The dense cluster of Chinese restaurants around Avenida Juarez in Mexicali's Chinesca, where recipes brought by Cantonese canal workers were adapted to northern Mexican beef and chillies.
La Chinesca is the Chinatown of Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, occupying the blocks around Avenida Juarez and Altamirano immediately south of the border fence, and it is the densest concentration of Chinese restaurants in Mexico. The district was formed in the early twentieth century by Cantonese labourers recruited to dig the irrigation canals that turned the Mexicali valley into farmland; barred from much other work and settled around the Colorado River Land Company holdings, the community built shops, associations, tunnels beneath the streets to escape the desert heat, and a great many kitchens. What emerged over a century is not Cantonese cooking transplanted but a distinct regional cuisine. The northern Mexican cattle industry pushed beef to the centre of the plate, local chillies sharpened the sauces, wheat flour tortillas appeared beside rice, and portions grew to Mexican scale. Beef with broccoli in the Mexicali manner, fried rice cooked with machaca, steamed whole fish, wonton soup and enormous combination plates are the dishes that recur from one restaurant to the next. Most establishments are family-run, several have operated under the same names for generations, and the format is broadly the same: a large bright dining room, round tables with lazy susans, laminated menus in Spanish and Chinese, and a bill that rarely exceeds 150 to 350 pesos per dish. The area itself is worn and commercial rather than picturesque, with faded signage, cheap clothing stores and the remains of the association buildings, but it repays walking, and guided tours of the surviving basement tunnels can be arranged locally. Most restaurants open daily from around midday to 10PM and reservations are rarely necessary outside large groups and Sunday lunch. Cash is useful in the smaller kitchens. Mexicali summers regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius, which makes the cool of an air-conditioned dining room part of the appeal and October to April by far the better season to explore the district on foot.
Signature dishes
- Beef with broccoli, Mexicali style
- Fried rice with machaca
- Steamed fish
Good to know
- Known for
- Century-old family kitchens in the Chinatown blocks
- Hours
- Most restaurants daily 12PM-10PM
- Reservations
- Not usually needed
Location
Av. Juarez at Altamirano, Zona Centro, 21100 Mexicali, B.C.
32.6645, -115.4720 View on map
Highlights
- Walk the densest concentration of Chinese restaurants in Mexico, south of the border fence
- Taste a distinct Cantonese-Mexican cuisine built on northern beef and local chillies
- Eat fried rice with machaca and Mexicali-style beef with broccoli at family-run kitchens
- Explore the surviving basement tunnels dug to escape the desert heat, via a local tour
- Pay modest prices, with most dishes between 150 and 350 pesos
Tips for visiting
- Visit between October and April; summer afternoons here routinely pass 40 degrees Celsius
- Carry pesos in cash, as the smallest family kitchens do not always take cards
- Sunday lunch is when local families fill the dining rooms and the district is at its liveliest
- Order several dishes to the centre of the table rather than one plate per person
- The district is worn and commercial; visit in daylight and keep valuables out of sight
- Reservations are unnecessary except for large groups or weekend lunch
When to visit
October to April, when Mexicali is comfortable enough to walk between restaurants. Sunday lunch shows the district at its busiest and most local.
Accessibility
Most restaurants have street-level entrances, though pavements in the district are uneven with high kerbs and few dropped crossings, which makes independent wheelchair movement between venues difficult. Dining rooms are generally flat and wide. The historic tunnels involve stairs and are not accessible.
Frequently asked questions
What is La Chinesca?
The Chinatown of Mexicali, centred on Avenida Juarez in the city's Zona Centro. It was settled in the early twentieth century by Cantonese labourers brought to dig the valley's irrigation canals.
What makes the food different from Chinese food elsewhere?
A century of adaptation to northern Mexican ingredients. Beef dominates, local chillies appear in the sauces, machaca turns up in fried rice, and portions follow Mexican rather than Cantonese scale.
Can the tunnels be visited?
Parts of the historic basement tunnel network survive beneath the district and local operators run guided visits. Access is not open to the public independently and should be arranged in advance.
Is the district safe to walk?
It is an ordinary working commercial quarter, busiest and most comfortable in daylight. Normal city precautions apply, and most visitors combine a walk with lunch at one of the restaurants.