San Diego Reader

Café La Especial
Avenida Revolución #718, Tijuana
011-52-664-685-6654

Low ceilings, deeply varnished tabletops, black furniture hand-painted with flowers and portraits, murals of Mexico, and unhurried waiters. Signs from the days when the bullfight crowd hung out here. The old Tijuana. "My aunt, Justina, started it all in 1948," says the owner, Humberto Brambila, "with the steamed-taco stand upstairs. This restaurant was born on July 17, 1952." Not much has changed since then. Food is standard Mexican fare, from cactus and eggs to carne asada. All good. But it's okay to be a gringo -- they do a great steak and eggs.