Cereus Joins Tijuana’s Growing Craft Cocktail Scene

No trip to TJ is complete without tacos by the kilo, so we asked TJ native Angel Miron, who runs the tour company Let’s Go Clandestino, to do the impossible: narrow down a list of great tacos in his hometown. Here are five of his favorite.

Tacos Machatlán

“These guys serve fried fish and shrimp tacos” on a bustling corner in El Centro de Tijuana, Miron says. “Don’t leave without trying the BBQ-grilled smoked marlin taco on a smoky tortilla.”

Tacos Fitos

Miron likes the tacos dorados de birria from this Tijuana shop. “The taquero is known for pumping them out super fast and does a trick with the consomé—pouring it onto the taco without looking,” Miron says.

January 26, 2024

Iconic Taqueria Tacos El Franc Coming to the USRELATED ARTICLE

Tacos El Franc

While Tacos El Franc’s addition to the Michelin Guide has brought an influx of attention, Miron has long been familiar with its charms. “This is the place I used to go to all the time growing up in Tijuana, especially after a night out with the boys,” Miron says. “[Its] specialty is adobada. I really like the suadero taco.”

Tacos A Vapor El Güero

Founded in 1960, this place keeps it simple with three taco options: shredded beef, beans and cheese, or chicharrón. “They’re what you would call ‘steamed tacos’ because they are prefilled and then kept hot or steamed in pots,” Miron explains. “Then [the restaurant staff] slaps ’em with shredded cabbage, onion, and salsa roja.”

El Tío Pepe

While this casual spot has multiple locations, its original outpost in the Gabilondo neighborhood is still considered the best. “Not only [does it] have tacos dorados de birria, but amazing carnitas—get the masisa with guacamole,” Miron recommends. “And another specialty here is the torta ahogada [or ‘drowned sandwich’] with birote shipped from Guadalajara.”

Craft beer is booming in Baja California. What was once a grassroots network of passionate homebrewers clandestinely sharing their brews with family and friends has transformed into a multimillion-dollar industry representing nearly one-fifth of Mexico’s entire economic output of cerveza artesenal.

In October 2019, the Mexican Association of Beer Makers (ACERMEX), an organization similar to the United States’ Brewers Association, estimated the country would surpass 1,000 craft beer companies by the start of 2020, many of whom are based in the state of Baja California. But this persistent rise of beer businesses has been fraught with roadblocks, forcing scrappy entrepreneurs to fight tooth and nail to operate openly.

These obstacles range from a near-complete stranglehold of the market by Anheuser-Busch InBev–owned Grupo Modelo and Heineken-owned Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma to prohibitively expensive import taxes on ingredients. When asked what’s stifling Baja breweries’ growth, Collin Corrigan, a San Diego native and founder of Ensenada’s Cervecería Transpeninsular, just laughs. “Do you have a couple days to listen? I could go on for hours.”

But these challenges have done little to stem the tide of small, independently owned craft breweries opening across Baja California, especially in cities like Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada. Early pioneers like Cervecería Insurgente and Wendlandt Cervecería helped spark the revolution with a hefty dose of influence from San Diego.

“If it wasn’t for our proximity [to San Diego], not only would we not have been exposed to all the beers that marked our career, creatively and technically, but we wouldn’t have access to the fresh and readily available ingredients,” says Ivan Morales, cofounder of Insurgente. “The community of brewers between both cities have done a very good job of working together.”

Arguably, San Diego’s biggest contribution to Baja’s burgeoning beer scene is exposing drinkers to super-hoppy beers like IPAs. Mexico’s best-selling beer has long been Corona from Grupo Modelo, which is also one of the top five most consumed beers in the world. Now, brewers hope these historically flaccid lagers will serve as a gateway to more adventurous brews. Other styles that have fallen out of fashion in the US, like robust porters and amber ales, are prevalent on Baja tap lists.

But as I, a pretty frequent drinker of San Diego craft beer, began to explore the Baja beer scenes in earnest, a few obvious differences unfurled. Quality is sporadic—an issue most brewers openly admit. More than once, a brewer has poured me a not-quite-right splash straight from the tanks with a shrug and a promise that they’ll tweak it the next time. Nothing’s undrinkable, but there’s a lot that wouldn’t fly in the US.

The biggest and more attractive difference is a feeling, a vibe, an excitement—that unspoiled naivete about collectively building something from the ground up and giving the big boys of beer the middle finger at the same time. Experimentation and innovation are encouraged, and while the results don’t always land, it’s intoxicating to witness. Baja brewers are unfettered by expectations (although with a decent amount of awards already earned, that’s sure to change). Still, it must be difficult to define oneself in the shadow of San Diego beer.

Cervecería Transpeninsular

“[Baja beer] is still trying to find its spot,” Corrigan says. “We have not established our own uniqueness.”

Morales is confident that not only will Baja get there, but they’re already there. “I think Baja will continue to be the bastion of craft beer in Mexico because of our openness and confluence of new ideas. Tijuana, in particular, is a sort of melting pot that has always allowed for an influx of different currents; it’s an ever-changing city that does a very good job of adapting to changing contexts.”

As beer quality increases and logistical barriers decrease, it’s likely that more breweries across Baja will open and garner further international recognition in competitions like the World Beer Cup. If the current course of pressure on the government to relax restrictions on independent breweries continues, the number of craft breweries exporting to the US and other countries will probably rise as well. But my one hope for the future of Baja beer isn’t “better” beer or more styles. It’s that they maintain that sense of camaraderie that we’ve somewhat lost under the weight of the crown. In that vein, long may Baja reign.

Baja Beer — Feature

Four months after Jaime Bonilla won the state of Baja California’s gubernatorial race, Cervecería Insurgente closed.

After opening in 2010, the popular Tijuana brewery in Zona Rio quickly became one of the country’s most respected and pioneering craft breweries, helping boost Baja beer in the global beer conversation by racking up awards, accolades, and plenty of attention. But on October 5, 2019, officials from the city and Baja California’s new controlling party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), shuttered the tasting room and halted production of the brewhouse, citing a lack of numerous operating permits, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Ivan Morales, co-founder of Insurgente with his brother Damian, disputes this. “We have all the required permits, although they’re accusing us of not having them.”

While initially reluctant to comment publicly, Morales has recently become more outspoken about Insurgente’s plight, seemingly out of desperation as his and his employees’ livelihoods are jeopardized by the extended closure. The brewery is now leveraging social media to rally support from the craft beer community, condemning the new government’s accusations of bribery toward the political party formerly in power to bypass proper permitting procedure.

Insurgente Is Fighting Back

Photo by Beth Demmon

“What’s going on at Insurgente, in my eyes, is what hurts not only Mexico but any country,” says Ryan Brooks, brewmaster at SouthNorte Beer Company, a San Diego-based brewery with a permanent shared tasting room in Tijuana. “The mess of government stepping on people trying to make an honest business, it’s petty government parties not getting along. They are hurting the employees, bartenders and even the beer tourism.” (San Diego Magazine reached out to the Baja Norte Tourism Board, which did not provide a comment.)

So far, support from the craft beer community has been swift. Several breweries in the region, such as Mamut Brewery in Tijuana, have allowed Insurgente to utilize their brewhouses so they can continue production in an attempt to keep the business afloat during the indefinite closure. SouthNorte is brewing a collaboration called #FreeInsurgente to help bring attention to the conflict.

This Thursday, December 19 at 7 p.m., Machete Beer House in National City is hosting an Insurgente “tap attack” with guest bartenders from the brewery in order to show solidarity “with our brothers and sisters of Insurgente as they fight the injustices they are currently facing with the new governor, Jaime Bonilla’s administration,” according to the event page.

“We hope it’s just a minor setback, but does raise questions,” says Joann Cornejo, co-founder of Machete. When asked what she’d say to the governor if she had the chance, she doesn’t hesitate. “If your promise was to combat corruption, why are you targeting small businesses that contribute to the tourism of your state, jobs, and the local economy?”

Morales claims there’s a more personal motive behind Insurgente’s closure. “The real matter is that the new governor’s brother lives directly across the street from the brewery. It seems he doesn’t want a bar in front of his house, and he told us this directly.” He did acknowledge the government is conducting mass sweeps of businesses in non-compliance, but calls their particular situation “a personal matter.”

cerveceria insurgente tijuana

Photo by Beth Demmon

According to the U-T report, the new governor is adamant that Insurgente’s days at their current location are finished. But personal or not, Cornejo is hopeful for a resolution. “The Mexican craft beer scene continues to flourish and great beer is coming out of Baja. It would be a shame if Bonilla continues to attack small beer.”

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Insurgente Is Fighting Back

Photo courtesy of Cervecería Insurgente

A year and a half ago, I insulted hundreds, possibly thousands of years of Mexican food heritage when I suggested the tostada was a sub-par invention. I needed an umbrella for all of the hate mail that rained down upon me.

First off, let’s say this. I love Mexican food and have a long history with it. I started traveling to Baja when I was 14. As a San Diego native, we’re weaned directly from the breast to the bottle of hot sauce. I love birria and menudo and Cotija cheese.

My derision of the tostada is pretty simple. It is one of the toughest foods in the world to eat. Attempt to bite it like a pizza, and tostada shrapnel cascades all over your person. Congratulations on your new tostada pants.

Try to eat it with a fork? Ever tried to eat a corn chip with a fork? Tostadas mock your silly utensil.

Plus, being flat as a CD (those were thin, flat discs that once played music), all of the awesome juices from the toppings would run off onto the plate. All that lovingly stewed meat juice, just wallowing and alone on a plate. And since the tostada shell is hard, it’s not like you can dredge it through the orphan sauce, like you would Indian flatbread.

And so tostadas make me sad.

And unlike other hard-to-eat foods (crab legs come to mind), the tostada shell was intentionally left in this useless shape. Why wouldn’t you just fold the fried corn disc into an easier shape? Like the glorious side-vee of the taco, which is much easier to eat? Or at least fold the edges of the tostada so that it can contain the goodness of the toppings and not freely donate its juices of gold to the plate?

Leaving it flat was like doing laundry and deciding not to fold it. I called it the “half-ass laundry taco.” Chef Chad White was gracious about the peculiar missive, painting “#HALFASSLAUNDRYTACO” on the wall of his restaurant’s bathroom.

Two weeks ago, chef Flor Franco decided she needed to educate me. So she organized a trip as part of her food/drink/travel company, Indulge. With myself, a handful of chefs, food people and Baja lovers, we headed south in search of tostada enlightenment. They dubbed the journey “The Half-Ass Laundry Taco Tour.”

I felt honored. And ashamed. And skeptical. Read below for the gold we found.

Dear Tostada, I’m Sorry

FIRST STOP: LA OAXAQUEÑA @ MERCADO HIDALGO

Mercado Hidalgo is Tijuana’s permanent farmers market. There are chiles and moles and dried fruit of every kind. There’s what looks to be a plastic bottle of water, filled with mezcal. Here you can buy raw huitlacoche—the Mexican truffle, which looks like corn has a disease but tastes like Jesus. Our first tostada is from La Oaxaquena, the shell slathered with black bean in a sort of delicious glue, topped with shredded lettuce and sturdy chunks of chorizo. They make their tortillas with organic corn from Oaxaca. It’s got the thin, crispy texture of a flatbread like lavash or papadum. When plied with salsa, it’s excellent. Still, hard to eat. Hurumph.

Raw huitlacoche at Mercado Hidalgo in Tijuana.

SECOND STOP: POPOTLA FISHING VILLAGE

Just past the movie studio where they filmed The Titanic, we make a right on a dirt road down to Rosarito’s famed fishing village. While many tourists eat lobsters up the road at Puerto Nuevo (lobsters, most locals tell me, that are often flown in frozen from China), Popotla is where locals eat fresh seafood. Cars pull right onto the beach. An old VW Bug splashes through the shallow water. There are tables piled high with the day’s fresh catch—yellowtail, oysters, chocolate clams, lobsters, you name it. Literally boat-to-throat. One table is piled so high with vibrant, red sculpin that it looks like an apple cart.

Dear Tostada, I’m Sorry

Our liaison is Patty Villareal, who, along with her husband, operate Think Blu, which promotes sustainable seafood for Baja’s immense supply. Stands—plastic lawn chairs, tables, and outdoor kitchens covered by tarps and tents—feed the locals who come to play in the waves. We sit down at La Reina de la Playa for tostadas, literally on the edge of the water, gazing out at the wet horizon. Both are piled high with fresh ceviche. Looking at the mound of incredibly fresh, raw seafood—including excellent Baja octopus—I have a tostada epiphany. There is no way a taco could take this load. The taco’s thin middle severely limits abundance. A-ha! Tostadas are how you put an entire meal on a fried tortilla. Still, it’s hard to eat and the juice from the excellent ceviche escapes onto the plate and makes me sad.

Dear Tostada, I’m Sorry

THIRD STOP: MANZANILLA

When I wrote San Diego Magazine’s story on the Baja food and drink scene (and how incredibly, incredibly hot it is among food lovers these days), I was just learning about the culture. I was trying to not miss any of the major chefs and/or food and wine people. But inevitably, every story has its holes or every story would be as long as Ulysses. I nearly missed interviewing chefs Benito Molina and Solange Muris—the husband-and-wife chef team behind Manzanilla in Ensenada. It would’ve been a grave mistake, since these two are one of the first to create high-end food using the world-class seafood and produce found in Baja. Their restaurant is right next to the Ensenada port, and it’s awesomely kitschy with art and sustainable building materials. It’s lovely and hip, masculine and feminine, arty and not pretentious. A place easily loved.

Dear Tostada, I’m Sorry

And Solange’s tostada—the corn round oven-baked so that it has crispy, charred edges and a softly crunchy interior—is the best thing we eat all day. Unsurprisingly. She’s quickly seared local abalone, and covered it with chipotle crema and spiked it with cilantro. It’s divine. There is a reason why this has been named by multiple sources as one of the best restaurants on the planet. I look at their menu. An eight-course tasting dinner, with wine pairings from nearby Valle de Guadalupe, is less than $100. I’ll be back.

Dear Tostada, I’m Sorry

FOURTH STOP: HUSSONG’S

There are no tostadas here. It is where the margarita was invented. Though culinary tourists, we’re still tourists. There is a mariachi band. We dance, some of us badly.

FOURTH STOP: CERVECERIA WENDLANDT

This is where Ensenada does craft beer. And it is righteous.

CONCLUSION

I have seen the tostada light. It is a crispy Mexican pizza of sorts—an edible Frisbee of glee. Its flatness, while a real pain in the ass to eat, serves its utility. And that is to accommodate a heaping of delicious food. It is essentially a taco of plenty. Do I still maintain that a mere curling of the edges of the corn crisp would better serve humanity and keep all those juices contained for the full ride? You bet. But I’ll gladly get it all over my person when it’s this good.

An octopus tostada on the beach at Popotla.

Remember when I told you this was a huge week for Mexican food in San Diego? This is the second shoe to drop: Bracero Cocina de Raiz from renowned Mexican-American chef, Javier Plascencia and his partner Luis Peña. It opens today.

Plascencia is the real deal. He grew up on both sides of the border. His family, under Grupo Plascencia, has been a leader in Tijuana’s culinary scene for decades. Plascencia made his own name with his Chula Vista restaurant, Romesco, then opened his temple to modern Mexican cooking, Mision 19, in Tijuana, followed by the rustic Finca Altozano in Baja’s wine region, Valle de Guadalupe.

For all his repute—including features in the New York Times and The New Yorker hailing him as the chosen son of Baja cuisine—San Diegans have had to drive near the border to try his food. And now they don’t.

Bracero is a 4,800, two-level showpiece on Kettner Blvd. in Little Italy. Little Italy is the undisputed heart of San Diego’s culinary scene right now, and for the foreseeable future.

San Diego’s long had a fitful relationship with gourmet Mexican food. Blame $3 defrosted rolled taco culture. But over the last few years, some of Baja’s most accomplished chefs have brought their riffs on seafood, chiles, charcoal and spice across to San Diego. The hottest thing in San Diego’s food culture right now is Mexico.

So the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Bracero. Expect small plates, large plates. Dishes inspired by Plascencia’s other restaurants. Dishes inspired by San Diego and Baja. They’ll be making their own masa in house—a key for a truly housemade Mexican experience. A crudo bar will serve shellfish from Carlsbad and wild seafood from Baja. The tequila program will be massive. Wines will come from California and Valle de Guadalupe. Craft cocktails will have a Mexican kick, and craft beers will be from both sides of the border.

There will be tiraditos, ceviches, sashimi, roasted meats, the smell of corn, peppers and sopes and high-end French saucing techniques. It will be a mishmash of border and culinary cultures.

San Diego has never been more ready to see what real, top-end Mexican cooking is all about.

But enough of that. Please enjoy our first look inside Bracero Cocina de Raiz, with design done by talented locals, Bells & Whistles.

Bracero opens today.

Bracero Cocina de Raiz, 1490 Kettner Blvd, Little Italy, 619.756.7864.

FIRST LOOK: Bracero