Baja California’s delicious and diverse cuisine has once again delighted palates and obtained recognition nationwide. In the recent edition of “Guía México Gastronómico: Los 250 Restaurantes 2025” (Gastronomic Mexico Guide: Top 250 Restaurants in 2025) published by Culinaria Mexicana, 22 Baja Californian restaurants were chosen as some of the best in the country.
The state has established itself as a Mexican gastronomy benchmark that stands out due to the quality of its dishes and its chefs’ creativity. Discover down below the 22 restaurants in Baja California that were included in this edition:
TIJUANA
Carmelita
Carmelita Molino y Cocina, led by Chef José Figueroa, pays tribute to traditional Mexican cuisine. At this restaurant, corn reigns supreme.
Corn is nixtamalized and ground in situ from grains to get the freshest tortillas. This ingredient is the basis for a variety of dishes, from chilaquiles with borracha salsa to tamales filled with braised beef rib.
Casa Tijuana
This restaurant has a delicious Mexican comfort food concept where the menu changes with each season.
Chef Juan Cabrera showcases his talent and creativity with dishes such as corn quesadillas with abalone and snail, accompanied by smoked cream cheese, epazote, and charred salsa with kimchi. There’s also the delicious chiltamal, consisting of an ancho chili pepper filled with a chicharron and tomatillo tamal.
Caesar’s
Caesar’s Restaurant, located in Avenida Revolución in the heart of Downtown Tijuana, is known around the world for being the place where the Caesar salad was invented.
World-renowned Chef Plascencia is one of the people who has made it his mission to preserve the history and tradition of this dish created in 1924 by the Italian Caesar Cardini, respecting the precise way in which it is supposed to be made.
Erizo
With more than 12 years of experience, this restaurant offers an exceptional culinary experience led by Chef Javier Plascencia.
This restaurant’s menu is a feast for seafood lovers. Enjoy a wide variety of fresh and delicious options, including fish tacos, ceviche, and shrimp-, lobster-, crab-, and octopus-based specialties.
VALLE DE GUADALUPE
Animalón
Located under a majestic oak tree in Valle de Guadalupe, Animalón is one of Mexico’s best restaurants, renowned for its haute cuisine and for having been awarded 1 Michelin Star.
Led by Chef Javier Plascencia and Executive Chef Oscar Torres, this restaurant has been recognized for its focus on ever-revolving culinary excellence. Its menu constantly renews itself with dishes such as the flat iron steak barbacoa, a cowboy recipe from 1920, and the pulp Marrano, octopus meat in a traditional corn soup.
Casa Marcelo
Casa Marcelo is led by Marcelo Castro, part of the 4th generation of Ramonetti cheesemakers. This restaurant is famous for its breakfast offerings, including the delicious chilaquiles with homemade cheese, an incomparable combination of flavor and texture.
For lunch, Casa Marcelo offers other delicacies, such as the shrimp tostada, which has the perfect balance and combination of spicy chili pepper and aromatic herbs.
Conchas de Piedra
Conchas de Piedra, led by Chef Drew Deckman, has been awarded 1 Michelin Star for its haute cuisine and 1 Michelin Green Star for its focus on sustainability.
This rustic restaurant features memorable dishes, including clam shells balanced on small pebbles and the crispy oyster taco. It also offers a 100% Mexican wine, promoting local talent and celebrating the region’s winemaking industry.
Damiana
Led by Chef Esteban Lluis, Damiana was awarded 1 Michelin Star, while one of its creations, the Callo Margarita, has become a famous must-try dish.
Following the creed “from the farm to the table,” Chef Lluis offers a variety of proteins such as fish, seafood, duck, quail, and lamb.
Deckman’s
Since it was established, this outdoor restaurant, located at the Mogor Badán winery, has been a prime example of how to use nearby ingredients from Ramonetti cheeses by Marcelo Castro to self-harvested vegetables and their own wine list, consisting exclusively of Baja Californian labels.
With a special focus on seafood and chargrilled cuisine, Chef Drew Deckman’s restaurant has become a must-visit establishment.
Fauna
One of the most renowned restaurants in the last few years, it usually ranks high in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list and is led by Chef David Castro Hussong and Chef Maribel Aldaco on pastries.
Its offer is based on product cuisine with a relaxed and shareable proposal, with strong flavors and vast and delicious presentations. This staging is complemented well with wines by the restaurant’s oenologist, Lulú Martínez Ojeda.
Finca Altozano
From Chef Javier Plascencia, this rural grill is perfect for enjoying your visits to the vineyards of El Valle. Its proposal is based on grilled cuisine, seafood, and a selection of pastas and rice.
Don’t miss its casseroles that can be eaten in tacos: lamb birria, beef cheek, tongue in green sauce, and carnitas. It is also recommended to enjoy the sunset in one of the tables set up on top of this restaurant’s enormous barrels, where you can eat dessert, take a cup of coffee, or share a bottle of wine.
Lunario
This restaurant, led by Chef Sheyla Alvarado and Fernando Pérez Castro, director of Grupo Lomita and Finca La Carrodilla, has been recognized as Latin America’s most sustainable restaurant by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It has also been awarded 1 star by the Michelin Guide.
This kitchen uses local proteins such as quail and lambs raised in the region, minimally impacting the environmental. With a seasonal menu, Lunario’s dishes change every month.
Malva
This restaurant, located at the Mina Penélope vineyards, is led by Roberto Alcocer. It stands out due to its seasonal Mexican cuisine where the chef proposes two menus of four or eight dishes.
The standout is the mallow coulant: a green sponge cake served with goat cheese ice cream.
Villa Torél
Located in the Bodegas Santo Tomás property, Villa Torél is led by Chef Alfredo Villanueva.
This establishment combines Mexican culinary proposals with contemporary European–especially French–cuisine. Some of its best dishes are the crudo of horse mackerel served with blue corn tostadas and the innovative rice with tongue pastrami.
Some of its desserts include the crispy-crinkled layers of phyllo with jocoque, chopped pistachios, and local honey.
Keep reading: World-Renowned Coffee Shop Located in Valle de Guadalupe
ENSENADA
Madre
Madre is a project led by Chefs Miguel Bahena and Carolina Verdugo. This restaurant’s menu includes appetizers that feature shrimp with pip and sesame crust, shrimp chileatole, and nopal and onion slices.
Dishes mainly feature pasta and grilled meat including duck magret, served with very crunchy skin and homemade red mole sauce.
Manzanilla
Manzanilla is led by Chefs Benito Molina and Solange Muris where seafood is the main star. Dishes are made with high-quality ingredients and a fusion of Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine.
This establishment’s menu, led by a former MasterChef judge, features traditional ceviche with lime, whiting with guacamole, and shrimp broth meatballs.
Sabina Restaurante
Located in Ensenada, Restaurant Sabina is an expanded version of Sabina Bandera’s famous seafood cart, La Guerrerense.
Here you can enjoy delicious dishes from its cod ceviche heaped with tender, chopped octopus to a seafood pozole, a dish featuring a Colorado broth stocked with an abundance of seafood, hominy, and diced avocado. The quality of its products and ingredients is exceptional from its tortilla chips to its homemade salsas.
Comal
This restaurant offers traditional corn-based dishes from central and southern Mexico, led by Chef David Rocha. This establishment features a diverse and delicious menu with options: piedra broth, sopes, and tacos with fillings, mole, thick chili sauce, and peanuts.
The chef also recommends the tetela filled with beans and cream cheese, accompanied by homemade mole and pigweed salad. It can be paired with craft beer or Valle de Guadalupe wine.
MEXICALI
Imperial Garden
If something distinguishes Mexicali above all is Chinese food, and Chef Pablo Abel Chee is the founder of Imperial Garden which fuses Cantonese and Mexican food since 2004.
This menu offers a traditional menu of relatively inexpensive food and a more specialized menu to enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine including red carnitas and arrachera asparagus. This restaurant also has a variety of vegetarian options.
La Meche
This restaurant located in Mexicali’s hotel zone was inaugurated in December 2018. It is led by Chef Santos Chavira Robles and its mixology menu exclusively deals with Mexican liquors such as tequila, mezcal, and pulque.
There are also the delicious quesabirrias, the special marrow dish, and the mezcal panna cotta made with dulce de leche and guava.
Avia
This restaurant led by Omar Valenzuela stands out due to its firewood cooking. Some of its dishes include roasted cauliflower with pressed chicharron, and its meat cuts, such as the short rib, are garnished with spinach gnocchi and vegetables from their vegetable patch.
Plus, they have delicious bread rolls: homemade brioche is drenched with a Worcestershire sauce, giving it the right humidity, served with mascarpone cream quenelles and passion fruit.
TECATE
Amores
Amores is a restaurant known for its innovative culinary proposals, led by Chefs Marcelo Hisaki and Reyna Venegas, which fuses Mexican, Japanese, and French influences with Baja Californian products.
You won’t find a fixed menu here; instead, there’s a tasting menu that changes every week, depending on seasonal ingredients. They work exclusively with fresh Baja Californian products and its dishes are meant to be paired with local wines and craft beers.
Besides the awards it has been given, two special prizes have highlighted Baja California’s importance in the national gastronomic scene. Joe Figueroa, Chef of La Carmelita in Tijuana, was named Revelation Chef of the Year for his creative vision, while restaurant Manzanilla, in Ensenada, was given the Gastronomic Family Award.
Baja California’s Secretary of Tourism Miguel Aguíñiga Rodríguez thanked the winners, stressing that these achievements reflect the creativity, efforts, and passion of each one, establishing Baja California as a national Mexican gastronomic reference.
Like every year, the winners were selected by the Editorial Council of Mexican Cuisine Voters, consisting of 80 distinguished figures of the gastronomic industry, including specialized journalists, industry businesspeople, and 10 of Mexico’s best sommeliers.
Baja California’s Secretariat of Tourism congratulates all winners and reaffirms its commitment to continue promoting gastronomy as a fundamental driving force for the state’s tourism development.
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