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

El Tigre leaves the punks behind

Provocative meats from Sinful Eats

The Medieval burger and fries
The Medieval burger and fries
Place

Tigre

10001 Paseo de los Heroes, Plaza Fiesta, Zona Rio, Tijuana, BC

One year ago, El Tigre had punk shows on a regular basis. They served cheap beer on tap, caguama (bottled beer), and mixed drinks intended to get you drunk for the least amount of money.

In the beginning of 2015 the owners decided to revamp the place and make it about craft beer and great food. Sinful Eats moved into the kitchen, Lúdica Artesanal moved to the bar, and the ambience changed from a punk bar to a modern tap room.

Sponsored
Sponsored
El Tigre
The Medieval burger, paired with Descomunal
After seeing my meal, a friend ordered the mini version of the same burger.
A half-eaten Medieval

The change to craft beer and fancy eats alienated most of the crusty punks — El Tigre caters to a different crowd now. A few of the punks are still loyal and visit often, but those crazy shows with people hanging from the ceiling are gone forever.

The new kitchen offers a pub-like menu with mac n’ cheese, burgers, fries, and more. A lot of the menu has sriracha sauce or bacon. I have tried several things on the menu: a creamy mac n’ cheese sandwich, the cheese platter (good but small and expensive), and the cheesy fries which come topped with mac and bacon.

For this review, several of my friends and I went in for Tap Tuesday, which means all the brews on tap are $1 off. Out of a group of eight people, I was the only one to order food. I got what seemed to be the largest plate on the menu, the Medieval Burger for $10, a ground beef patty weighing half a pound with a double ration of Havarti cheese, bacon and pastrami, and caramelized onions, mayo, and mustard. Or you can get the mini Medieval, half the price and half the meat.

I asked the cook for a beer-pairing recommendation, but he had no idea. The beer menu had only four beers on tap, plus a cider. I ordered a California Common (brewed with a strain of lager yeast that works better at warmer temperatures) called Descomunal, a 16-oz.pint for $3.25. It was a bit under carbonated but easy to drink. Not the best pairing — the beer menu is lacking a good pale ale or IPA.

In the first bite, all I could taste was the huge portion of pastrami. On the second bite I tasted the beef patty, and on the third bite I finally taste the saltiness of the bacon. It wasn’t until I was in to the second half that I tasted the caramelized onions. The Havarti cheese barely made its presence known. The fries were fine — they leave the skin on the potato, which I prefer, giving it a natural taste.

With not that many options on tap , the group had only one round before moving to the many other tap rooms in Plaza Fiesta.

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

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Next Article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
The Medieval burger and fries
The Medieval burger and fries
Place

Tigre

10001 Paseo de los Heroes, Plaza Fiesta, Zona Rio, Tijuana, BC

One year ago, El Tigre had punk shows on a regular basis. They served cheap beer on tap, caguama (bottled beer), and mixed drinks intended to get you drunk for the least amount of money.

In the beginning of 2015 the owners decided to revamp the place and make it about craft beer and great food. Sinful Eats moved into the kitchen, Lúdica Artesanal moved to the bar, and the ambience changed from a punk bar to a modern tap room.

Sponsored
Sponsored
El Tigre
The Medieval burger, paired with Descomunal
After seeing my meal, a friend ordered the mini version of the same burger.
A half-eaten Medieval

The change to craft beer and fancy eats alienated most of the crusty punks — El Tigre caters to a different crowd now. A few of the punks are still loyal and visit often, but those crazy shows with people hanging from the ceiling are gone forever.

The new kitchen offers a pub-like menu with mac n’ cheese, burgers, fries, and more. A lot of the menu has sriracha sauce or bacon. I have tried several things on the menu: a creamy mac n’ cheese sandwich, the cheese platter (good but small and expensive), and the cheesy fries which come topped with mac and bacon.

For this review, several of my friends and I went in for Tap Tuesday, which means all the brews on tap are $1 off. Out of a group of eight people, I was the only one to order food. I got what seemed to be the largest plate on the menu, the Medieval Burger for $10, a ground beef patty weighing half a pound with a double ration of Havarti cheese, bacon and pastrami, and caramelized onions, mayo, and mustard. Or you can get the mini Medieval, half the price and half the meat.

I asked the cook for a beer-pairing recommendation, but he had no idea. The beer menu had only four beers on tap, plus a cider. I ordered a California Common (brewed with a strain of lager yeast that works better at warmer temperatures) called Descomunal, a 16-oz.pint for $3.25. It was a bit under carbonated but easy to drink. Not the best pairing — the beer menu is lacking a good pale ale or IPA.

In the first bite, all I could taste was the huge portion of pastrami. On the second bite I tasted the beef patty, and on the third bite I finally taste the saltiness of the bacon. It wasn’t until I was in to the second half that I tasted the caramelized onions. The Havarti cheese barely made its presence known. The fries were fine — they leave the skin on the potato, which I prefer, giving it a natural taste.

With not that many options on tap , the group had only one round before moving to the many other tap rooms in Plaza Fiesta.

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

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach
Next Article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

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.