The coolest corner on Av. Revolución boasts a tacos a vapor stand from the iconic La Especial, the stylish Hotel Lafayette, and chef Javier Caro’s hotspot for dreamy cocktails in addition to burgers, pizza, and American gastropub fare transposed by Baja California ingredients. Think cochinita pibil sliders, grilled octopus burgers, and pork belly pizzas with cilantro pesto paired with complex drinks like the La Justina, a tequila-based drink with citrus, cinnamon, and dark beer. The cocktails alone can punctuate the end of an exciting day in Tijuana, especially if you’re staying upstairs at the Lafayette.

Conveniently located just off Av. Revolución around the corner from Caesar’s where it overlooks the delightful mayhem from a fifth floor penthouse is the taproom and brewery of one of Tijuana’s most respected brewers. Enjoy flights of Mexican IPA’s, saisons, ales, and blondes with campy names alongside pub burgers, nachos, and spicy wings. 

It’s hard not to get excited as the tableside cart arrives and you watch as an elegant waiter whisks up a garlicky, umami-rich dressing in a wide wooden bowl before gently tossing the mixture with fresh leaves of romaine. After all, this is where the Caesar salad was invented in the 1920s, and since then, Caesar’s zesty, simple recipe has gone on to grace menus globally. Opened in 1927, and restored in 2010 to its original decor and glory by the current owners, the Plasencia Group, the menu includes period classics like oysters Rockefeller, sole meuniere, and beef Wellington, plus local trends born in recent decades like tamarind martinis.

One of Tijuana’s most famous tacos is the Nueva York en trozo, or thin, elongated cuts of New York steak in a corn tortilla, which has been perfected by Pedro Mejia since he opened in the Otay neighborhood in 1989. Mejia’s Nueva York en trozo overhangs across the corn tortilla, layered with whole beans, guacamole, onions, cilantro, and salsa. Their adobada tacos are another must-have taco here, and not too far away in Otay Constituyentes is their sister restaurant operated by Culinary Art School grad and taquero Adrian Mejia, Pedro’s son. Besides their classics, you can order chile relleno tacos, giant plates of adobada nachos, and Flamin’ hot California burritos.

There’s stiff competition surrounding this lesser-known Altabrisa food truck, among the many taqueros vying for the best seafood tacos in Tijuana, and these ones are among the elite. Tacos de camarón enchilado (spicy shrimp) come oozing with plump shrimp, creamy sauces, and melted cheese, and the beer-battered fish and shrimp tacos are also solid. The smoked marlin tacos are a must, as well as the Poseidon, a formidable antojito consisting of a large toasted flour tortilla loaded with camarón enchilado and smoked marlin that requires two hands and your full attention.

The Valadez family opened Tacos La Glorieta in 1982, followed by Tacos El Frances (‘86), but they struck gold at Tacos El Franc (‘96), in downtown Tijuana where its massive red trompo of sweet, spiced adobada (pork in adobo) serves as the nucleus of the city’s food scene. The carne asada team makes solid mesquite-grilled steak tacos, alongside the stainless-steel comal cooking suadero (beef belly), chitterlings, and beef tongue are fried in their own fat. Orders from the taquero on the adobada station come fast, dressed with chopped onions, and cilantro, then coated with creamy guacamole, and a mild red salsa at Tijuana’s busiest taquería. 

Since 1996, Luis Mena, and Malú Leyva’s Sonoran-style caguamanta (stingray soup, previously made with turtle) restaurant has warmed bellies with its fragrant stews full of stingray, shrimp, and tuna fin in a tomato and dried red chile base brimming with chopped vegetables. The seafood tacos are exceptional: smoked marlin, tuna fin, Tijuana-style octopus with green olives, and the 3 animales, a mix of smoked marlin, stingray, and moronga (Sonoran blood pudding), chased with a cup of bichi, or the caguamanta stock, dressed with shredded cabbage, and a squirt of lime.

Everyone here is greeted as paisa at the freshest seafood shack in the city, with a menu of fine shellfish, seafood cocktails, tostadas, and molcajetes full of the region’s best seafood in a spicy lime, and umami mixture. Start with prepared white clams or chocolatas, dressed with chopped vegetables, lime juices, and salsas, then enjoy a tostada especial stacked with callo de hacha, octopus, shrimp, and sea snail soaked in lime juice, canned tomato juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Follow all that up with a molcajete filled with raw shrimp, callo de hacha, and any other seafood you desire.

Chef and restaurateur Adria Marina, currently a judge on the Spanish language reality competition show Top Chef VIP, opened her elegant dining room in 2018. The international and contemporary menu offers shaved abalone with French fries, risotto of mushrooms and black truffles, time-honored steak frites, and a burger dripping with melted cheese and butter. The breakfast menu features eggs Benedict, Georgina’s riff on the Grand Slam with ricotta pancakes, and chilaquiles with burrata.

In the sleepy residential neighborhood of Independencia, chef José Figueroa has established Tijuana’s own heirloom corn movement, sourcing landrace corn from Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, and Estado de México and producing corn masa from nixtamal for the restaurant’s tortillas, tostadas, chips, and more. A celebration of Mexican corn, his seasonal menu includes a tostadona de jurel, a tostada topped with fish dip, cured yellowtail, cilantro, and a relish of chile California; huevos embirriados (eggs with birria) eaten with corn tortillas toasted on a clay comal, or a tamal de camarón.

Tijuana’s infamous, and delicious, torteria was founded by Daniel Pérez in 1947. Luis Fitch, who befriended Pérez’s first wife, convinced her to sell the recipe, reviving Tijuana’s best steamed torta de lomo (tenderloin) after 30 long years. The original torta de lomo comes with mayo, avocado slices, and tomatoes, however, the especial, a dreamy upgrade which includes ham and cheese is the way to go for a taste of this time-honored recipe. 

Local street food chef Guillermo “Oso” Campos went from Culinary Art School in Tijuana, to training at Michelin star restaurants in Europe before opening an innovative street cart. This spot highlights are surf and turf tacos from his Kokopelli days like the Kraken, tender grilled octopus marinated in “Mexican” pesto in a crispy tortilla, as well as the aguachile crossfit, raw shrimp cooked in lime and spiced by charred chiles. There’s also margherita pizzas, beef rib burgers, a stellar cocktail program, and a mezcal speakeasy to appeal to a young, hip Tijuana crowd.

Serving the Cacho neighborhood since 2010, Don Álvaro Rios and his family have established themselves as one of the city’s elite beef birria stands, with a deeply flavorful adobo that seasons each dripping bite of beef. Under a red canopy, taqueros plate beef birria tacos, and the specialty of the simple stainless steel cart is a taco filled with beef tongue birria and jiggly pieces of beef nerves that fall off the bones used to enrich the stock. Quesatacos (fried cheese and birria), and quesabirrias (melted cheese and birria) are some of the other ways to enjoy birria, and don’t forget to grab a cup of consomé.

Eating at this taco cart is the quintessential Tijuana experience, featuring Tijuana-style carne asada in tacos, mulas, tostadas, and in quesadillas though there’s fine adobada here too. Finely chopped carne asada is placed in a handmade corn tortilla by the taquero who then pitches fresh chopped onions and cilantro on top along with the signature finishes, a mild tomato salsa and creamy guacamole.

Chef Diego Hernandez (Corazón de Tierra), who recently opened Parador Mercedes in Valle de Guadalupe, has returned to Tijuana with a Baja California-style raw bar showcasing the region’s world-class seafood. There are tostadas topped with crab dip, sliced yellowtail, or pen shell clams as well as Pacific shrimp aguachile and abalone tiradito doused with lime and soy sauce that pairs perfectly with a glass of Henri Lurton sauvignon blanc.

This chic, industrial space, brightened by geometric tiles, white columns, and light wood paneling, is all things to all people. Celebrating its sixth anniversary this year, its inventive contemporary Mexican menu is overseen by executive chef Francisco Guzmán, who studied gastronomy in Morelia, Mexico, and trained at Michelin-starred California kitchens such as Californios and Atelier Crenn. With an impressive international and national wine selection, its modern cocktail program is also tops in Tijuana. During the pandemic, the restaurant also launched KOOLKAN, a line of canned wine from Baja California wines and some of its own cocktail creations.

Founded in Rosarito in 2001 before relocating to Tijuana’s “Gastronomic Zone”, restless hunter, fisherman, and countryside chef Miguel Ângel Guerrero’s flagship restaurant remains a part of Tijuana’s culinary evolution. Guerrero’s “Baja Med” hits like chocolata clam shots, soy sauce soaked carpaccio of thinly-sliced pen shell clam, mesquite grilled tacos filled with spicy abalone chorizo, and clay oven roasted “primal” lamb, paired with Mexican wine, illustrate the Mediterranean, Asian, and local flavors that have inspired Tijuana’s thriving restaurant scene.

An instant hit since it opened in July 2022, chef Rael Coronado’s sexy, posh dining room celebrates the new Tijuana in captivating zonkey patterns, tan leather banquettes, and emerald plush velvet chairs. Cocktails are served in fanciful glasses with over-the-top garnishes, such as the Bear, a blend of tequila, rum, and citrus and the Daiquiri Coronado fashioned with two rums, charanda blanco, and lime. The modern menu features crab toast moistened by tarragon mayo, a grilled Caesar, braised beef ribs on top of a puree of grilled carrots, and a wagyu burger smothered in melted cheese, remoulade, and caramelized onions. It’s a playful, gussied-up tribute to Tijuana’s Prohibition-era restaurants.

One of the many Culinary Art School grads on this list, chef Ruffo Ibarra opened his restaurant in 2015 after working under top chefs in Europe and the U.S. Ibarra’s mesquite grill is at the center of a Baja California menu of well-smoked prime rib, USDA prime rib-eye, and largemouth bass, which comes with fried kale and salsa verde as well as inspired raw bar items such as a yellowtail tiradito with citrus and crispy seaweed and a blackened tuna tostada with cuttlefish ink and smoked watermelon.

Under a sea-blue awning in the 20 de Noviembre neighborhood is where one of Tijuana’s many taqueria institutions has been serving an array of seafood tacos since 2005. Camarón enchilado (spicy shrimp), pulpo olivo (octopus and olives), gobernador (shrimp and melted cheese), and smoked marlin are among the local seafood tacos that this taquería does very well. Mixed into the more than a dozen tacos on the menu are some of their own innovations, like their jamón del mar, or “ham of the sea”, a light jab at Starkist tuna, where large chunks of smoked marlin are fashioned like all tacos here, with long ribbons of purple onion, wavy strips of cabbage, a squirt of Mexican cream, and salsa.   

Inspired by the seafood carts and seafood taquerias of Tijuana, chef Javier Plascencia’s “cocina de mariscos”, opened in 2009 to bring a transcendent Mexican raw bar and hot bar using fresh, high-quality seafood from local waters to La Recta. A nice selection of Baja California oysters, pismo clams, and chocolatas, plus either red, black, or classic green aguachiles are well paired with Mexican wine or Mexican craft beer. Beer battered fish tacos, and camarón enchilado tacos highlight the flavors of the street, however, the tasty fish birria taco is tops, a celebration of all that is great about Tijuana on a tortilla. 

In 2020, chef Juan Cabrera of CDMX’s Fonda Fina converted a home into a restaurant in Lomas Hipódromo to create a space for the accomplished chef, who previously cooked at El Cardenal (CDMX), Le Cirque (CDMX), and Tierra Mia (Guadalajara), to explore and create. Soft pork jowl carnitas with “Mexican” kimchi and mini tlacoyos topped with grilled octopus and a smoky chintextle mayo reflect national dishes with a local touch and show Mexico’s deep appreciation for fermented foods from around the world.