely way better than Azul, that's why the girl I was with insisted we go there, although the service was a little slow (took 10 minutes to get our check). "Tecua" was the name it appeared under on my credit card. So if you don't mind walking across the street for better food in the morning, there you go.

[Sol12]

Sounds like Charly's is a bust. Single-tortilla and flavorless adobada. Some of the best adobada in town can be found at Taqueria El Guero, at the southern end of Revu where it turns into Agua Caliente. BTW, the flavorless white vegetable was probably jicama.

If you go to a taco place and they use only one tortilla just ask them for "doble tortilla" on the next one.

[Phordphan]

I just got back from Charlys and still think Tacos El Franc is the best. I got 3 adobadas and 3 asadas with Mexican coke. It came out to 180 pesos and left 50 peso tip. I had to pay for parking since it is near Revo and all the street parking seemed to be for buses. I did like the service as they gave me an extra plate of radishes and some other white vegetable they have that is flavorless. The asadas are only on 1 tortilla, but the adobada was crispy. I just couldn't get over the fact it was kind of flavorless. At least the adobada wasn't fatty. I finished it all and only had to pay 10 pesos for parking since it took me under 30 min. I'll report back if we eat at some place when I pick up people from the airport tonight.

Sounds like Charly's is a bust. Single-tortilla and flavorless adobada. Some of the best adobada in town can be found at Taqueria El Guero, at the southern end of Revu where it turns into Agua Caliente. BTW, the flavorless white vegetable was probably jicama.

[LuvMexicanas]

I just got back from Charlys and still think Tacos El Franc is the best. I got 3 adobadas and 3 asadas with Mexican coke. It came out to 180 pesos and left 50 peso tip. I had to pay for parking since it is near Revo and all the street parking seemed to be for buses. I did like the service as they gave me an extra plate of radishes and some other white vegetable they have that is flavorless. The asadas are only on 1 tortilla, but the adobada was crispy. I just couldn't get over the fact it was kind of flavorless. At least it was fatty. I finished it all and only had to pay 10 pesos for parking since it took me under 30 min. I'll report back if we eat at some place when I pick up people from the airport tonight.

I go there for basically one thing: tacos de tripas. I know, not for everyone. I might on the rare occasion get a taco de chorizo like last week. I should have clarified that Charly's is my favorite place for tacos de tripas.

[Member #4730]

Charly's isn't near HK but it is close enough to the fringes of the Zona to where in jest or a curious mind might ask whether you know about the Zona. It is a down to earth place and I have seen families with children eat there. But depending on the social status of the mother and little brother, it might be a tad gritty. I suggest you go by yourself and if you like what you see, take them next time.

I just got back from Charlys and still think Tacos El Franc is the best. I got 3 adobadas and 3 asadas with Mexican coke. It came out to 180 pesos and left 50 peso tip. I had to pay for parking since it is near Revo and all the street parking seemed to be for buses. I did like the service as they gave me an extra plate of radishes and some other white vegetable they have that is flavorless. The asadas are only on 1 tortilla, but the adobada was crispy. I just couldn't get over the fact it was kind of flavorless. At least the adobada wasn’t fatty. I finished it all and only had to pay 10 pesos for parking since it took me under 30 min. I'll report back if we eat at some place when I pick up people from the airport tonight.

[Captain Solo]

Al Capone was reopened with new operator.

We went in after midnight for hot Caldo de Rez before going home. The new chef made it with a fatty beef, like clod shoulder. Soup was thick, fatty, delicious but the vegetables were overcooked. The last chef, Jose, made it perfect with shank beef, nice, clean, clear but tasty broth, vegetables were slightly cooked, still crunchy.

There were no clients while we were there, no Chicago girls as usual. It's hard to survive the food business in Tijuana.

[ClownDays]

Thanks for clarification. Sometimes I'm skeptical if her perception on life is warped based on living in Sinaloa. My ex was from Tijuana and she was more independent and I guess Americanized as she didn't expect me to "take care" of everything, but then again she didn't cook me every meal as she was a working professional too.

If her family is from a small town, or a place that was considered a small town when they were growing up there, she's most likely going to have been raised with more traditional cultural values. If that's the case, it may be helpful to compare what she's telling you, to how someone raised 50 years ago in the South would be raised. Even though you met her in a club, Mexicans are still very culturally conservative and quite traditional, because of how deeply Old Testament Catholicism got entrenched into the culture.