Tag: Mama Espinosa’s

Baja 2009: The KLR Khronicles Part V

Read Parts I, II, III, and IV of the 2009 KLR Baja foray here!

Our planned stop for the evening (and our turnaround point) was Guerrero Negro. It’s a town just south of the 28th Parallel, which forms the border between Baja California and Baja California Sur, the two states in Baja. It’s about halfway down the Baja peninsula.

Guerrero Negro is an interesting town. It’s named for the Black Warrior (Guerrero Negro in Spanish), a sailing ship that sank off the Baja coast a long time ago.  It’s one of the best spots to see the whales in Mexico (you can read about that here).  The whales hang out in Laguna de Ojo Liebre (the Eye of the Jackrabbit), also known as Scammon’s Lagoon.  I’ve been down there many times to see the whales, and it is one of life’s main events. That’s a strong statement, and if you’ve never seen the whales in Baja, you’ll think I’m exaggerating. If you’ve seen them, though, you’ll know I’m not. It’s a surreal and awe-inspiring experience. The whales are in town from January through March, so we wouldn’t be seeing them on this visit.

We usually stay at Malarrimo’s in Guerrero Negro. It’s a great hotel with a great restaurant. I had a cup of coffee that morning that was just perfect.

The little town of Guerrero Negro has another distinction: It’s one of the biggest salt producing regions in the world. The area has hundreds of square miles of shallow flats that the Mexicans flood with sea water. They let the water evaporate and then they bulldoze up the salt. Mitsubishi owns 49% of the production operation; the Mexican government owns the other 51%.

We stopped for fish tacos in Guerrero Negro’s Baja Mision restaurant. These were the only two dogs we saw on this trip that didn’t chase us.
Laura, our waitress in Guerrero Negro when we ate at the restaurant in the above photo.
John saw this Chinese restaurant in Guerrero Negro, which seems kind of funny. We had dinner there.
Chicken chow mein in Guerrero Negro. It was great.

I got up early the next morning and rode around for a bit, exploring Guerrero Negro.  With all of the luggage off the KLR, it felt much lighter and faster.  I grabbed a few shots around town. I rode through all of Guerrero Negro, including its residential areas. Another 8 or 10 dogs chased me, intending to do me serious harm. None succeeded. By this time itwas almost funny. See a dog, go like hell, hope for the best. It was grand sport.

This is a mural on Guerrero Negro’s supermarket wall.
This is one of the salt flats. When this area dries, the salt company will scrape up the salt, flood it again, and repeat the process.

As I mentioned above, Guerrero Negro was our turn-around point on this trip. Here’s a shot on the way home, in the desert headed north.

Those Cardon cactus are impressive.

We stopped again in El Rosario, this time for a lunch at Mama Espinoza’s. This is their take on fish tacos. They were excellent.

Fish tacos at Mama Espinoza’s. Life doesn’t get any better.
Maria, our waitress in Mama Espinoza’s. There are a lot of ladies named Maria in Mexico.

After Mama Espinoza’s, we topped off at the Pemex station in El Rosario and continued north.

On the Transpeninsular Highway, south of Ensenada. I had to stop and grab a shot of this cactus path.

We rolled into Ensenada well after dark and decided to call it a day. That night we stayed in the Best Western in Ensenada’s tourist district, and it was nothing like any US Best Western. It was a really nice place. We unpacked and parked the KLRs right next to the entrance, and a guy who worked at the hotel put a rope barricade around them. We didn’t know if it was to keep people from touching the bikes, or if it was to isolate them for another reason…John’s KLR’s fuel petcock had developed a drip, and because of that, the area soon reeked of gasoline.

To be continued…

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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!