Best of 2003: Best Garlic Shrimp

Chiki Jai Basque Restaurant
1388 Avenida Revolucion (at Eight), Tijuana
011-52-664-685-4955

Tijuana's oldest restaurant is kicking with new life. Yes, it has always been famous for its paella. That's what the Spanish jai alai players craved when this opened for them and the bullfighters and their hangers-on like Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Ava Gardner. They still make a good one. But what really sings are the sizzling camarones al ajillo. Garlic shrimp. Eight big, fat, juicy Gulf of California monsters jumping in a garlicky sauce. Sop it up with their perfect French bread, then help it down with a little vino tinto. Admire old border photos, the owner's collection of Don Quixote art, fighting bull ranchos' brands, and a matador's framed green cape, his blood still on it from a goring.