The Best Bars in Tijuana, Mexico

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Tijuaneros love their craft beer and this huge partially al fresco bar – decked out with long wooden bench-tables, draws in big crowds of locals and Americans alike, here to sample the best of the city’s micro brewery beers. These include Azteca, Norte Insurgente, Agua Mala, Fauna and Border Psycho. DJs keep the tempo lively and there’s a huge menu of botana snacks to complement the brews.

Tijuana’s oldest tourist district, Colonia Federal, lies so close to the border you can almost hear the passport stamps. Once crammed with tawdry bars, it’s gone upmarket of late. Stroll through the Estación Federal – a complex of bar-restaurants, shared work spaces and art-collective galleries. Estación’s coolest bar, Cereus – decked-out in minimalist Guadalajara monochrome tiles and with an open-air sidewalk patio – serves craft cocktails like Flor de Noche (bourbon, strawberry syrup, lemon juice and bitters) alongside premium mezcals and tequilas.

At the heart of a complex of bars, clubs and food kiosks within a ring-pull toss of the university, Los Diablitos is where Tijuana’s students come after-lectures and remain for most of the night. The formula is simple: crowds of twenty-somethings downing huge margaritas – served in plastic pint glasses – alongside cheap, ice-cold beer and botana bar snacks, not to mention pumping music. And when you want to move on there are dozens of other options nearby.

Tall leather lounge stools, a polished granite long bar, waiters in white shirts, neckties and black aprons – Central is classic old-school Tijuana. Popular throughout the day, it’s celebrated for its daring house cocktails such the El Central, made with premium mezcal, Aperol, blond beer, watermelon and lemon fruit juices. Then there’s the Martini del Mar, with artisan Armonico Mexican gin, Dolin vermouth, lemon and Japanese dashi. There are decent Spanish-style tapas bar snacks and a seated restaurant if you’re hungrier.

This simple craft brewery and hipster botana tapas restaurant – run by star chef of the moment José Figueroa – sits in a little plaza of pubs and bars on downtown Tijuana’s buzzing Avenida Revolución. There’s a huge choice of beers – from lagers to local specials like Xocoveza chocolate stout. Insurgentes attracts a mixed crowd – beer lovers from San Diego, Tijuana students, gastronomes here to sample the excellent croquetas de quesabirri, and it’s heaving on a Saturday night.

Sitting just south of El Centenario park, a five-minute walk from the US border, Casa Badóh is a rooftop cocktail bar – with huge margaritas and skyline views – and pumping club that keeps new arrivals fueled-up and dancing ‘til morning. So much so that when the music stops, the bar morphs into a breakfast-brunch eatery serving US and Mexican standards from donuts to huevos rancheros and very strong coffee.

Long wooden bar, art deco calligraphy, checkerboard floor, amber wall lights glinting in myriad mirrors – this classic old Tijuana bar looks like it’s barely changed since the 1920s, when Italian owner Cesare Cardini invented the Caesar salad here. Salads are still whisked from the kitchen and dressed at the linen-covered tables by smart-suited staff – just as they were in Cesare’s day. But now the bar serves classic and modern, modish mixologist cocktails – try their divine lemon or tamarind margaritas.

A classic Mexican cantina bar with bottles lined up behind the long wooden bar, fading black-and-white photos on the walls and serenading mariachis? La Cantina’s the place. The music is loud and never stops at this spot that feels like a delightful throwback to the days of Zorro. Try a long, strong margarita.