Things to do in Northern Baja
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Villa Saverios
Villa Saverios takes the concept of 'Baja Med' to absurd heights. The results? Try beef cheeks stuffed with ancho chilies; mesquite-grilled quail; tuna sashimi; gourmet burritos; sliced raw lobster with a chile vinaigrette; filet mignon carpaccio; or abalone served in its shell and smothered with chipotle cream sauce (gulp). Classical music tinkles over a fairly formal dining room, so dress appropriately.
reviewed
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Birriería La Guadalajara
Birriería La Guadalajara Birria (stewed goat, beef or lamb) is the specialty here, and you can order it made de borrego (lamb), de res (beef) or de chivo (goat). Big steaming bowls (or tacos, if you wish) will land on your table and keep you energized for hours.
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Bazar Casa Ramirez
Several readers have recommended this labyrinthine, two-story handicrafts store with items from all over Mexico. Prices are a little steep, but quality is high, and you'll definitely find a colorful selection. It has a large selection of Day of the Dead paraphernalia.
reviewed
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Vittorio’s
For years this cozy Italian restaurant has been serving generous portions of reasonably priced pizza and pasta. Head to the back and you’ll feel like the Godfather in the plush leather booths with dim lighting. Daily specials cost only M$80.
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Museo de Cera
Most of the motley crew at the Museo de Cera look mildly constipated, but it’s fun anyway. Madonna appears to have had open-heart surgery, Michael Jackson looks creepy and John Lennon, yep, appears appropriately stoned.
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Club Extasis
Tijuana's biggest and some say best gay dance club - complete with male strippers and karaoke - is right on the border. It's famous for its male dancers and 'dark room' area where no lights means much more than dancing goes on.
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Caguamamas
Thursday is karaoke nights, and Friday through Sunday it hosts the somewhat legendary Amanda's Show, featuring trávesti (transvestite) performers. It's next door to Club Extasis, right near the border.
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Cenaduría Selecta
This family-run diner is a Mexicali institution specializing in antojitos like beef tacos and burritos. Some swear this is the best Mexican food in town. The set meals are a bargain.
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La Estrella
Just off La Revo, this is a great spot to sip cheap beers, dance some salsa, or belt out karaoke tunes.
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Museo de las Californias
The Museo de las Californias chronicles the history of Baja California from prehistoric times to the present. The exhibit kicks off with replica cave paintings, then covers important historical milestones, including the earliest Spanish expeditions under Hernán Cortés, the mission period, the Treaty of Hidalgo, the Chinese immigration, the irrigation of the Colorado River delta and the advent of the railroad. It's an excellent introduction to the peninsula and should not be missed.
Displays in glass cases mix with scale replicas of ships, missions, other objects and fairly realistic dioramas. All explanatory paneling is in English and Spanish, and touch-screen terminals…
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Plaza Fiesta Mall
What La Revo is to gringos, Plaza Fiesta mall is to locals. The dozen or so bars and restaurants here are great places to knock back a few tequilas and hear the local rock and DJ talent thrash (or spin) it out. It's unique because you can take your pick simply by walking door to door.
The bars include Sambuca (a Brazilian-themed place), Monte Picacho (live rock en español - Spanish-language rock - Sunday through Thursday, DJs Friday and Saturday), Callejón del Ambiente (great for '80s music and the diverse crowd), Bar Sótano Suizo, El Bunker, Indestruckt (for the industrial and garage scene) and Pancho Villas ('tequila, tacos & rock-n-roll!').
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Frontón Palacio Jai Alai
Oddly baroque in style, the striking Frontón Palacio Jai Alai is a Tijuana landmark fronting nearly an entire block of Av Revolución. Construction began in 1926, but wasn't completed until 1947. For decades it hosted the fast-moving ball game of jai alai - a sort of hybrid between squash and tennis, originating in Spain's Basque Country. Unfortunately, a strike by Mexico City players combined with the game's obscurity and lack of attendance forced the owner to close down the operation.
The building now hosts cultural events including music and theater performances, and you can usually get in to take a look at the courts and lobby area.
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Av Revolución
Virtually every visitor to Tijuana has to experience at least a brief stroll along raucous Av Revolución, also known as 'La Revo'. It's a mishmash of nightclubs, bellowing hawkers outside seedy strip bars, brash taxi drivers, tacky souvenir stores, street photographers with zebra-striped burros, discount liquor stores and restaurants.
If you're walking north to south but find the sensory assault from high-tech sound systems too overwhelming to return the same way, try the more conventional shopping street of Av Constitución, paralleling La Revo one block west. It has a far more local flare.
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Cervecería Tijuana
If you're a beer-drinker, make a pilgrimage to this microbrewery, which opened in early 2000. Owner José González Ibarra's vision was to make a potent brew in the tradition of pilsner beer, which originated in the Czech Republic. He imported all the technology from that country and a young Czech brew master whose efforts have clearly paid off.
Sold under the brand name Tijuana, this is a superior and full-bodied beer that easily measures up to some of Europe's finest. It is best enjoyed in the atmospheric, timbered brewery pub, about 3.2km (1.5 miles) south of downtown.
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El Lugar del Nopal
This sophisticated café-bar-cum-restaurant-cum-cultural center is a fervent supporter of local artists and an enchanting place at that, especially in the garden patio. It's known as a café cultural (cultural café). These places are probably the best way to experience Tijuana's independent arts and music scenes. It's tucked away in a residential area and is a bit hard to find but well worth the effort.
It offers music and art classes, and live music Wednesday through Saturday nights. It's also a super place to eat.
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El Taco de Huitzilopochtli
It's worth planning your visit to Ensenada around this restaurant's opening hours. For 32 years it has been serving its mouthwatering mixiote, a unique Texcoco-style dish of lamb wrapped in maguey leaves and cooked for 16 hours in mesquite-fired ovens. Other dishes include tlacoyos (thick, stuffed tortillas in green chili sauce), romeritos (nopal cactus, potatoes and shrimp in a bowl of chocolaty, spicy mole) and huauzontles (a stuffed and battered broccoli-like vegetable in red sauce).
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Casa de la Cultura de Tijuana
Housed in an imposing neoclassical brick building (the former Escuela Alvaro Obregón, built in 1929) the Casa de la Cultura de Tijuana presents lectures, art exhibitions, film festivals and concerts. The center is located about 1.6km (1 mile) west of Av Revolución. Take any blue-and-white taxi (marked 'Colonia Altamira') westbound from Calle 3a (Carrillo Puerto) or walk up Calle 4a (Díaz Mirón); instead of the busy street, go up the hillside staircase for fine city views.
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Muso Histórico Regional
This modest museum features the 'People and Cultures of Meso-America' and is housed in an 1886 military barracks that served as the city's jail until 1986. Exhibits feature tools, ceramics and other archeological finds of the indigenous Cúcapa, Paipai, Kumiai (Kumeyaay) and Kiliwa. Also check out the cell block, where several of the tiny, windowless concrete cubicles sport murals by the former inmates. The former dormitory houses rotating art exhibits.
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Lucha Libre
Not sure how to kick off your Friday night? Treat yourself to the spectacle of Lucha Libre at the Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno, Tijuana's municipal auditorium. See two oversized masked men with names like 'The Mystic One', 'Blue Panther' and 'Heavy Metal' throw each other about a boxing ring in a theatrical display of freeform wrestling. There's nothing quite like it. Matches are held every Friday night. Rates depend on the match.
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El Mirador
For marvelous views of Ensenada and the Bahía de Todos Santos, climb or drive up to El Mirador in Colinas de Chapultepec, the hilly residential neighborhood west of downtown. The lookout is gated off, but no one seems to mind people slipping through the hole in the fence to the right of the gate. To get there from downtown, head up Av Alemán from the western end of Calle 2a. If you're driving, park in the dirt area across the street.
reviewed
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La Querencia
Considering the astoundingly imaginative menu, fair prices and great atmosphere, La Querencia deserves every bit of its trendiness. You can pop in for a light meal of tuna-fin stew, marinated duck tacos or a salmon sandwich and keep to your daily travel budget; or go for broke devouring divinely seasoned octopus, sashimi or a Mongolian-style New York steak. Deer heads and antlers adorn the walls and a colorful fish tank livens up the back bar.
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Manzanilla
With a wonderful staff, outstanding regional and Italian-influenced cuisine and an atmosphere you'll melt into, Manzanilla is simply tops. The server will start you off with Baja-grown manzanilla olives and house-baked bread and explain each of the dishes, from fresh local oysters to lamb shank and exquisitely prepared fish. The rib-eye steaks, which come from a select ranch in Sonora (the state famous for its beef) are no less than orgasmic.
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Museo del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Built in 1886 by the US-owned International Company of Mexico, Ensenada’s oldest public building, formerly the Aduana Marítima de Ensenada, houses the Museo del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, a historical and cultural museum. It has a relatively small but comprehensive collection of artifacts, and discusses (mainly in Spanish) the area’s history from prehistoric times up to now.
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Arte 256
It's well worth the slog to find this fabulous gallery owned and operated by Tijuana native Joly Lacarra. The revolving exhibitions are generally outstanding. To get there, head out Blvd Aguas Calientes, and up Tapachula, past the Hipódromo. After Tapachula veers left, hang a right (at the big black building). This streets merges with Mérida which you follow up to the gallery.
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Teatro del Estado
A variety of theatrical and musical performers appear throughout the year at the state theater, Teatro del Estado, a modern building seating 1100 and equipped with the 'latest acoustical technology.' The Instituto de Cultura de Baja California also presents retrospective film series in the theater's Café Literario. The theater is opposite the Cotuco tourist office.
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