11 Best Restaurants in Baja California Beach Towns, Los Cabos

What began as an underground supper club in the home of Dennis and Bo Bendana is now the leading restaurant in Rosarito. Inspired by the founders' international travels, the decor reflects their love for Morocco and Bali while the menu from chef Guillermo Trexo celebrates the Mediterranean and Mexico. The menu changes regularly, but you might find dishes incorporating local fish, such as yellowfin tuna with almond mojo. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the coastline, making it a popular brunch spot on weekends. Grab a table in the formal dining room or on the rooftop terrace where dishes like slow-cooked lamb with Oaxacan mole coloradito are served. Locals often drop by for live music and fresh-baked pastries served with a cup of sweet Moroccan tea.

This elegant restaurant, with its white linens, open trusses, and soft candlelight is the best steak house in Baja California. Prepared on mesquite wood, the steak is divine and tender, almost as if it's been marinated in butter (though the chef swears salt and a little love are the secret). Aged for 21 days, the rib eye is the star of the show—juicy, flavorful, and served with a side of asparagus and baked potato. Preempt the experience with local oysters, a Baja beer tasting, and the romaine wedge doused in blue cheese. They also serve homemade pastas, grilled lamb, and a lovely chicken in plum sauce. Service is impeccable and the wine list extensive. The chocolate truffle cake will leave you asking, “Did I really just eat that whole thing?”

A dark, wood-paneled restaurant with leather booths, Mexican antiques, and a large central fireplace, this is one of Rosarito's oldest eateries, and the best in town for atmosphere. Diners unimpressed with newer, fancier places come here for grilled venison, lamb, and quail from the owner's farm in the Baja wine country. Made-to-order tortillas, salsa, and margaritas are remarkably fresh. Farm-grown mangos, strawberries, and melons are infused into simple syrups for cocktails. They serve organic vegetables, have a delicious flan, and offer wine tastings in their small damp cellar. Ask for a table on the back patio where potted plants and a waterfall make a pleasant setting in the charming greenhouse.

From its chateaubriand bouquetière to the savory chicken chipotle cooked with brandy, port wine, and cream, this classy French restaurant has been family-owned since 1947. Louis XIV–style furnishings and an attentive staff make it both comfortable and elegant. In addition, the restaurant pays tribute to its heritage with family photographs that line the hallways, starting with a portrait of founder Doña Pepita. As the oldest French restaurant in Mexico, it's also considered one of the top of the pack with more than 10 Five Diamond Awards. Impressive preparations of Caesar salad, crêpes Suzette, and café flambé create a show at your table. For larger parties, request one of the three private rooms modeled after Paris and the Palace of Versailles. The sidewalk tables are a perfect place to dine and people-watch. The small café in the front sells pastries that are made on the premises.

Seafood soup and grilled fish are options at the "House of Lobster," but clearly the lobster, fried Puerto-Nuevo style, is the star. This is one of the best spots in town to try the deep-fried recipe created by Susana Diaz Plascencia in 1956; otherwise, try their fresh lobster steamed or stewed with seafood and salsa inside a traditional molcajete stone. Most wooden tables in the large dining room are covered with platters of fried or grilled lobster and all the standard accompaniments like rice, beans and paper-thin flour tortillas. Start with the clam chowder or jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon. The medium-sized lobsters tend to be a bit more flavorful than the larger ones. There's an actual wine list here, and it has several Baja wines. On a hot day opt for the tart margaritas.

This food-cart stall off Ensenada's bustling Calle Primera is the place where locals get a solid helping of the region's seafood. Established in 1960, La Guerrerense has been featured on international shows like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Popularity has led to the opening of a neighboring restaurant by the same name, but it's the original cart that keeps crowds ogling a small army of cooks cracking clams, shucking oysters, and piling the freshest fish onto tostadas. After you choose from the day's catch—shrimp, uni, clams, lobster, octopus—stand back and wait while your dish is prepared. Once it's ready, make your way through the throng of hungry patrons, and dress your plate from the selection of bottled salsas and condiments on display, which are also for sale. Most-loved is the salsa made with toasted peanuts, oil, garlic, and fresh chilies. Owned by Sabina and Luis Eduardo Oviedo, the spot is a mainstay on the Ensenada food scene, and not to be missed.

Named for its location on the map, this upscale restaurant at El Cielo Vineyards specializes in grilled cuts and Baja-Yucatán cuisine. Suggested El Cielo wines are listed next to each menu item to assure a perfect pairing with dishes baked in annatto, sour orange, and other unique indigenous spices. The pork belly tacos are particularly good, as is the cast-iron octopus bathed in chili oil. The main challenge is deciding between the guava cheesecake or the chocolate ganache pudding. If you come by for lunch, you’ll likely see a hot air balloon or helicopter landing on the lawn right in front of your table. This is one of the most prestigious forms of arrival for weekend wine tasters coming from San Diego.

With sprawling views of vineyards, this restaurant and open-air kitchen is shaded by a thatched palapa and surrounded by acres of farmland where chef Roberto Alcocer gathers ingredients. Beer, wine, vegetables, fruit, cheese, bread, meat, eggs, honey—nearly everything served is from the on-site farm, making this a true farm-to-table experience. Each plate is a work of art, including the fish tostada with salsa macha and the grilled oyster mushrooms. Fresh fish is adorned with edible flowers, like the catch of the day with black jícama dyed in squid ink. Ten-course tastings are available for $75, which is reasonable considering the quality of the food. The date tart with grappa ice cream is not overly sweet, allowing you to taste the flavors rather than just the sugar.

Two of the most exciting chef-owners in Baja Norte, Benito Molina and Solange Muris, have taken a truly modern approach to Mexican cuisine at Manzanilla, integrating the freshest catches from the local waters—oysters, mussels, abalone, and clams, for instance—and using ingredients like ginger, saffron, smoked tomato marmalade, and huitlacoche (corn truffle). The ahi with ginger strawberry vinaigrette melts in your mouth, and the white clam with Gorgonzola is delicious. A local ranch sources their beef, grilled and served on a cutting board with warm tortillas. Next to the port, this hip joint is popular for its pleasant atmosphere and eclectic style of concrete floors, pink chandeliers, and an intricately carved wooden bar from the 1930s brought over from Los Angeles.

For a garden escape along Highway 1, check out Ophelia, opened by Rosendo Ramos. It's a favorite among the Ensenada foodie crowd. Shiitake mushrooms, pork, and ginger glazes make somewhat unexpected but welcome appearances for this seaside town. At the root of all that's good about Ophelia is a blending of European, American, and Asian cuisines and a handful of dependable flavors and ingredients: fresh fish, tomatoes, chilies, and cilantro. Top sellers include the seared bluefin tuna, the fried wontons, and the grilled pork chops with a balsamic glaze. Daily specials usually come with regional vegetables and rosemary potatoes. A good stop on the way home after a long day touring Valle de Guadalupe's wineries, this spot highlights many of the region's wines.

In addition to the fresh Southern California cuisine, many come to this restaurant to connect with the charming owner Susanna who moved to Rosarito years ago to open a furniture shop. Her love for fine food prevailed, thus turning her store into a restaurant that makes people feel right at home. From the moment you try the fresh-baked bread with homemade butter and tapenade, you know you’re in for a memorable meal (don’t bother asking her for the secret recipe!). Everything here is made from scratch including salsas and vinaigrettes. Entrées are beautifully prepared, like the grilled salmon with strawberries and spinach or the pork chop covered in a mound of apple chipotle salsa. Susanna’s rich flan is made with Grand Marnier and three types of milk, a dessert perfect to share. Larger groups can request the private table in the wine cellar, ideal for private parties.