Categories: BajaBaja CuisineMotorcycle Adventure Ride

Baja’s Los Naranjos

I have several favorite restaurants in Baja, and Los Naranjos in northern Baja’s Guadalupe Valley is certainly one of them. It’s address is México 3 22850 Ensenada, Baja, and what that means is the restaurant is about 80 kilometers south of Tecate along Mexico Highway 3 (the Ruta del Vino). It’s on your right as you head south, and if you blink you’ll probably miss it.

The Los Naranjos location on Mexico Highway 3.

If you’re coming north from Ensenada, Los Naranjos will be on your left. It always seems to me I’m on top of the place before I realize it when I’m riding north. You have to watch for it.

After you park, head in through the arch and you’ll enter another world. The grounds are immaculate (like the restaurant). You can poke around and explore a bit before you go into the restaurant, or you can do so after you’ve had a fine meal (which is the only kind of meal I’ve ever had there).

Entering the Los Naranjos grounds.

The food is exquisite and Los Naranjos is popular. You might see a Mexican riding club parked when you enter; the place is a well-known spot for an excellent dining experience. You can have breakfast or any other meal, and I’ve never had a bad meal there. Los Naranjos pies are exceptional, and their orange juice is off the charts. It’s fresh squeezed, and if there’s better OJ elsewhere, I haven’t found it.

A superb breakfast at Los Naranjos. I’m getting hungry writing this blog and seeing this photo. I need to ride south soon.

The Los Naranjos grounds are interesting. There are sculptures in the exterior walls and various poultry species wandering the grounds. I don’t know if the chickens are committed or simply involved in the breakfasts and other selections (“involved” means they only provide eggs; “committed” means, well, you know), but a walk around is always interesting and full of photo ops.

Wall sculptures abound at Los Naranjos.

A turkey fanning its tail when I approached with my camera.

Indeed, the photo ops are plentiful.

More wall sculpture, in this case the Virgin de Guadalupe. This is a common sculpture in Mexico; the figure beneath the Virgin is an angel with the wings of an eagle holding her aloft.

There is a high end, small hotel directly behind Los Naranjos. I’ve never stayed there, which is a character defect I intend to correct on my next trip south. You’ll read about it here on the ExhaustNotes blog.

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Joe Berk