3 Best Restaurants in Ensenada, Los Cabos and the Baja Peninsula

This marina-front restaurant is a hole in the wall that will blow your mind, starting with the six-course menu. The small patio gives a front-row seat to the boardwalk action where locals stroll, sailboats bob, and seagulls squawk at the day’s catch. Reservations are highly recommended, especially since there are just four tables inside. Octopus sashimi, yellowtail tuna, and “Marisquite” (a spin on shrimp cocktail with buttery corn broth) are all as fresh as it gets. The guava mousse looks like whipped cream but tastes like heaven. Note that this cozy eatery on the boardwalk closes at 6:30 pm.

A trendy offspring of neighboring Sano’s Steakhouse, “Smoke and Salt” focuses on local seafood with a twist; guests of the casual hot spot can also order from the more formal steak house next door. The bar shakes up tequila and mezcal from small-batch labels and all their wines come from Mexico. The oysters with beet and ginger mignonette whet your appetite for tuna carpaccio bathed in oil and lime or agua-chili shrimp on crispy blue-corn tostadas. Salsas and garnishes, such as the watermelon radishes and lemon-serrano vinaigrette, are punchy and fresh atop tuna belly tacos.

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, tuna, cod, 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.