Taste of Tijuana Market & Street Food Culinary Tour - Public Tour

Taste of Tijuana Market & Street Food Culinary Tour - Public Tour

Anthony Bourdain put Tijuana's street food scene on the culinary map, and this tour visits some of his favorite TJ bites. An abbreviated version of our world famous Tijuana Bites Tour, this shorter market and tasting tour is the best gastronomic introduction to Tijuana's famous culinary scene available for those on a tighter timetable and budget. And while this tour is timed perfectly for cruise ship passengers visiting the Port of San Diego, those with a little more time can opt to leisurely extend their experience on the last stop, soaking in more of Tijuana's uber-hip gastro park before hailing an easy Uber ride back to the border (if you don't have that kind of time, don't worry, your ride back to the border at 2:30pm is included). When it comes to laying claim to the best street tacos in Mexico, there's a heated rivalry between Mexico City and Tijuana... On this curated tasting tour, we'll make our case for why Tijuana wins that epicurean battle, hands down!

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: U.S. Customs and Border Protection – San Ysidro Port of Entry (PedWest), 499 Virginia Ave, San Diego, CA 92173, USA

Meet your bilingual culinary guide and driver at the designated meeting point on the U.S. side of the US-Mexico border in San Ysidro, California (the San Diego to Tijuana border crossing). Your guide will walk the group across the border, through Mexican Immigration and Customs, to our tour vehicle awaiting on the Mexico side. It's an easy drive to the meeting point, or take public transportation (San Diego Trolley), taxi, or Uber. After crossing the border, we'll drive about 15-minutes to our first stop.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Mercado Hildago, Blvd Taboada & Av Independencia, Tijuana Mexico

We'll lead you on a curated walking tour of Tijuana’s famed produce market, stopping in at various vendor stands to learn about the history and culture of Mexican cuisine by examining its wide range of unique and tasty ingredients. You'll make various stops to eat street-style birria tacos, the freshest tamales you've ever had, Sonoran-style carne asada tacos, carnitas tortas, fresh-cut fruit sprinkled with lime and dusted in chili powder, and drink an agua fresca or licuado, as we taste our way through this colorful market and its adjacent taco stands, some of the most famous in Mexico.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Las Ahumaderas, Avenida Guillermo Prieto 9770, America, 22044 Tijuana, B.C., Mexico

Visit "taco alley," a favorite amongst locals where a row of neatly organized food stands offer up some of the best street-style tacos in Tijuana. You'll eat a freshly prepared "al pastor" taco, where the marinated pork is carved right from the hot spit into your hand-made tortilla that's still warm from the griddle (quesadillas are available for those who don't eat pork).

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Telefonica Gastro Park, Blvd. Agua Caliente 8924, Zonaeste, 22000 Tijuana, B.C., Mexico

Explore this eclectic collective of highly-stylized food trucks surrounding a Mexican microbrewery where you'll drink a Mexican craft beer on us (or a glass of Valle de Guadalupe wine for non-beer-drinkers); food at this stop is up to you and not included because most people are already stuffed by the time we arrive! But feel free to find a little more room in your belly for some of Tijuana's hottest young chefs, because they will certainly tease you and your taste buds with their innovative takes on Baja California's farm-to-fork modern-Mexican cuisine (this is our last stop, however, if you're having too much fun to end the day now, you may elect to stay a little longer and Uber or taxi back to border on your own - about 15-minutes by car).

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: PedWest Garita Tijuana, Zona Río, 22010 Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Tummy full, and pleasantly buzzed, sit back and enjoy the colorful drive back to the U.S. border inspection station in Tijuana, Mexico (your guide will drop you off at the entry gate to the pedestrian border crossing where you will cross back to the U.S. on your own via foot) – END OF TOUR. After clearing U.S. immigration and customs, hail Uber or taxi, take Trolley, or walk back to your car parked in San Ysidro, CA (actual arrival time in San Ysidro is highly dependent on actual border wait time, which varies - BTK has no ability to affect actual border wait time, but participants with a valid U.S. Passport usually cross in about 10-15 minutes).

Duration: 30 minutes