Ready to know more about San Diego?

Subscribe

Road Trip: Baja Bound

While San Diego embraces its newfound love for elevated Mexican cuisine, Baja Norte has been upping its culinary game for nearly a decade. It's time you took a weekend, or three, and ate your way through a Mexican vacation. Here's your hit list.

By Troy Johnson

Road Trip: Baja Bound

Road Trip: Baja Bound

Illustration by Katie Hart | Photos by Jaime Fritsch

Illustration by Katie Hart | Photos by Jaime Fritsch

Tijuana

TELEFONICA

Like a permanent food truck party. Must-trys: bacon sausage topped with bacon candy at Humo; kimchi fried rice at Don Ramen.

Road Trip: Baja Bound

Road Trip: Baja Bound

MISIÓN 19

DANDY DEL SUR

Every city has its soul-soothing dive bar, and this is Tijuana’s. Order the jerky in spicy gravy.

TACOS KOKOPELLI

Taco culture meets the mind of a chef. Try the Kraken (grilled octopus in Mexican pesto) or the Mala Costra (chili stuffed with marlin, cheese, and grasshoppers).

VERDE Y CREMA

A culinary high point, from chefs Jair Téllez and Martin Vargas. Get Korean barbecue tacos with carne asada and kimchi.

MISIÓN 19

Chef Javier Plascencia is a star of Baja cuisine. Misión 19 is his modern showroom atop a LEED-certified high-rise.

Rosarito

POPOTLA

Let other gringos stop at Puerto Nuevo. This is the fishing village you want, with giant spider crabs in garlic sauce, sea urchins, oysters, you name it.

Ensenada

LA GUERRERENSE

Doña Banderas has been serving tostadas with fresh local seafood (octopus, Pismo clam, sea urchin) since 1960. Try the peanut-almond salsa.

MUELLE 3

Chef Benito Molina is a legend in Ensenada. At this waterfront hang, the house ceviche (shrimp, fish, octopus, clams) will blow your mind.

MANZANILLA

This is Molina’s flagship, often cited as the birthplace of modern Baja cuisine (where he cooks with his wife, Solange Muris).

Valle de Guadalupe

LA TERRASSE SAN ROMAN

The eco-friendly Alximia winery looks like a spaceship, and pioneering chef Martin San Roman serves “Baja Provençal” on their terrace.

Road Trip: Baja Bound

Road Trip: Baja Bound

Finca Altozano

LA COCINA DE DOÑA ESTHELA

Esthela is a local legend who turned her home into a restaurant, serving Sinaloa-style breakfasts like machaca and eggs. Buy her bottled salsa.

TRE GALLINE AT VILLA MONTEFIORI

Baja fuses with high-end Italian fare. The Dal Bon family of chefs are heroes in Todos Santos, and their new Valle spot features spit-roasted meats and house-made pastas.

DECKMAN’S EN EL MOGOR

Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman cooks under pine trees and the Baja stars. Everything here is wood-smoked and delicious.

CORAZÓN DE TIERRA

In a gorgeous wood-and-glass building, chef Diego Hernández has become world-renowned for turning out stunning prix fixe masterpieces.

FINCA ALTOZANO

Javier Plascencia, again. This is his outdoor wine country kitchen, with oysters and lamb roasting on the grill station and wine aplenty. Sit under his giant oak tree for days.


More in Mexican Food:

Share this post

Contact Us

1230 Columbia Street, Suite 800,

San Diego, CA