Tijuana

The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This Week

Monday, June 10 Hindu Pirates THE ECHO The Hindu Pirates are young (the five guys range in age from 18 to 22), but they manage to pack a learned wallop in their sets without getting stuck on the garage-surf rock references. Hailing from Orange County, the quintet has distinguished itself by opening ... More >>

4 Great Baja Chefs Coming to Tacolandia

If you're planning on spending the afternoon of June 23 watching a baseball game (the Dodgers will be in San Diego anyway) or catching a matinee of World War Z, you maybe haven't been paying attention. You have tacos to eat. TiVo the game, watch the movie later, after you've spent the better part of ... More >>

Petty Cash Taqueria Opens Tonight

There was a lot of speculation about what would become of the space formerly known as Playa on Beverly Boulevard when the restaurant closed earlier in March. About a week and a half ago, restaurant partners Bill Chait and chef Walter Manzke -- with assists from food blogger Bill Esparza and chef Gui ... More >>

Tijuana Wants The Olympics?

In America's collective imagination, Tijuana is the perpetual stand-in for the dusty border town. It's the home of the donkey show, buckets of beer and velvet Elvis paintings. But a funny thing happened while we weren't paying attention:

Tijuana Grub Crawl: Where To Eat, Drink and Walk on Your Tour of TJ

See also: Anthony Bourdain Told Me to Go to Baja. So I'd Be OK There. Right? See also: Anthony Bourdain's Baja Episode of No Reservations Will Make You Want to Cross the Border Immediately See also: OC Weekly's Column Tijuana Sí! You're going to Tijuana, and you want to eat. That's a very good pla ... More >>

Caesar Salad Festival in Tijuana This Sunday: Did You Know Its Roots Are in Baja?

See also: Anthony Bourdain's Baja Episode of No Reservations Will Make You Want to Cross the Border Immediately. See also: 'Stick a Fork in It' column Tijuana Sí!. If you're up for a spur of the moment trip across the Mexican border (and who isn't these days) this weekend would be a good time to g ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain's Baja Episode of No Reservations Will Make You Want to Cross the Border Immediately

The Baja California episode of No Reservations begins with a soundtrack of gunshots and sirens peppering news reports of violence in Tijuana. But against this noise we see Anthony Bourdain strolling into town looking unafraid. He knows what you're thinking: "Wait, isn't Tijuana dangerous?" The shor ... More >>

I Am a Reverse Coyote: Smuggling Food Tourists Into Tijuana

Tijuana is the new culinary media darling, but this writer has been smuggling food tourists there for years

The Reverse Coyote: Bill Esparza on Smuggling Food Tourists into Tijuana

Even if you're not one of Bill Esparza's Street Gourmet LA readers (who are legion), many of whom have accompanied the musician-as-food-blogger on his famous border-crossing culinary pilgrimages, you might want to check out today's feature food story. Of course, you may want to read the story -- aga ... More >>

How to Find Gas at $1.46 Less Per Gallon (Really)

What if we told you we knew of a place where you could save about $1.46 a gallon on gas -- today? What if we told you, while you were in the neighborhood getting your cheap gas you could also dine on meals that have the foodie nation buzzing, get a huge discount on your prescription drugs, and take ... More >>

Read This Now: The New Yorker on Misión 19's Javier Plascencia

Misión 19 in Tijuana, chef Javier Plascencia's first independent venture, is celebrating its one-year-anniversary. Read "The Missionary," a profile of Plascencia by Dana Goodyear in this week's New Yorker, and you'll learn why that matters. Plascencia's mission is to bring innovative but authent ... More >>

LinA In LA Party Picks: SNL's Stefon Ain't Got Nothin' On Us

​Anybody's who's ever watched Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" and reads this column knows the flamboyant nightlife reporter, Stefon (played by Bill Hader), and yours truly have similar sensibilities when it comes to colorful clubbing. Midget pirate parties ... white trash drag queen hoe ... More >>

Teen Prostitute From Southern California Found Working Tijuana Streets

Nathan GibbsA woman in Tijuana's Zona Norte.​As we've noted, it's sweeps time for TV news in L.A. So you can expect a lot of typically sensational reporting (CBS2 found a city worker buying alcohol before heading to the mayor's house, for example). NBC Los Angeles' look into Tijuana prostitut ... More >>

Southern California Blackouts in San Diego, South Orange County During Heatwave

​Updated at the bottom: As power seems to be coming back on, California electricity officials issue a "flex-alert" for the entire state. A power outage affecting all of San Diego County has been reported today, and now we're seeing tweets that the lights have gone out in Dana Point, Laguna Ni ... More >>

Bostich Fussible Bring The Tijuana To L.A.

Nacional Records courtesy photoRamón Amezcua (Bostich) and Pepe Mogt (Fussible)​It's surely not their city's architectural beauty that keeps a firm grip on Tijuana-based folk-tronic duo Bostich Fussible. But the city's well-guarded Bohemian underpinnings -- independent art galleries, all-ho ... More >>

Crossing the Line: A Space by Tanya Aguiniga

DONKEY SEE, DONKEY DO

The Donkey Show

Ceci Bastida Interview: "You Need To Feel Free"

ceci bastida​ Tijuana might be better known right now for its crooked cops and affordable prescription drugs, but Ceci Bastida has been sounding off for the border city's next generation since she was a feisty 15 year-old fronting politically-minded Mexican ska band Tijuana No! (famous for th ... More >>

Massacre Of 13 In Tijuana Linked To California-Bound Pot Seizure?

Was huge seizure of California-bound marijuana tied to Tijuana massacre Sunday?​One of the key issues in the debate of the full legalization of marijuana in California is whether voter approval for Prop. 19 would change the cartel-linked supply lines for pot in the Golden State. On Monday Baj ... More >>

Our Man in Tijuana

Javier Plascencia brings his BajaMed chops to the Test Kitchen

First Bite: Javier Plascencia, Our Man in Tijuana

C. BishopJonagold apple​The ceilings are low, the expectations are high, and the Slayer-loud salsa grooves are making the mezcal tremble in its glass. The wines on the blackboard are all from Baja, mostly from the Guadalupe Valley area, which may be the great wine area closest to Los Angeles; ... More >>

Craigslist's Defunct 'Erotic Services' Ads Live On In Tijuana, And Some Women Offer North-Of-The-Border Sessions

A "spicy blonde" advertises on Craigslist Tijuana.​Under pressure from law enforcers who said it was a haven for prostitution, Craigslist quietly shut down its "Adult Services" advertising section earlier this month, replacing it with the word "Censored." But U.S. users of the classified adver ... More >>

Javier Plascencia's Baja Food Comes to L.A.

Barbara HansenJavier Plascencia​The Test Kitchen has scored a coup in persuading Javier Plascencia, Tijuana's charismatic chef and promoter of Baja cuisine, to cook there for three nights, October 13th through 15th. Plascencia has seven restaurants in Tijuana, another in San Diego and, we he ... More >>

James Lee, Suspected Discovery Channel Hostage Taker, Was Convicted Of Immigrant Smuggling

​The strange saga of James Lee, the man suspected of taking hostages at the Discovery Channel's Washington, D.C. headquarters this week, keeps getting more bizarre. ABC News reports that in 2003 he was convicted of smuggling a woman into the United States from Tijuana. It's an odd revelation ... More >>

Under the Radar Cinco De Mayo Suggestions by Tijuana's Nortec Collective

​When it comes to Cinco de Mayo, you need to go where the pros go. Jorge Verdin, graphic designer and member of Tijuana music troupe Nortec Collective, could have a degree in torta-ology. Growing up in La Mesa neighborhood in Tijuana and touring all over Mexico (and the world) with Nortec Coll ... More >>

A Benefit for the Kids of Baja: Mole, Music, Tequila and Mezcal

Feel sad about those helpless kids living on the streets of Tijuana and Ensenada? Then do something about it, like take part in the April 22 benefit for Corazon de Vida Foundation at Guelaquetza restaurant on Olympic Blvd. Funds raised will go toward housing and food for orphaned and abandoned chil ... More >>

Mexico A No-No For Spring Break?

Acapulco.​After two Americans connected to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez were gunned down, the U.S. State Department issued a warning regarding travel to Mexico, particularly its northern cities and states -- including Tijuana. The attack in the city opposite El Paso, Texas, included on ... More >>

Ceci Bastida spreads the Eastside Luv tonight ( MP3 and stop-motion Fan Video)

Ceci Bastida spreads the Eastside Luv tonight ( MP3 and stop-motion Fan Video)

Roadtrip to Tijuana: Why All Your Foodblogs are Posting From Mexico

Thanks to the tireless work of Mexican food expert and blogger Bill Esparza--in conjunction with the Tijuana Tourism Board Tijuana Convention & Visitors Bureau--a group of bloggers, food writers, chefs and restaurateurs headed south last week on a mission of exploration and eating, to consume some o ... More >>

Slackers in Gringolandia, and Other Mexican "Traditions"

The Answer Man

The Tights Club

When it comes to Mexican superheroes in Spandex, look to lucha libre

Emos prepare to rumble in Tijuana, march for peace in Mexico City

The nationwide assault campaign against emos in Mexico continues to surge forward, as word is spreading that emos will be hunted and beaten by anti-emo kids in Tijuana on Saturday. Word is emos will rumble with their adversaries at Plaza Rio, Tijuana's central outdoor mall. But hold on. My youn ... More >>

Lost in Tijuana

A mother’s search for a son, born in East L.A. but deported by County Sheriffs

Under the Influence

And Moz-itive thinking

Más Mexican Media Response

And a Spanish translation of “The Island of Jorge Hank Rhon”

Mexican Media Responds

The Island of Jorge Hank Rhon

They call him a criminal, a murderer and the worst mayor in Tijuana history. In search of Genghis Hank.

Factory of Dreams

Nortec Collective’s new Tijuana is beautiful & funky & funny

Shooting the Messenger

The challenge facing real journalists

Manu en Vivo

Mexing America

L.A./TJ bands vault the Pocho Wall

Global Stench

Come to Tijuana to experience globalization

New Tijuana Moods

Reinventing the border with Nor-Tec and Julieta Venegas

Beating Home a Message

A violent setback for worker rights in Mexico

Here There Be Angels

Tijuana maquiladora labor strike deepens

First Strike

Labor Action Breaks all the Rules in Tiajuana