The story of Tijuana's beloved bar Dandy del Sur
Dandy del Sur, a timeless wonderland
Por: Genaro Valladolid 27 Abril 2012
By Brenda Colón/San Diego Red
The famous neon sign, a door the wonderland known as "Dandy del Sur.
"How would you like to go to a bar that has had virtually non-stop service for 20 years and still manage to have a mostly young and hip crowd? Would
you like to go to place where you can make new friends and run into old ones? How about a bar that caters to straight and gay, young and old, rich and
poor, hipsters and businessmen? A bar that has been a hangout for rock superstars, movie stars and Hollywood directors? Too good to be true? This bar
is real. Its name is Dandy Del Sur, and it is located in Tijuana's hip and burgeoning bar and nightclub district on Calle Sexta (6th Street) between
Revolución and Madero Avenues.
El Dandy, as locals call it, opened in 1957 and has been at its present location for over 20 years, according to its manager Laura García. A resilient
survivor, El Dandy has gone through a few incarnations.
At first it was an after-hours hangout for waiters and servers from the bars on Revolución Ave., which brought in thirsty teenagers from Southern
California from the 60s through 9/11.
When tourism dried up in Tijuana, local students, artists and musicians started holding impromptu meets at El Dandy, such as literary discussions,
concerts, and other cultural performances that soon started a buzz, kindled in part by Pedro Beas (AKA Hiperboreal) of Tijuana's Grammy-nominated
Nortec Collective. Now, El Dandy is in the epicenter of Tijuana's cultural revival and an explosion of bars and clubs on Calle Sexta, the new
nightlife district that Tijuanenses can truly call their own.
Fresh off a tour in central Mexico, Beas is happy to return to his former artistic hub at El Dandy and its shady cantina ambiance, yellowish and
neon-sign lighting, oddly modern jukebox and the waitresses' rough and tumble service. "
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
