Tag: Baja restaurants

Baja Cuisine: Palomar to El Rosario

We’ve already covered my favorite Baja places to eat from the border down through Ensenada in our previous installment of the adventurer’s guide to Baja dining.   This next set of Baja dining recommendations covers the corridor south of Ensenada, through San Quintin, all the way to El Rosario. This region covers the wine country and the agricultural district, which ends in the San Quintin area. After San Quintin, Baja’s Highway 1 (the Transpeninsular Highway), continues south through low-lying coastal plains hugging the Pacific coast. Then it’s a brief climb through a set of twisties into El Rosario.

There are great places to eat through this stretch of Baja, folks.  Let’s take a look…

Palomar

This is a cool little place that’s on the right side of Highway 1 after you’ve passed through the mountains south of Ensenada. The food is good, it’s reasonable, and it’s always fresh. I like their chicken tacos; my friends seem to always gravitate toward the shrimp.

The El Palomar, a nice spot to stop for lunch.
The Pemex next to the Palomar restaurant.

There’s a little general store next to the restaurant, and if you need Baja kitsch, this is a good place to get it. More importantly, there’s also a Pemex station. I’d advise topping off here. If you’re on a motorcycle (and of course, you should be), this will get you all the way to El Rosario.

San Quintin

What can I say? I love this area. It’s one of the last vestiges of the northern Baja agricultural region.  There are three places I like here. One is the restaurant in the Mision San Quintin. It’s a hotel restaurant (it’s pricey for Baja, but it’s cheap compared to US prices), and it’s good. I’ve stayed at the hotel and had breakfast and dinner here; both are great. The orange juice is always freshly squeezed, and it’s fantastic.  To my great surprise, I didn’t have any photos of the Mision San Quintin when I prepared this blog entry.  Sounds to me like a good excuse to ride down there again.

Another is the Molina Viejo restaurant, near the Old Mill Hotel, which is right on Bahia San Quintin. The good news here is that the 4-mile ride to Bahia San Quintin is now paved (no more white-knuckle soft sand or deep mud, thank God).  Even before the road was paved, though, the ride out was worth it.  There are two great restaurants hidden away back here (the Molina Viejo and Don Eddie’s), and the food at both is stellar.

Fried mushrooms at the Molina Viejo. They’re awesome.
Good buddy Dave on his FJR. Fortunately, the road into Bahia San Quintin is now paved!

Both restaurants are literally right on the bay, and occasionally a gray whale will find its way into the bay. When that happens, it’s an amazing thing to see and hear.  The Molina Viejo has a fried mushroom appetizer that’s a favorite, and any of the entrees are excellent. This place rivals the décor and feel of any restaurant in the US, but it hasn’t been discovered yet (and that means the prices are low).

The Molina Viejo, a great restaurant right on Bahia San Quintin.
Having a beer or two before dinner at the Molina Viejo.
The real deal…Mariachi singers in the Molina Viejo.
A good day, a good ride, and a Tecate overlooking Bahia San Quintin. We saw a California gray whale swim by this very spot one night.  Life doesn’t get any better.

The other restaurant, Don Eddie’s, is on the opposite side of the Old Mill Hotel.   It’s not as fancy as the Molina Viejo, but I think the food is even better.  If you call ahead, Don Eddie (he’s a real guy) will prepare a buffet-style meal for your group.  We do that whenever I’m leading a group tour, and the breakfasts are particularly fabulous.

An incredible Don Eddie dish….shrimp and pasta. Bring an appetite!
The seafood medley at Don Eddie’s. The food is off the charts. The prices are ridiculously low.   Hey, that’s Baja.

El Rosario

El Rosario is the last town on the Transpeninsular Highway before you enter the Valle de los Cirios. That’s an experience like no other; it’s the barren and beautiful wilderness that is Baja. But I digress; the focus here is the dining, and El Rosario (as any Bajaeno knows) means two things: Top off at the Pemex (it’s the last one for 200 miles if you’re headed south), and eat at Mama Espinosa’s.

Decals and more at Mama Espinosa’s. Get one for your motorcycle; people will know you’re the real deal.
I’ve parked my bike here many, many times.

Mama Espinosa’s is a Baja icon, a legend among many Baja legends, and perhaps their most legendary dish is the old gal’s lobster burritos. This little tiny spot is a “must see” on any Baja trip. It’s literally world famous. It’s a stop on the Baja 1000. There are zillions of decals from folks who race and travel Baja. It’s got a cool wall-sized Baja map so you can get a feel for where you are.  But you really don’t need the map.  Ride into Baja and you know…you’ve arrived.  You’re in Heaven.

Lobsters at Mama Espinosa’s. Folks, this is the closest you’ll ever get to Heaven without a one-way ticket!
Mama’s chicken burritos, my personal favorite.

Mama Espinosa’s is known for their lobster burritos, but my favorite is Mama’s chicken burritos.  I think they’re great. The bottom line is this: You won’t go wrong with anything on Mama Espinosa’s menu.  It’s all good.

So there you have it.  The next push south on our culinary cruise will take us all the way down to Guerrero Negro, and the best fish tacos on the planet.  I’m not exaggerating.  Trust me on this. But that’s a story for the next installment of our ExhaustNotes dining tour.

Stay tuned!

Shine on…

Here’s an interesting story that popped up on my news feed earlier today.  It seems an errant scooter rider, a young one at that, was stopped by the Maine State Police riding his scooter on the Maine Turnpike late last night, using only his cell phone for a headlight.   There must be more to the story, because after stopping him, the police gave the guy a lift to his destination some 70 miles away.   I can’t make stuff up this good, and if you doubt my word, you can read the original story here.

So that story naturally pulled my attention to a somewhat similar experience with my good buddy Baja John and his girlfriend Annie.   This goes back to 2006 again, shortly after John bought a place right on the Sea of Cortez in Bahia de Los Angeles.  Literally, right on the sea.  Oceanside housing.  It’s awesome.

Casa Baja Juan, in Bahia de Los Angeles.
Baja Juan, probably telling a fish story, in his back yard.

I had just bought a new Triumph Tiger.  John and Annie invited me to their new place.   Who can say no to an offer like that?

My Triumph. On the ride down to Bahia de Los Angeles, we hit very dense fog. We stopped and waited for it to lift.  At one point it was so thick I couldn’t see the ground.

Here’s where the story gets interesting.  When John bought the Casa Baja Juan, it came with a VW bus.   John worked on it for a week and got it running, and it became his get-around-town wheels.  He never registered it, so it had no plates, but it was cool.  I love old VWs, especially the buses.

The VW bus that came with Baja John’s oceanside estate.  Lights?  We don’t need no stinkin’ lights!

That night, we took the VW and went to dinner at the best taqueria in town, just a short distance away…

A typical Baja roadside restaurant. You can get some mighty good food in these places.

John, Annie, and I had a great dinner, a few Tecates, and then it was time to head back to his place.   There was a problem, though.  The sun had set, and the VW had no headlights.  The three of us pondered this situation a while, and then John remembered he had a flashlight.

John handed the flashlight to Annie and she hung out the passenger window, lighting the way as we rolled down a dirt road to John’s house.   We couldn’t see squat (the flashlight was pitifully weak), but we were laughing so hard we didn’t care.

Then we drove past another restaurant on that dirt road.  Imagine that: Another restaurant on that same dirt road.  Then I saw who was sitting under the veranda as we went by.  Uh oh, I thought.

There were three Mexican police officers having dinner, sitting out front, just a few feet away as we passed.  The police officers saw us, we saw them, and Annie waved, using the flashlight, which I thought would only accentuate the obvious:  We had no lights and the VW wasn’t registered.

The police?  They waved back, holding up their cervezas in a salute to our ability to adapt, improvise, and overcome.

Ah, Baja….

Sunrise, the next morning, looking east over the Sea of Cortez.

Baja Cuisine: Rosarito to Ensenada

One of the best parts of the Baja riding experience is the cuisine. Yep, there are great roads, the scenery is breathtaking, there’s whale watching like no place else in the world, the ancient missions and cave paintings are amazing, and the people are wonderful.   But what might be the best-kept Baja secret is the cuisine. In fact, if you need an excuse to head south (not that anyone ever needs an excuse for a motorcycle ride), you might want to ride Baja just to sample the food. It’s that good.

One of the things Baja has going for it is that no matter where you are, you’ll never be more than a few miles from the sea. That means great seafood, and lots of it. Fish tacos are a Baja staple, but there’s more. Lots more. We thought it might be fun to share with you a few of our favorite Baja restaurants in a series of blogs organized by area. This first one will be the Rosarito Beach-Ensenada corridor. With that as an intro, here we go…

Rosarito Beach

Located about 35 miles or so south of the border, Rosarito Beach is a tourist town, but that doesn’t mean it’s all refrigerator magnets and velour Elvis portraits.  There are two spots in this town that we love: The Rosarito Beach Hotel, and Susanna’s.

You can spot the Rosarito Beach Hotel from the cuota (the toll road heading to Ensenada).  It’s one of the tallest buildings to your right.

Not your typical tourist trap, the Rosarito Beach Hotel has a great restaurant.
The Rosarito Beach Hotel’s stained glass lobby window.
A typical breakfast at the Rosarito Beach Hotel.

If you’re thinking that hotel restaurants are both overpriced and mediocre, you’d be correct most of the time, but the Rosarito Beach Hotel is the exception. If you stay at the Rosarito Beach Hotel you get one meal free (they’re smart, you may not want to go anywhere else after that first one) and if you’re there on a Sunday, you don’t want to miss the brunch. It’s awesome.  If you stop on the way south just for a meal, there’s ample protected parking and the hotel is biker-friendly.

Another best kept secret in Rosarito Beach is Susanna’s. It’s literally a 5-star restaurant tucked away in a small group of boutique shops at 4356 Benito Juarez Boulevard.    Folks, trust me on this:  Susanna’s is one of the best high end restaurants in the world.  I’ve been all over the world.  I know what I’m talking about here.

Ah, Susanna’s…the dining is as elegant as the owner!

I always make it a point to have at least one dinner at Susanna’s whenever I’m passing through Rosarito Beach, and there have been more than a few times when I made Rosarito Beach a stop just to eat here.  It’s that good, and Susanna is an absolutely gracious proprietor.

Shrimp, steak, and more. You cannot have a bad dining experience at Susanna’s.

Ensenada

As one of Baja’s larger cities, Ensenada has many dining choices. My favorites are any of the street taco stands (I love Baja street tacos), Los Veleros for breakfast, and a family-style place I just learned about called Birrieria La Guadalajara for either lunch or dinner (it’s on Macheros Street a little off the edge of the tourist area).

Good times ahead: Susie and I starting our trek south at Los Veleros in Ensenada!

Los Veleros Restaurante is next to the Hotel Corona on Lázaro Cárdenas (it’s on the right as you head south, just a few blocks past where the cruise ships dock). Los Veleros has the best breakfasts in town, confirmed by the local business folks who regularly dine there. Breakfasts start with a plate of pastries that, all by themselves, are worth the trip to Baja (I’ll say that a lot about my favorite dining spots in Baja, and I’ll mean it every time).

Pastries at Los Veleros, the start of every breakfast. They taste as good as they look, maybe even better!
An awesome Los Veleros spinach and mushroom omelet.
Chilequiles, a wonderful Mexican specialty.

My preference for street tacos in Ensenada is any taco stand along the waterfront.  Even though many folks who have never been to Mexico might be hesitant to try these, I haven’t found a bad one yet.   Head toward the embarcadero if you’re in the tourist area, and take your choice.  You can’t go wrong.

Street tacos near the docks in Ensenada. They sell the sizzle and the steak!
Fish tacos, a Baja specialty, in Ensenada.  Watch for our upcoming Baja dining blogs; we’ll have a lot to say on this magnificent Baja treat!

For either lunch or dinner, there are many choices in Ensenada.  I’ve tried many of them and they are all good.   Here’s the hot ticket:  The family-style dining at Birrieria La Guadalajara.

A veritable feast at Birrieria La Guadalajara in Ensenada. Tim, I owe you for taking me to this wonderful restaurant!

A meal at the Birrieria La Guadalajara is a treat not to be missed. I’m embarrassed to admit I only found out about this magnificent restaurant on my most recent trip to Baja (and I have my good friend Tim to thank for that).  Bring your group and bring an appetite, make your own tacos or burritos, and try the goat (you can thank me later).  It’s the best meal in Ensenada!

That’s it for our first installment on Baja’s gastronomical delights.  If you know of a great place to eat in the Rosarito-to-Ensenada corridor that we haven’t mentioned, by all means please leave a comment and let us know about it.  And watch the Exhaust Notes blog; we’ll be adding to this series with a focus on each Baja area of interest.   So what’s up next?  Hey, our next set of dining delights will be in the stretch south of Ensenada all the way to El Rosario!