It's Mecca ;) for those who enjoy a "Caesar salad" - Caesar Cardini opened his original "Caesar's Place" (later Caesar Cardini's Café) in Tijuana during Prohibition after running restaurants in Sacramento and San Diego.

In 1924, on a very busy weekend, it is said Caesar ran out of some "fixins" for salad, and with lots of demand decided to use what he had on hand ( Romaine lettuce, croutons and a dressing of with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper) to create a new salad at tableside for some US visitors. When he moved back to the US (L.A.) he trademarked the dressing and established "Caesar Cardini Foods", sold later to T. Marzetti.

Much more recently, chef Javier Plascencia decided to rehabilitate Tijuana’s reputation of good food. In 2010, "Javier’s brother Juan Plascencia reopened the long dilapidated Caesar’s Restaurant on Tijuana’s faded Avenida Revolucion following a complete renovation." (New Yorker magazine, January 30, 2012; also see Peter Moruzzi's blog.) Not only do they make the original Caesar salad at tableside with fresh ingredients, the rest of the menu is looking pretty good as well.

Address: Revolución 1927, Zona Centro, 22000 Tijuana, Baja California, México
Phone:+52 664 685 1927
Hours: Daily hours 12:00 pm–2:00 am

¡Salud! and ¡Gracias! Don Cesar. :)

I am as much a Mexicophile as you'll find and I love all things Mexican, but once in TJ was plenty for me. I went WAAAAAY out of my way to visit museums there and places of interest, but left feeling like this poor place was really about as bottom fishing as I'd seen anywhere.

Yes, for the uninitiated, I guess hopping across the border on foot as a day trip from SAN could be fun to see some unusual things (including that zany wax museum as you get into town), but on the whole, this place is 90% a bust. There's precious little to truly DO in this town and there are plenty of reasons to frankly stay away.

Yes, I had a caesar salad at Cardini's and I visited the state museums and a number of other things along the waterfront that 99% of gringos don't do and I still regretted spending most of a day here. I love Mexico, but not TJ.

If I were going back, as soon as I got into TJ, I'd have hopped a bus heading to the coastal towns 20-30 minutes south and enjoyed my day down there instead.

Rosarito or Puerto Nuevo for me.

Actually heading down tomorrow for some much needed taco & lobster fix.

If one has been to Tijuana and knows a bit about Baja California, there are numerous better places on the beach / coast, not to mention wine country, whale watching, etc. etc. Some may wactually want to dip their toe for a very few hours and see the glitz and visit some places in "México" (but we know it's genuinely not, in terms of ambiente).

Do to time I'm not going farther then Ensenada,but yes,way more things in Mexico to experience. Only have two days and not two months.Besides been to a lot of lindos lugares in my life.

Even Ensenada has changed over the years. My faorite was to wander the streets and find the people who were selling chowder - abulón ranchero. Sometimes out at La Bufadora, too. Mmm! ¡Delicioso!

We travelled all the way to San Ignacio and back last week. When we crossed the border back to the US on Saturday evening (March 23, 2013) the process took over two hours. We were travelling on a charter bus, but crossed on foot. It was the longest wait that I had experienced, but it was a weekend evening and a holiday weekend.

The farther away from Tijuana that we went, the safer we felt. We had a wonderful trip whale watching in Laguna San Ignacio and at Guerrero Negro.

I too was returning for the day (March 23rd) and it took 2.5 hours (4:45-6:15),but this is a average in the last few years in my experience,shortest was 20 mins because I went in through a fast lane (but was told by BP not to do it again),longest was 4 hours (2 on the line & 2 in inspection) and what is crazy is that the inspection was all hot air.

Shouldn't that be 1½ hours?

To be honest I know it was 2.5,maybe it was 3:45pm or 7:15pm once we were out of that line.

Pedestrian Ready Lanes are now open at San Ysidro. With a passport card or other RFID documentation, waits are greatly reduced. Wednesday there was actually no line mid-afternoon, and today my wait was 16 minutes.
http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/gpx/ready_lane.png

Global Entry / Sentri pass holders never have to wait at all.

http://www.globalentry.gov/images/logo-ge.gif http://www.mlsbaja.com/sitebuilder/i...ogo-129x85.jpg

Shopping? Safety? How is it these days?
 

I've been to Tij many, MANY times, but not for, maybe 5 years or more. You might say that my house looks like a Mexican marketplace! :)

I'm flying into SAN late one nite next week, and fly out the next day at 6PM. So, I have the better part of the day to spend in Tij. I remember years ago, the street markets after you cross into Mexico, and along the mile or so walk to downtown Tij were great! The last time or 2 I was there, they had dissipated substantially, but shopping was still OK.

I'm not a scardey cat traveler, and I do speak decent Spanish, but I'm curious to know how the street shopping scene is these days, and, safety along the walk to and from downtown. I dress in jeans or shorts, and a basic t-shirt, but very downscale. Also, how are the customs and immigration lines coming back into the USA. It would be mid afternoon Friday.

Thanx in advance for the help! :)

PS: Just a side note . . . .

I've been to El Paso / Cd Juarez twice, but MANY years ago. I've been told that the crime is so bad there now, that if you walk across the border, you may not come back! This is the kind of thing that spooks me a little!

DT

A year plus since this post - do we have a Tijuana update? Street shopping and customs (Sat late afternoon w/ Global Entry - still no line?). Also, any updates on a restaurant? No really interested in a salad however good MX food would be great :)

Thanks
Cheers