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Barbarosa
Nomad
Posts: 188
Registered: 1-12-2011
Location: Jackson, CA
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Mood: "On th' road again..."
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Barbarosa
Years ago she signed Jimmy Smith's book for me (after he had). He was the sixth entry in her Guest Book of 1953.
We didn't eat there this time but I did have one and all sign the book.
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Well, that certainly was muddled. (Too many books.)
I had one and all of *our* enterage sign *her* guest book.
Barbarosa
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cjesme
Nomad
Posts: 212
Registered: 3-11-2009
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I have pictures of her but can't seem to download them on here?????
I can't seem to figure out why! She looks great though.
Carlita and Esteban
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64608
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by goldhuntress
Maybe someone should do them the favor of telling them  That would give
them a chance to improve and be more successful. It is after all Mama Espinoza's place and she is so loved, it's a shame that the restaurant is no
longer held in high regard by so many. I think also nowadays people expect more than they did years ago, I do anyway. One reason is cost, it's not
cheap to eat there or many other places. When you can get an excellent taco at stand for so cheap it's hard to justify paying WAY
more for mediocrity. |
Where is ELINVESI8R (David) at ??? He is practically an adopted son of Mama (Anita)...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64608
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by cjesme
I have pictures of her but can't seem to download them on here?????
I can't seem to figure out why! She looks great though. |
Use photobucket.com, click 'customize your upload options' before loading photos from your PC to Photobucket, and pic a size no bigger than 800
pixels.
Below are three we took in July of 2009... Mama signing the book about her life SHE says IS the accurate one and gives her birth year as 1910!
Another book, an autobiography by Anita, gives the more recognized year as 1908, along with her siblings:
[Edited on 4-21-2011 by David K]
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
Registered: 11-20-2007
Location: Southern California
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One day in March 2011 during my regular two week visit, I was sitting talking to her when she told me "My son let me knit for you some pantuflas to
take home with you because they will be the last ones my dear." She then said "It's almost Goodbye Charlie." It took her almost one entire week to
finish them because she cannot see with one eye and has trouble seeing with the other. As you can imagine they were not as pretty as she once made
them. I will treasure them like gold. Please stop in and see her when you are in town. She loves talking to people. Tell her that her son David sends
his love.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64608
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Beautiful David, just beautiful!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64608
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaeng
dumb question: where is this place? I could have sworn I saw a sign with this same name near punta banda, but it sounds like this is further south
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EL ROSARIO... 200 miles south of Rosarito Beach, on Hwy. 1... Espinoza's place is just past the Pemex and Baja Cactus Motel, on the shrp left corner
the highway makes.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Seems to me that complaints about Mama Espinoza's boils up to the surface about every two years, or so, on this forum.
My own opinion is that:
The property is iconic. Dona Anita is something close to being a saint in Baja lore.
The food has never been anything to write home about.
Perhaps the most important point to make is that El Rosario represents the first real civilization after a long haul, for those headed North and the
last of same for Southbound travelers.
I find it somewhat ironic that Antonio provides one of the best flops along Mex 1, but that getting a meal in this town just doesn't seem to ever rise
above acceptible, at best.
Breakfast is not a difficult meal to prepare and serve, and should not reflect the achievement/ quality of any given restaurant, with the obvious
exception of the few that can knock your socks off with breakfast.
That said, knowing Antonio to be a very savvy businessman, even though DK mentioned that he had no plans for a restaurant, my take on it is that in
defference to Dona Anita, no such plans exist, prior to her passing.
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BajaBlanca
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Posts: 13174
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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and that seems like a good idea, if that is in fact the case ....
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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We never fail to stop, take a photo, have something to drink, sign the book again...first time was 1973, I believe....but most important..... wax
nostalgic. It's a icon of yesteryear on The Baja Road.
If you think this place is about the food...you've missed something legendary.
But..to each his own.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
Registered: 11-20-2007
Location: Southern California
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MAMA ESPINOZA'S LAST PANTUFLAS
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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All good things die eventually
I have heard about this place many times from the BN and friends that have visited there. I also have read about it too in the book "Baja Legends".
Many years have pass since the original founder was in the kitchen ........so to speak. Passing ownership or management to another person....whether
it's a family member or business partner or outsider........usually ruins the business with their alternatives on how to run the business.
Price of wholesale food will deem the death of a restaurant too ......sometimes. Instead of raising the price on the menu to retain their quality of
food.....they will buy cheap substitute that shows up fast on the out going platter to the tables.
I have witnessed this several times.....watching my own clubs go to Hell within months of selling them.
To show example here:
Back in the late 50's....Mum and dad would pile us kids up in the Ford Country station wagon......and head for Knott's Berry Farm. We would feast at
the restaurant after having to stand in a very long line....waiting to get in.
All home made stuff. No less. Holy Gods!
Years later....2001 or so.....I took my Nicky and Jeanette there for dinner. Boxed biscuits, chicken was gummy and chewy, potatoes were instant (?),
canned gravy....and the berry pie was real trash. This joint was so changed!
Yes.....even in Baja.....time ends all.
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64608
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Love the menu... as a kid, I too remember the long lines for a chicken dinner at Knott's!
Just what the Hell happened Deno?? When my parents were older (our current age), things were still great... or better than when they were young
(depression)...
Was America's greatness just a freak thing, or can we get it back? Some say we peaked with the moon landing in 1969? Things were prosperous here in
SoCal until 2007 or soon after.
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Love the menu... as a kid, I too remember the long lines for a chicken dinner at Knott's!
Just what the Hell happened Deno?? When my parents were older (our current age), things were still great... or better than when they were young
(depression)...
Was America's greatness just a freak thing, or can we get it back? Some say we peaked with the moon landing in 1969? Things were prosperous here in
SoCal until 2007 or soon after. |
I dunno David...it's sad that the way of life has change. I have tried to chase back to it......with only disappointing results. That's a major reason
why I am in Baja...it's close to what the 50's felt like.
Took my young Nicky to see my childhood home that was soooo cool. Dead end street with 19 homes on it. 17 of the homes had kids too. Wow...the summer
forts, the putting a paper bag over your head and ringing the door bells ....mumbling "boooo", the Good Humor Man truck.....and my favorite was the
Helm's bakery truck. All gone now...including my childhood home. Replaced with a freakin Miami Vice looking house!
David.....here's a very tough question for you (and anyone else here)(I know the answer):
What was the name of the guy (mannequin) inside of the jail house at Knott's Berry Farm? He would talk to you.....knew your name...your dog's
name.....what you had for lunch...so on!
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2348
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
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Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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I have the name!
Not that I would ever want to take advantage of a situation BUT how many Pacifico's is it worth for the answer?
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3882
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
Member Is Offline
Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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We stop for breakfast/lunch/dinner at Mama's every time we pass through town. Never had a bad meal and just being able to feel the history of the
place and say hi to Mama again makes it top shelf in my book.
Pomp said it best...
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BAJACAT
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2902
Registered: 11-21-2005
Location: NATIONAL CITY, CA
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I think eating here is a must, a tradition just like Carmelita the Tamales Lady..
When I go to Laguna Hanson, we always go and buy some beers with seņora Ramona on the entrance to the park.. even do I always have my cooler full of
beer, it's something that we always do.So eating in Mama Espinoza is a traddition to me, like Bajahowodd coment, the food it's not that special, it's
just that place is a BAJA icon just like MAMA is.... I will never stop eating there even if I get sick..(cross my fingers)...
BAJA IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE, FUN,DANGEROUS,INCREDIBLE, REMOTE, EXOTIC..JUST GO AND HAVE FUN.....
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Packoderm
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Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
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The bistek ranchera has always been good. I'll keep stopping there once for every round trip south and north.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Thanks For Getting It
| Quote: | Originally posted by BAJACAT
I think eating here is a must, a tradition just like Carmelita the Tamales Lady..
When I go to Laguna Hanson, we always go and buy some beers with seņora Ramona on the entrance to the park.. even do I always have my cooler full of
beer, it's something that we always do.So eating in Mama Espinoza is a traddition to me, like Bajahowodd coment, the food it's not that special, it's
just that place is a BAJA icon just like MAMA is.... I will never stop eating there even if I get sick..(cross my fingers)... |
You obviously were able to expand on what I was trying to say. Mama's is just one of a very few places where folks stop to absorb the history. If they
really like what they were served, so much the better.
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BajaBlanca
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Posts: 13174
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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precisely.
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