This restaurant was mentioned in another thread about hotels, but a Nomad- search didn't bring up any reviews or other info about the place.
Is the eatery worth the drive down the dirt road? I love Misi?n Santa Isabel, but it would be nice to try something different for dinner when passing
through SQ.Bajagato - 2-23-2006 at 03:34 PM
I do not think I have ever eaten dinner there, but their breakfast was nothing to write home about , if I remember correctly. But we did stay there
and it is clean and reseasonable.
There is another restaurant on the way out to Don Eddies, I THINK it might be called Jardines? Help? Anyone? I can not remember if that is the name or
not. We actually witnessed a local wedding reception going on there while we ate and the food was excellent there.
Cielito Lindo is worth the drive for the crab dinner!!!bajabound2005 - 2-23-2006 at 03:41 PM
Yes, El Jardines is on the Old Mill Road. Here is a positive review from the LA TIMES http://www.latimes.com/travel/destinations/mexico/la-tr-esca... and yes this is on the way to Don Eddies. There is also a restaurant at Cielito
Lindo RV Park & Camp (near the La Pinta Hotel) and there is the Old Mill itself (great setting!!!). Also, there is a quaint motel at the Old Mill
(included in the same review noted above.Roberto - 2-23-2006 at 04:53 PM
I think so, especially for dinner. Beautiful location in an upstairs restaurant, so go before sunset and watch the water in the bay below you.Pompano - 2-23-2006 at 05:03 PM
We have stayed at all the motels in that area and eaten at all places also. We have had some time to do so.
El Jardines has always been our favorite eatery, with the steaks, quail, seafood, huge plates of crab, etc. A quiet, pleasant country setting.
Cielito Lindo is a nice motel with great all-you-can-eat paprika crab also. The one bad thing about Cielito Lindo's rooms was the sulfur-smell
(rotten egg) of the water. Used to feed that pot-bellied pig in the cafe a lot of chips!
Don Eddies had fine food the last time we stayed there..maybe 2 years ago. I had my huevo rancheros or chiliquilles for breakfast and some shrimp
for dinner. Also Don Eddies offers great security for trailered boats and vehicles. Again, one bad thing was the room layout..we had to climb over
the bed to get to the bathroom, so we kind of 'rearranged' the furniture for them. It was fun and a real 'Baja thing'. The weird glowing heat lamps
there will roast you alive if you leave them on all night!
The Old Mill is another favorite and we thoroughly enjoyed the rooms and the great rib dinner in the harborside restaurant.
You really need to try them all sooner or later. It is an experience.
[Edited on 2-24-2006 by Pompano]
Stone Crab Claws
bajajudy - 2-23-2006 at 06:02 PM
Being an old Joe's Stone Crabs regular in Miami, I have to say that the crab claws at Cielito Lindo were horrible. Frozen and encrusted in some
kind of red gritty stuff. Stone crab claw meat should be almost fluffy and they dont need all that crap on them, because they are so sweet if fresh.
The Old Mill restaurant
bajajudy - 2-23-2006 at 06:10 PM
I have a funny story to tell on myself about the Old Mill. The first time we went there, we were waiting and waiting for someone to come to take our
drink order. Finally, I got up and went to the bar to get our beers. It was then that I noticed that the bar stools were the kind that are carved
out of huge trees into the shape of a butt. Well, being an old bar fly from way back and knowing how bars put plaques, etc on the regulars' stools.
I went back to the table and told my husband......Honey, these people really take good care of their regulars.....they have carved bar stools to fit
each of their butts.
The food was excellent.Pompano - 2-23-2006 at 08:20 PM
Sorry about your particular meal of crab, judy, but ours have always been great at most of the restaurants in that area of San Quentin, particularily
El Jardines. You can (and should) order them without the paprika. I used to eat tons of stone crabs downeast myself, plus mucho langosta in Maine.
El Jardines ... I once met the owner of the huge Los Pinos tomato ranch who was dining and drinking with some compadres at El Jardines one night. I
inquired as to the amount of crop harvested and he told me he ships 80,000 bushels of tomatoes daily to the USA at peak time. Now THAT'S a lot of
salsa!oladulce - 2-24-2006 at 03:27 AM
Muchas gr?cias.
Los Jardines will be at the top of the list, with maybe a sunset beverage or breakfast at Don Eddie's for the view.
I've been adding posts with restaurant suggestions to my Nomad "favorites" and have accumulated a good list of places to try. I should come up with a
way to organize them (maybe by location or town) so I'll remember when we're tired and delirious from driving. Aaha- there's a project for Mr.
oladulce. The poor guy was injured at work and had surgery last week. He's halfway through 6 weeks of complete immobilization of his left shoulder/arm
and could use the distraction.
And thanks for the tip. I'll have them "hold" any attempt to put paprika on crab and will give it another try.bajabound2005 - 2-24-2006 at 07:33 AM
That LA Times link makes you register and log in so I'm copying the article directly:
WEEKEND ESCAPE
In Baja, lazing away by San Quint?n Bay
About 200 miles south of Tijuana lies a low-key, low-cost fishing village perfect for siestas by the sand.
By Laura Randall, Special to The Times
June 1 2003
San Quint?n, Mexico -- The burnt-orange remnants of daylight brushed across the darkening sky as we unloaded our bags at the Old Mill Hotel and tried
to recover from a teeth-rattling three-mile drive off Baja's trans- peninsular highway.
Before we had finished unpacking, the hotel's white-bearded proprietor, Jim Harer, shouted across the courtyard.
"Stop by for a beer whenever you feel like it," he said. "It's free."
The offer was an appropriate kickoff to our long weekend in the Baja fishing village of San Quint?n: friendly, laid-back and easy on the wallet.
Our destination, about 200 miles south of Tijuana, seemed a little far for a weekend getaway, but my husband, John, and I were curious about life
beyond chaotic Ensenada. So one Friday last month, we counted the winding drive down the coast and through inland valleys as part of the itinerary.
With the mandatory Mexican car insurance already purchased from an auto-club office near home, we zipped south from L.A., through San Diego and into
Mexico for a leisurely lunch of fish tacos and black bean soup at La Fonda hotel's El Royal Restaurant near Puerto Nuevo. An hour later in Santo
Tom?s, we stopped for fuel and lingered in the quirky souvenir shop of El Palomar, a restaurant, motel and RV park.
By the time we pulled into San Quint?n (pronounced kin-TEEN) at dusk, we were ready for that beer.
The town, home to 25,000, sits in the middle of a fertile farm region and near a harbor that is a popular base for sportfishing and kayaking. U.S. and
British investors tried to develop a wheat farming and flour processing industry here in the late 1800s, but drought drove them away. Mexican farmers
had better luck in the 20th century, as evidenced today by the fields of tomatoes, strawberries and olive trees lining two-lane Highway 1 as it
approaches town.
On our way to the easy-to-miss turnoff for the Old Mill Hotel, we also passed rows of edible cactus, painted shacks selling cocteles de mariscos
(seafood c-cktail) and wagons brimming with mangoes, watermelons and oranges selling for a fraction of their price back home.
The Old Mill was worth the dusty drive. Most of the 34 rooms ring a courtyard overlooking the inner leg of U-shaped San Quint?n Bay. The place was
full of nice touches that we didn't expect with our $40-a-night rate. Lounge chairs, grills and original gristmill machinery are scattered around the
property, and brick fireplaces and tile floors lend a homey feel to many of the rooms, mismatched d?cor notwithstanding. (Suites as well as dorm-style
rooms sleeping up to six people are available for $54 to $90 a night.) Our favorite discovery was a 10-gallon water cooler in our bathroom, although
it later proved more necessity than luxury.
Beautiful surf, light lunch
Saturday morning we woke late and wandered next door to the Cannery, a sardine packing plant that has been transformed into a full-service restaurant,
bar and dance hall. After a filling but unremarkable breakfast of huevos rancheros and hash browns, we pointed the car toward mountainous peaks
framing the spit of land across the inner bay.
The drive led past dormant volcanoes and small quarries to a hilltop view of the deserted shore. Happy we had four-wheel drive and a detailed map
(available at the tourist information office in town), John bounced the car down another rocky path to the beach at La Chorera. It was too cold to
hang out, but the sight of long, unbroken lines of surf was breathtaking.
Back in San Quint?n, an outdoor market offered mangoes, avocados and a bunch of petite bananas. Our total: $1.25. We had withdrawn pesos from an ATM
in Ensenada but found that most places accepted U.S. currency too.
Ready for a light lunch, we drove south on Highway 1 about five miles to Cielito Lindo, another restaurant-motel-RV park, this one near the water. Six
dollars bought a plate of tacos, burritos and tostadas for two. The salsa was robust and spicy, the chips fresh from the fryer and the corn tortillas
as light as air.
A typewritten sign tacked onto the restaurant's purple wall chronicled its origins. It said Mark Armistead, a Hollywood producer, had built the
complex in the early 1960s, fashioning it after a popular, since-closed Costa Mesa watering hole, El Pescador. John Wayne, Ward Bond and Henry Fonda
spent lazy days at Cielito Lindo, according to the writing on the wall. Armistead sold the place in the 1970s after the highway to Cabo San Lucas
opened, making the San Quint?n area "too accessible."
The rest of Saturday afternoon was consumed with the weekend's marquee activity: doing nothing. John napped in the room while I took Harer up on his
earlier beer offer. He told me he and his wife, Nancy, retired to San Quint?n from Seattle nine years ago and have been running the Old Mill ever
since.
It was Mother's Day in Mexico, and our host had warned us that most of San Quint?n's restaurants would be overflowing. Still, we decided to try
Jardines Baja, a restaurant recommended by the Harers that required another dusty three-mile drive.
We were glad we went, although a special holiday menu and a harried wait staff probably took away from the usual ambience. Instead of waiting for a
table, we ate at the bar. It was a comfortable place to sip margaritas and listen to live guitar while we waited to order. All weekend we avoided tap
water, salad and other common sources of stomach ailments for visitors to Mexico, and we had no problems. Our meals at Jardines Baja ? sea bass in a
flavorful mushroom sauce and grilled shrimp stuffed with crabmeat ? were good enough that neither of us cared that the restaurant ran out of dessert.
Diners had a similar que ser?, ser? reaction when the lights later dimmed, then blacked out. The staff filled the room with candlelight, and the
celebratory meals went on with gusto.
The next morning we learned that the blackout, the result of a transformer blowout, had extended across San Quint?n and still hadn't been fixed,
rendering the hotel's water pump powerless and our bathroom's water cooler priceless.
We happily continued our do-nothing crusade until midday on chairs by the bay. As we read, a few boats and kayakers drifted in and out of the harbor,
and kids prowled for crabs nearby.
After power was restored to the water pump, allowing for hot showers, we returned to the grounds of Cielito Lindo, parked the car and scaled a few
sand dunes to reach nature's version of a treadmill: Santa Mar?a Beach. The wide, flat beach extended for miles on either side of us, tidy except for
a few tire tracks. The only other signs of civilization were a jogger and the low-rise, pink-and-yellow La Pinta Hotel in the distance.
Back at Cielito Lindo, our early dinner consisted of happy-hour margaritas and jaiba, cracked crab seasoned liberally with Mexico's version of Old Bay
Seasoning.
Monday morning dawned, and with it came our drive home. This time we took Mexico's Highway 3 north past boulder-strewn hillsides and crossed the
border easily at Tecate. Lucky for us, Armistead was right: San Quint?n has indeed become accessible.
Laura Randall is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.David K - 2-24-2006 at 09:42 AM
Does anyone remember the family who ate at Jardines and there was a caterpillar in the veggies on their child's plate? The kid couldn't eat his/her
meal and the waitress/owner (?) wouldn't subtract the cost of that meal from the bill. (I guess a caterpillar proves they use only organically grown
veggies) That experience left a 'bad taste' in their mouth!
Well, thank goodness for Dave and Juanita (of Rancho Cielito Lindo) for going into P.R. action, and the matter was resolved via a free meal for the
family at a future trip and apologies for being insensitive at the original meal.
Unwashed produce happens on this side too... My favorite U.S. restaurant once served a veggie omelette where the mushrooms still had dirt on them...BajaDanD - 2-24-2006 at 05:29 PM
I thought the Old Mill used to be a Griss mill not a canery did I read something wrongbajabound2005 - 2-24-2006 at 05:52 PM
Nope, they used to can sardines there!
Who's heard the story of how Cielito Lindo was sold by Armistead...another Baja story in itself...I'll let another relate the details...how about it, Juanita.
Mexray - 2-24-2006 at 08:02 PM
Quote:
John Wayne, Ward Bond and Henry Fonda spent lazy days at Cielito Lindo, according to the writing on the wall. Armistead sold the place in the
1970s after the highway to Cabo San Lucas opened, making the San Quint?n area "too accessible."
Old Mill
BajaDanD - 2-25-2006 at 01:10 PM
This is from the Old Mill web site:::
Welcome to the Old Mill Hotel, located in beautiful San Quintin, Baja California,about 200 miles south of the international border at the headwaters
of San Quintin Bay. The Old Mill is named for the wheat mill established by the English colonists around the turn of the 19th century. Many pieces of
the original machinery still remain on the premises. A long drought forced the English to abandon the mill. Then in the late 1940?s, the Mexican
Government established a cannery at the location where tuna, sardines, and mackerel were canned until the early 1970?s. Al Vela, the cannery manager
at the time, along with his wife, Dorothy, started a modest hotel that catered to fishermen and hunters and from there the Old Mill evolved into what
it is today.
seems to me it was a griss mill long before it was a cannery The resturant is made from parts of the mill itself and the gears are still sitting where
they were originaly. The little jetty thaty runs from the other side of the bay is part of it too. They used the tide flowing through a small
opening maybe 50 yards across to turn the mill.Bob H - 2-25-2006 at 02:29 PM
Here's a nice article conerning the history of San Quintin and it mentions the Old Mill Cannery.
I know it was a cannery at one time but it was first a wheat Mill and thats where it got its name
there is nothing there now remotely resembling a cannery to write an article about Baja and talk about The Old Mill and how nice it is there and
then call it a cannery and not mention its History as to how it got its name struck me as kind of dumb, thats all.David K - 2-27-2006 at 02:05 PM
We had a great dinner and lunch at Jardines... Photos and seperate review will be posted on the Review forum...marla - 2-27-2006 at 03:05 PM
Regarding El Jardines. I have been there several times. The owner, I believe his name is Guillermo, was very kind to my children. He did a bunch of
magic tricks for them and showed them his pet peac-ck. He also showed all of us all over his gardens which he has grown for many years. I recently
heard he is selling the restaurant. However, I felt the food was a bit overrated and the atmosphere inside ther estaurant was not that much to write
home about. Some mariachis came in and were so loud reverberating off the walls we almost had brain damage. Other than the owner, the service was not
that great. To me, the rustic restaurant next door to the Old Mill is nicer and the food was better too though the service is often slow there. I also
remember eating at Don Eddies, it was okay but I can't even remember anything about it so it must not have been that memorable.Pompano - 2-27-2006 at 06:40 PM
Felipa and I will be staying at the Old Mill tomorrow night and eating next door. I will 'try' to take a couple photos and post a review in a few
days. I hope they have some of those great ribs on the menu!
Old Mill
BajaDanD - 2-28-2006 at 12:28 AM
I remember the first time my wife and I ate at the resturant at the Old Mill. a cat walked in and begged food from us while we ate. We've fed that
cat many time sence
A few years ago It closed down for awhile and was fixed up and reopened.
Last week we were in BOLA eating and a Rottweiler was in the resturant begging
Gotta Love it.
Any where else and people would be "freeking out"!!!!. Either that or the dog/cat would a munu item.bajajudy - 2-28-2006 at 07:06 AM
Pomp
Please take a shot of the bar stools if they are still there...butt stoolsPompano - 2-28-2006 at 07:18 AM
That experience left a 'bad taste' in their mouth!