Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pork rinds now, shawarma later at Bakbuk

Tamarind, cucumber, and jamaica martinis as truth serum.
Tamarind, cucumber, and jamaica martinis as truth serum.
Place

Bakbuk

8323 Calle Sexta, Tijuana, BC

When it comes to nightlife, Tijuana’s Sexta has something for everyone — time-honored cantinas, craft-beer cinema bars, kitschy mezcalerías, jazz joints, after-hour dance clubs, ’til-dawn punk dives, and old-timey cumbia halls. Now, Bakbuk is bringing a craft-cocktail lounge to the block.

Their porch offers a rare street-side view of wild-weekend Sixth with the iconic Dandy del Sur cantina glowing across the avenue. Stepping in, hundreds of brown and green beer bottles dangle from the ceiling. Behind the bar, illuminated bottles explode in starry formations, hinting at an old Vegas disco engaged in heavy petting with an underground Detroit warehouse party. Settling into a stool, you notice the miniature chandeliers made from clusters of liquor shooters and, in the back of the bar, Hebrew writing covering one wall.

It all makes sense when co-owner Daniel Huerta explains that bakbuk is Hebrew for — you guessed it — bottle. The name and interior design (actualized by multimedia artist Alejandro Zacharias) are a tribute to Huerta’s cousin and co-owner Julian Plascencia’s son, Paz, who Plascencia recently had with his Israeli wife.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One block of Hebrew text reads, “When liquor enters your mouth, the truth comes out,” Huerta explains, and I test the theory with an assortment of martinis prepared alternately with sweet and tart tamarind, fresh juiced cucumber, and jamaica, from which you can eat candied hibiscus flowers when the sauce runs low.

Bartender Güero offers samples of his house sangrita before pouring a Vampiro — a clay jar of white tequila, sangrita (a spiced tomato-based mixer), and orange juice rimmed with chamoy and Tajin. Another innovation for the unconventional drinker is the Caguavaso, which chops the classic 32-ounce caguama bottle down to a cylindrical draft beer glass.

For now, bags of Lourdes’s pork rinds make up the whole of the menu. But, in another nod to the Fertile Crescent, Huerta and Plascencia (whose family has a hand in landmark eateries such as Caesar’s, Giuseppi’s, and Romesco) have plans to install a shawarma and kebab window on the patio, where the ancestor of the al pastor taco, the taco árabe, will be served in pita bread.

Beyond the booze, keep an eye out for regular events organized by Karlo Valle of San Diego’s Siesta Records. Valle has been in the game for nearly two decades and now picks fellow selectors of house, minimal techno, and jazz to set the vibe most weekends.

Prices: Cocktails $4.25; drafts $1.50, caguavasos $3

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 2pm-2am

Capacity: About 50

Food: Pork rinds now, shawarma later

Cards: Sí

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tim Flannery, Pete “Pops” Escovedo, Roger Clyne, Orion Song, Jeff Berkley

Jazz, country, R&B, rock, and acoustic evenings in La Jolla, Little Italy, Ramona, and Solana Beach
Next Article

Mustard turns hillsides yellow, Star Jasmine’s sweet perfume

Pleiades cluster hovers right below the waxing crescent moon
Tamarind, cucumber, and jamaica martinis as truth serum.
Tamarind, cucumber, and jamaica martinis as truth serum.
Place

Bakbuk

8323 Calle Sexta, Tijuana, BC

When it comes to nightlife, Tijuana’s Sexta has something for everyone — time-honored cantinas, craft-beer cinema bars, kitschy mezcalerías, jazz joints, after-hour dance clubs, ’til-dawn punk dives, and old-timey cumbia halls. Now, Bakbuk is bringing a craft-cocktail lounge to the block.

Their porch offers a rare street-side view of wild-weekend Sixth with the iconic Dandy del Sur cantina glowing across the avenue. Stepping in, hundreds of brown and green beer bottles dangle from the ceiling. Behind the bar, illuminated bottles explode in starry formations, hinting at an old Vegas disco engaged in heavy petting with an underground Detroit warehouse party. Settling into a stool, you notice the miniature chandeliers made from clusters of liquor shooters and, in the back of the bar, Hebrew writing covering one wall.

It all makes sense when co-owner Daniel Huerta explains that bakbuk is Hebrew for — you guessed it — bottle. The name and interior design (actualized by multimedia artist Alejandro Zacharias) are a tribute to Huerta’s cousin and co-owner Julian Plascencia’s son, Paz, who Plascencia recently had with his Israeli wife.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One block of Hebrew text reads, “When liquor enters your mouth, the truth comes out,” Huerta explains, and I test the theory with an assortment of martinis prepared alternately with sweet and tart tamarind, fresh juiced cucumber, and jamaica, from which you can eat candied hibiscus flowers when the sauce runs low.

Bartender Güero offers samples of his house sangrita before pouring a Vampiro — a clay jar of white tequila, sangrita (a spiced tomato-based mixer), and orange juice rimmed with chamoy and Tajin. Another innovation for the unconventional drinker is the Caguavaso, which chops the classic 32-ounce caguama bottle down to a cylindrical draft beer glass.

For now, bags of Lourdes’s pork rinds make up the whole of the menu. But, in another nod to the Fertile Crescent, Huerta and Plascencia (whose family has a hand in landmark eateries such as Caesar’s, Giuseppi’s, and Romesco) have plans to install a shawarma and kebab window on the patio, where the ancestor of the al pastor taco, the taco árabe, will be served in pita bread.

Beyond the booze, keep an eye out for regular events organized by Karlo Valle of San Diego’s Siesta Records. Valle has been in the game for nearly two decades and now picks fellow selectors of house, minimal techno, and jazz to set the vibe most weekends.

Prices: Cocktails $4.25; drafts $1.50, caguavasos $3

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 2pm-2am

Capacity: About 50

Food: Pork rinds now, shawarma later

Cards: Sí

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Blue Whales: Return of the Giants, North Park Salsa Fest, Lime Cordiale

Events April 19-April 20, 2024
Next Article

Bluefin still Missing In Action – Grunion for Bait during Observation Only? - Yellowtail Limits a Short Drive South

Santee Lakes Catfish Opener features Tagged Fish for Prizes
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.