Some find what they need in Mexicali
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2004/06/23/news/news02...
By AARON CLAVERIE, Staff Writer
June 23, 2004
MEXICALI ? For many people in the Imperial Valley, the city of Mexicali is more familiar than Brawley.
The people who know their way around Mexicali don't care about the lack of a bowling alley in the Valley. They visit the Bol Bol here.
Those people don't bemoan the lack of fine dining options in the Valley. They head to Las Villas and sing along with the strolling mariachi or visit
Mandolinos for some pasta (expensive) and Santo Tomas wine.
For those who know the area, Mexicali is a bustling city full of new restaurants, dance clubs and a few notorious streets with Tijuana-style fare.
It's home, their back yard.
But for everyone else, Mexicali is the unknown, a sprawling collection of stop signs (every two blocks?!) and potholed streets, a place where girls in
pink visors give you the hard sell as they push "chicle," bite-sized pieces of gum.
As an introduction to the city, the capital of Baja California, start with a small dose. Walk over the border.
Check out the pharmacies, the sports book Caliente and the taco stands. Walking over the border is perfect for getting a haircut or a shoe shine and
putting 10 bucks on the Padres. The tacos are generally a dollar and washing 'em down with a Coke Lite is a cheap lunch.
Because of Mexicali's tremendous growth over the past couple decades, the downtown area isn't really good for spending more than a couple hours. And
it's definitely not designed for walking.
The few places that are open for business are next to mysteriously closed storefronts. What's going on behind the closed doors? Probably better not to
know.
If you want to go to the girlie bars or the other sundry areas, get a taxi and the driver will probably know where you want to go without you saying
anything.
Walk back. You're allowed two bottles of liquor and two cartons of cigarettes.
Next time you go, drive into Mexicali.
Get past the checkpoint and there are two basic choices: east or southeast. (There are really three choices if you hang a quick right and head to the
highway, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll say there are two.)
The road east, Francisco Madero, runs parallel to the one-way street that serves as the feeding tube for the Calexico port of entry. There are a few
restaurants on this road, a nice German-themed place called Heidelberg and offices for businesses such as La Cronica and La Voz, the city's largest
newspapers.
There are also a couple of dentists, a car wash and there's a guy who sells brooms on the street.
This road leads to the east port of entry and a main southbound artery called Justo Sierra. (We'll get to that street later. It's a good one.)
The southeast road, Lopez Mateos, runs toward the mall, the fairgrounds and a pocket of commercial property that houses the bowling alley and a comic
book store. The road follows the path of the railroad tracks and it's the main bus thoroughfare, so expect a fierce battle for space if you're
traveling in the right lane.
The first main street that crosses Lopez Mateos is called Calzada Independencia. This street serves the government buildings to the right. You can
access Justo Sierra by taking Independencia east but it's a winding path.
The next cross street is the big one, Lazaro Card##as Boulevard.
If you make it here, you're at the center of the city. From here you can go to Tijuana by heading west, San Felipe by heading south and San Luis by
heading east.
Justo Sierra runs into this Card##as/Mateos intersection as well, forming a triangle, with the border as the base.
Inside this triangle, or near the intersection, are most of the major eateries. (Although, sadly, the TGI Friday's just closed. The new Applebee's
took all its customers.)
Check out the map on www.mexicalitravel.com for the visuals and a full listing (including addresses) of the main hot spots.
The triangle restaurants are generally good at a couple of things.
At Las Pampas, a Brazilian-themed place on Justo Sierra, the meat, slow-roasted and cut off a skewer at your table, was great, while the salad bar was
not.
Las Villas, also on Justo Sierra, has great atmosphere and excellent service but surprisingly average food. The food on the Mexican side of the
restaurant wasn't very good Mexican food and the Italian food on the Italian side of the restaurant was basic fare.
Sakura Restaurant, a Benihana-esque establishment on Lazaro Card##as (a right hand turn off of Lopez Mateos), offers stir fry at bar seating around a
skillet and a sushi bar. Our advice: don't expect to see a waiter when a party of 20 takes a seat to your right.
The sushi isn't bad.
Some of the restaurants that have received rave reviews from colleagues include Laguna Azul, a seafood place on Independencia, and Restaurant Dragon,
a Chinese restaurant on Justo Sierra.
Mezzosole, the Hotel Lucerna's lobby restaurant, offers seating with a view of the pool (a nice touch) and thick padded booths. The duck was
interesting. The little bar looks like the kind of place a businessman might drink off a deal with more than a few gin and tonics.
Some of the most non-grinding clubs/bars near the triangle are Cucapa, which is a brewery on Justo Sierra, and Mocajetes, a bullfighting-themed bar on
an offshoot of Justo Sierra called Francisco Montejano.
Mocajetes is packed wall to wall when there is live music, so watch for that. Cucapa's house beers are simple, a couple notches above U.S. domestic
brews but notches below most U.S. microbrews.
For the sports fans, Mexicali offers pro wrestling, off-road racing, boxing, minor league baseball and bullfighting. Check out Adelante Valle, a
Spanish-language Valley newspaper, for upcoming events.
Some of the best food in the city can be found at the ballpark.
For more information on the city, log onto the sites, www.mexicaliturismo.com, www.mexicalitravel.com and www.discoverbajacalifornia.com.
After talking with some Mexicali friends, however, the best places, the places they recommend, weren't found on the sites. That means adventure,
driving across the border and trying to find new spots.
We wish you luck.
We'll be the white people making an illegal U-turn.
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