Author: Matingas

Matthew Suarez, a.k.a. Matingas, is a writer, musician and photographer who worked in Los Angeles as paparazzo for Bauer-Griffin and National Photo Group (2007-2011). His celebrity pictures printed in newspapers and magazines all over the world. As a writer, Matthew contributes to the San Diego Reader with stories about Tijuana, the border, Baja and music reviews. He is in charge of two blogs: My Life and the Adventure Blog in TJ. He has also written for different sources and now contributes writing in Spanish to b1mas4.com. As a musician, he holds a BA degree in classical guitar under the tutelage of O. Nicholas Ratts from Saint John’s University. He has performed in weddings, upscale dining restaurants and more. He’s available for hiring. He is also part of several music projects, including his own band Donkey Chow and a sub guitarist/bassist for San Diego’s oldest big band, RockinJazzBigBand. Matingas is the creator of Tijuana Adventure, nighttime tours of TJ. He also gives private guitar lessons and gives photojournalism courses, re-telling his experiences in Los Angeles.

Tap Tuesday and Thursday Adventure – Beer Fests Are Not For Me – Tons of Pics!

Posted on May 27, 2016May 27, 2016 by Matingas in Beer, Matingas, Tijuana Adventure Blog

Tap Tuesday was fantastic.

It easily is my favorite day of the week. And yes, I am obsessed with taking pictures of food, beer, and my adventures.

Major praises go to Peninsula’s sour beer (inside Fauna) and Border Psycho’s smoked wheat.

THEY ARE AMAZING. We need more sours in this town

The sour is a standard sour, a bit flat, but flavorful. Praises to Peninsula for having the balls on creating a sour. Keep them coming. I’ll keep drinking them.

Smoked wheat (aka Grodziskie or Polish Champagne) is a really old and unique style of beer that was very well done by Border Psycho. Roberto Albarran says they smoked their own wheat, and also that some people have been hating it, others loving it. HIGH PRAISES from me. This beer tastes not like any other I’ve had in my life. No wonder they call it Polish Champagne, it’s super light, sparkly and tastes like… SMOKED MEAT.

I got me that double IPA perversa. The other two are smoked wheat… AND HOLY FUCK are they insanely good

This is your lunch beer, you can have this with a nice salad or something light like that. Vegans that miss the flavor of meat should drink this beer. In fact, if you are a vegan and you are reading this and want some meat tasting beer that has no animal product, GO DRINK THIS. Seriously. It’s fantastic. Alas, is not for everyone. My friend Willy got disgusted by it.

Full album for Tap Tuesday here:

May 24 Tap Tuesday Fun – Craft Beer Tijuana

Also!

Thursday!

I organized a redditor meeting, it didn’t go as well as I wished. I admit it, it was my own fuck up by confusing people on /r/Tijuana. Oh well. A few people showed up, and they encouraged me to keep doing. Next redditor meeting is June 30th.

The meeting was over at Border Psycho, so I ate there. Just looking at the pictures I made myself hungry again. Their chorizo Argentino with Chimichurri in a panini is just exalting. I mean.. They mixed my favorite things in one plate. 1 I love hot dogs. 2 I love chimichurri. 3 I love beer.

The hot dog is so fucking tasty. And surprise surprise, they can actually prepare good potatoes that go great with the oily chimichurri and the dijon mustard on the side. I ate like a savage man and it was goddamn glorious.

mmm this chimichurri hot dog was great

Insurgente had a keep a glass night, the first one of its kind in Tijuana (that I know of). Great success by them. I was #12 in line at 7:45, got there just in time. Minutes later, the line was long as fuck, as if they were giving away free beer. Went back to Border Psycho to avoid the crowd, check the redding meetup and drink a Sospesso IPA and their Simcoe De Mayo.

Score!

FINALLY! Simcoe de Mayo and my glass

Chad was over at Fauna with our favorite southerner, Martin – (besides the voodoo man himself). Myself and the few redditors that showed up went over there. Fauna was packed.

We got a corner for ourselves when this ball of floof appeared to order a beer at the bar.

“Thanks!”

I couldn’t help myself and took tons of pictures and for some reason, this morning I gave floof a hipster as fuck personality when posting the pictures.

Full album of Thursday:

Beer Adventures – Floof gets a beer

NOW BEER FEST

Yep. I am probably not going. Two very good reasons:

1. It’s the weekend and there’s too many people in this sort of stuff.

2. I AM BROKE AS FUCK.

I’m still waiting to get confirmed for a new job, but besides that, no money. And I have obviously been spending way too much on beer and food.

If I go to the beer fest, it would be on Saturday, too tired today and… Someone needs to give me a free ticket. And brewers have to give me free beer in exchange of pictures. Because I have 190 pesos left in my wallet and I don’t get paid until Sunday (and it’s not very much 😦 )

Also, we already have a daily beer fest, it’s Plaza Fiesta and it’s great on Tuesdays!

I know… I know… there’s advantages to the beer fest.

1. It’s a fest, so there’s live music.

2. You get nice little memories and shingadilings.

3. Lots of people if you are into seeing lots of people.

4. All the brewers are there showcasing new brews.

There’s probably many other good reasons to go to the beer fest, but not when broke and tired. Also, several other events happening in Tijuana that are cheaper. So I might go to Comuna because they have a promising show and drink Baja Brew Labs because Pinche Paco in Comuna keeps just brewing Blonde Ales and BBL has young creative minds I like to support. Also! The Jazz and Blues fest on Sunday should be great!

Ok. I’m done for the day. Tune in next time when I’ll explain why I hate Tropic’s so much (… maybe). Also… other writers keep saying “soon, soon soon! SOON! SOON!” So maybe we’ll have other content that is not just mine.

—Matingas

Beers, Tours, and More Beers – Mamut Redemption

Posted on May 24, 2016May 24, 2016 by Matingas in Beer, Matingas, Tijuana Adventure Blog

I am typing this at Fauna in Plaza Fiesta waiting for an anniversary burger, drinking a Lycan Lupus. There is a lot in my mind. It is all work related.

My birthday was chill. I am now 30. My brother and his wife gave me a beer guide of Mexican craft beer. There is a lot to read and learn. I also got tons of fancy spices from my cousin in Seattle who works at World Spice. More to try. Excited to try all.

Like every week, I drank a lot of beer. The surprise of the week happened on Sunday.

I had a mini Tj Adventure with friend/co-worker Andy. He came down with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s boss and husband. We started at Cevicheria Nais, then Nelson and finally Plaza Fiesta. We drank IPAs at Paralelo 28 and then Andy wanted pizza from Mamut.

I wasn’t excited about Mamut and suggested against it, but we ended up there. Surprise surprise! Mamut was pretty damn good.

I got an American pale ale, it was decent. Definitely better than many Mamuts I’ve been having. I also tried their hoppy wheat. It had more of an IPA taste than a wheat. Also surprisingly good.

Pizzas were also way better. We got the Oaxaqueña and the Tijuaneada.

(Pic by Andy Boyd)

Oh shit! My burger arrived. Time to take pics.

(cellphone potato pic)
Burger was a meaty tasty disaster, but way too salty. I ate 82% of it and gave the rest to Lex, the beertender in Tigre that recommended it.

Fries were alright. Nothing special. Ketchup vessels.

I am now drinking my second American IPA from Ludica called Pinball.

It’s funny that it’s an American Indian Pale Ale. IPAs deserve a better name, but I guess it works.

I’ll finish this later, Chad and Bobby just got here.

——————————- I wrote that on May 17th. I should have published it the very next day. Instead I waited and now I want to type more.

Andy is an amazing photographer and every time he comes to Tijuana he works magic. Here’s the full album of his Sunday. I joined halfway through this:

Another Mexico Adventure

The Pinball IPA at Ludica is great and my favorite in Tigre right now. I loved their Seven Seas brew, but they are not doing it anymore. I asked about the hops in the Pinball and I believe Cascade and Mosaic (and another). But I might be wrong. Bare with me while I venture to learn more about hops and try to recognize them by blind taste.

Like I mentioned before, I also had a lot of other beers after my last post. I went to Madueño and Silenus and took pics of the beers. My mistake is I didn’t take notes.

I had this, which I think was a pale ale. I remember it was good but on the sweet side. I went with my friend Justin and he got a Porter on Nitro (I believe). It seemed like the nitro wasn’t connected. Had no foam or bubbles or anything. Taste was there, the nitro… wasn’t.

Oh… and I put the Indio in there as a joke. I made fun of people who go to craft beer tap rooms and ask for what they can get in a normal dive bar. I mean.. it’s cool. I was at Chips yesterday (my favorite dive bar) drinking Indios. I like Indios… but WHY would you go to a tap room and not get their beer?! I don’t understand this logic. Is like going to a restaurant and asked them if they can bring you some Sabritas.
Silenus as always did not fail. Both beers were delicious. If I remember correclty, Black IPA and Xanthos IPA. Strong brews, with a bit of syrupy taste, but excellent nonetheless.

I kicked Justin’s ass in MarioKart. He cried. He stopped playing. I want to play more. It’s Tap Tuesday today, might as well go to Silenus and play SNES. Street Fighter challengers, step right up.

I also went to BCB with some friends on a Friday. The place was PACKED. I didn’t even know they expanded. And WHOA the prices. Seriously?! No pictures here because I didn’t think I would be writing about it. Got Lupulosas. Took the stereotypical selfie everyone gets in this place.

(Lol)
The girls I was with ordered seasoned fries (they were bleh fries). We had to keep asking for more ketchup because they give you a tiny container with a buttload of fries. They also got some mushrooms that were ok. Nothing special.

We were sharing one of those large tables with strangers. There were lesbians on a date (one with a very distracting cleavage). They were getting all sorts of food. THEY DIDNT EVEN FINISH IT. They got the whole meat and cheese plate and some chicken wings. None of them looked extraordinary special, but there’s no way you can fuck up a plate of cold cuts and cheese. THE GIRLS LEFT MORE THAN 25% UNTOUCHED!

I also went to In-Ko-Pah 3 on Saturday. Justin grabbed a shit load of Ballast Points. I didn’t know this, his brother works there. So… SCORE! We also stopped by an Albertson’s before camping.. and holy selection!!! I ended up grabbing a 6-pack of randoms for $10. Justin still has like 4 of them.. which reminds me… I should go to his place soon.

Here’s the full In-Ko-Pah album:

Inkopah Music Fest 3 Windy night

For more info on that… I posted on my personal blog what went down.

Finally.. I went to MAMUT again yesterday. And I feel like talking about Mamut.

Yes. Last time I talked a bit of shit about the place because sometimes their brews are horrible. But Mamut has done A LOT for the beer scene in this city. I remember when it first appeared, beers were going for free, then 10 pesos, then 20… So yeah.. it kinda feels like I’m getting robbed paying 60 pesos for it in Plaza or the actual place, yet I can pay 40 for the original location. Which I guess it’s cool.

I know Juan José since he started. I always believed in Mamut and craft beer in Tijuana. He has always been an awesome guy with me. Many times offering his newest batches for free. I have seen Mamut grow from a baby to what it is now. It has expanded insanely quick to include mezcal, wine and food. For a time, Mamut hosted other restaurants and brewers.

Kitchens, cooks, brewers, beertenders, waiters, everyone has come and gone. Staff doesn’t recognize me anymore because they are all new. They only one that stays there is Chapo, the loyal sidekick with a great attitude and a passion for beer. So yes… Mamut can be shit sometimes, but it can also be great. And overall, it’s a fantastic place and I know that Juan Jose has Mamut because he loves beer (yes, more than money).

Like I said. Mamut is a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs. Sunday, the new pizza convinced me that the kitchen is doing quality now (it was never bad, it was basic and cheap). Their beers were also damn good. So I went again yesterday to the one upstairs.

I wanted Lupulosa, but they ran out. I got the hoppy instead, with the 50/50 burger. I also wanted to try the hot dogs, probably soon. Hoppy Wheat is their best beer right now (not pictured). It tastes like a nice and light pale ale, with not much wheatiness to it, probably single hop.
AHH you can’t even see the meat in the picture WTF?! The burger is small for it’s price and when I took my first bite, the meat was pinkish and seemed raw. I’m not going to lie… IT WAS GREAT! Not the best burger in town, but damn good. I guess the pinkish comes because the bacon is mixed into the beef. It had baby spinach and I believe arugula as well. But my favorite part is… YOU CAN TASTE THE CHEESE. So many burgers make it so meaty that they forget the cheese is a very important add-on. I forgot to read the description, but I’m guessing it was Mozzarella…

Fries were also good. Chipotle mayo nice and unexpectedly spicy.

After that, I went to the downstairs original Mamut for cheaper beers. Fuck damn… they didn’t have the hoppy wheat 😦

ok… I’ll try the the barley wine. Yep.. yep.. drinkable. Not bad at all.

Ok… Let me try the Doble Red and the Amber Ale.

UNDRINKABLE. Or at least for me. They tasted like cough syrup mixed with tonic water (in a horrible fashion). Both of them tasted bad, with a slight difference of bad. I mean… I usually don’t make assumptions based on a little tiny sampler. I like to drink the whole pint, make sure I get to know the whole beer (not only how it tastes, but how it makes me feel). But yeah… There was no way I was going to waste my money with those beers.

I got the Barley Wine. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was straight up decent. Friend got the Imperial Stout. It was good, not much to say about it.

Funny story: while drinking them beers in Pasaje Rodriguez, a cholillo walked by and said “Hey man! Do you play Magic!?!”

HAH! Holy fuck! I do! I mean… I haven’t in forever. But I used too. So he takes out two packages from his bag-pack and says he will sell them to me for 100 pesos. Yes. The cards are most likely stolen from Plaza de la Tecnologia. Fuck it. I’ll buy the three booster packs for kicks. Here they are:

If you have a store in that Plaza, you have some merchandise stolen, and you happen to read this. You can have them cards back. I know … I know. I already opened them. But hey. It’s better than never seeing them again (there’s two that are valued over a dollar).

After that, Norte Brewing Company for some of that delicious Penthouse. Bumped into more friends and some people visiting from Mexico City. And … we continued the night to Chips.

And now here I am. Typing all this crap. I said I would do it more often and then waited a long ass time to do it. Now this post is ridiculously long. No one reads this much. But fuck it. I wanted to start writing more and more.

ITS TAP TUESDAY! So I’ll go drink beer and write some place else that is not my apartment.

— Matingas

Tap Tuesday Enjoyment – New Writers – New Logo

Posted on May 12, 2016May 12, 2016 by Matingas in Beer, Matingas, Tijuana Adventure Blog

I won’t be able to post on Sunday like I said I would, so I’ll post now instead. This weekend it’s my birthday, so I’ll be busy drinking beer and eating tacos. And yes. My birthday is the whole weekend (it’s on Monday and I am not really doing much celebrating, just the usual).

If you go to the “About Us” section, you’ll notice I added people. These are people that I hang out with frequently and have Tijuana Adventures with them. They showed an interested in sharing their Tijuana stories via my blog (or more like I pushed them to it) so the blog will be more active and complete. “Tijuanas hay muchas,” I’ve heard that around here a lot. There’s a different Tijuana for each one, now there will be more voices added to this page.

They are:

Chad. My roommate, drinking sensei and overall awesome guy. I don’t think there is anyone in the world that dislikes Chad.

Justin. The Gringo who believes he is Mexican though he doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish (boy is trying though). He just moved to Tijuana last week after years saying that he will.

Hiriart. Aka, David. But there are SO MANY fucking Davids (and Juan Carlos’) in this city, that it is just easier to call him Hiriart. He is my neighbor and a highly entertaining writer (I’m a huge fan). He crosses the border daily to go to college in San Diego.

Ailed. I just met Ailed last month via friends. We talked later and she demonstrated an interested on Tijuana Adventure, while telling her more about the project, she showed a desire to contribute, though she is not usually a writer. She has many adventures to share and many more to come in a different Tijuana world that I rarely touch.

—— NOW BEER ——–

This tap Tuesday fell in Mexican Mother’s Day. So the afternoon was spent in Playas with my mom. Because my mom is awesome, she said she didn’t want to be taken out, instead she rather cook. She made awesome enchiladas:
After that, me and Justin went to Plaza Fiesta to enjoy them cheap beers. We started at El Tigre. Many friends were there drinking already. There was also a table with moms and daughters drinking caguamas of Tecate Light. Justin got the Kolsch I got the Bitter.
Kolsch was leaning more towards a lager than an ale. It was good, but not really my choice of beer. Bitter was decent but lacking flavor (imo), better than the kolsch.

Having a little fun, told the beertender to wave his phone in the background. BTW people… TIP YOUR FUCKING BEERTENDERS.
The fridge in Tigre Bar has all those beers… but people order caguamas the most. Tap Tuesday people!! Craft beers for 40 pesos, people were buying caguamas for 50. What’s wrong with you!?

We continued to Insurgente because it is never a let down. Justin got the Simcoe de Mayo beer and since the beertender told me that Lupulosa and their new Simcoe beer had nothing in common, I got a Lupulosa for a comparison taste.

Lupulosa left – Simcoe de Mayo right. This time, I waved my phone in the back for the amusing effect.

And… COME ON! They are very similar, for starters, they are both IPAs. The differences are obvious and you can see it in the picture. Simcoe has a lighter look, tastes dryer and has a nice hoppy finish. Lupulosa has a dark look and a great blend of hoppinness with maltiness and is not as effervescent. Lupulosa has been an old time favorite, but I was liking the Simcoe better, I love dry hoppy finishes. The nose is almost identical for both beers, or maybe I just need to get a better nose.

Chad joined in around 10ish after his DUI classes. He got the Tinieblo (his favorite Insurgente I believe).

We bounced over to Fauna and other friends joined us. There I got the Lycan Lupus, there was also a sour beer (not from Fauna), Mala Vida the Belgian and another one… I forgot… a brown?
Lycan is still top 5 IPAs in Tijuana. I guess I was going for the beers I favor, but I tried a drink of all. It is so rare to find sour ales in Tijuana, this one was good umami beer, but with no bubbles, or like Chad described “TASTES LIKE KOMBUCHA!” It made me wish I ordered the sour instead of the Lycan.

This girl had her head stuck in a bike lock (on purpose) and someone was taking her picture. I love taking pictures of people taking pictures (I don’t know why). She saw the picture I took and gave me a piece of paper with her email so I can send it to her. Sent it to her, but it’s not that great of a picture…

Chad also ordered guacamole and Justin some taquitos. For those that know me… they know this is a big deal. I TRIED THE GUACAMOLE. For those that do not know me…. Well then you don’t understand why this is a big deal for me and I don’t feel like explaining.
A trio of IPAs. Mine is the hoppy/happy one.
We ended up in Paralelo 28 and got three IPAs. I forgot if we got the Nelson or another one, but I have a feeling it was the Nelson IPA. Chad ordered fries, that were covered in sauces. They were aight’.

I paid for the Uber XL back home. Fuckers owe me a beer.
The drinking team!

One last picture before we get ni the Uber… Bucio giving thumbs up.

The next day we went to Norte. I drank 5 (Penthouse) IPAs and got pretty fucked. Ended up taking a snooze at Nelson bar. I never do that shit. I guess 5 IPAs from Norte will do that to me (I usually only drink 3).

Here are pictures from Norte that I took a week before. I fucking love the view and beers in this place and you will find me here more often than not.

And now… You won’t here from me for a while. I gotta finish some writing stuff that actually pays me instead of this silliness. Oh but I do enjoy posting silliness. Also. Taking pictures is fun. I want to get paid to take pictures. Someone pay me to take pictures. I want more gear!

ANDDDDD FINALLY!

Pinche Paco is delivering a new logo for the webpage. I’ll probably end up making t-shirts and stuff. This is what he gave me for my birthday (gracias Pinche Paco). Make sure to check out Comuna (nano)Brew in Plaza Mexico (in downtown).

— Matingas

Sunday Posts – New Mamut + 1994 Turns Three – Reddit Meeting

Posted on May 8, 2016May 10, 2016 by Matingas in Beer, Matingas, Tijuana Adventure Blog

There was no tour this week.

I’m not posting about a tour this time.

Instead, I am doing what I envisioned for the website, minus my shitwriting.

I’m going to talk about my Tijuana Adventures. I have invited other writers to do something similar. I have been getting great reactions when I tell people about what TJ Adventure is turning into. And other people have shown interested in writing. Of course, the writers I invited still have deliver nothing, but I haven’t either, so I can’t ask for much. I also haven’t change the site as much as I would like.

Let’s talk about beer and reddit.

I missed tap Tuesday this last week. I ended up having a few caguamas over at Nelson’s Bar late at night instead. The intention was to post every Tuesday, but I’ve come to the realization that Sundays work best (I’ll post on my other blog on Mondays, work the rest of the week).

On Wednesday I had a few new beers I haven’t had before in Plaza Fiesta. I also ate a Torta Ahogada from El Jerezano which is connected to my least favorite brewery. The torta was outstanding though. It wasn’t drowned like the name ahogada suggests, but happily swimming over a sauce with stout and mezcal (or so it claims).

View post on imgur.com

I posted the Reddit Alien inside Border Psycho for the next /r/Tijuana meetup on May 27th, 7:00 pm. This should be a fun time with fellow redditors, last meeting went great.

View post on imgur.com

Now let’s talk about beer. I need to talk more about beer, but also learn so much more.

I had the Mosaic IPA by Cerveza Urbana inside Legion tap room. Surprisingly good for a brewery I never tried before. More hoppiness and some citrusy flavor would have been ideal for me, but the beer was a well balanced IPA that sits well.

View post on imgur.com

It was followed by Simcoe De Mayo IPAs by Insurgente. This brewery never disappoints (or very rarely). Simcoe is a type of hop hailing from Washington and has a piney taste. The beer was similar to their famed Lupulosa but with different hops (and a denser yellow color). At Insurgente I ran into this little puppy, whose owner is the beertender at Norte.

View post on imgur.com

After that, my night and the pictures I took are blurry. Only good picture was sausages hanging inside Voodoo Stu’s kitchen.

View post on imgur.com

The other TJ Adventure I had was on Saturday, though it was short-lived. I ate a Champi burger at Indie inside Colectivo 9 and had a Lycan Lupus from Fauna (easily on the top 5 IPAs in Tijuana). I followed by three IPAs in Norte (that’s usually enough to get me to bed). I was on the list as media for the event in Mamut Brewery, but I wasn’t very interested in going (I prefer to avoid huge crowds). I ended up inviting a female friend and we went together.

Mamut had a show to inaugurate their new space with Ruben Albarran (of Cafe Tacuba), DJ Chucuchu, and Sonidero Travesura. An incredible line-up to dance all night.
The place was FUCKING PACKED. The menu read that they had Lupulosa, fuck yeah, way better than having a Mamut brew, especially priced at 60 pesos. OH FUCK. There was a huge line to order in their actual bar. Decided to go for a mezcal in the bar in the back instead. The two bars in the back were serving mezcal or a Stout or Farmhouse (Saison). The mezcal was not such a good idea. It was delicious (I don’t know shit about mezcal though), but it also made me very drowsy.
The new area of the Mamut Brewery is very cool and very big with art by Teak and El Norteño. Mamut has expanded like crazy and I heard that they have a 4th location already. Unfortunately all the expanding has left the quality of beer behind. For the past months, Mamut has served beer that is barely drinkable. At least they were selling it for 30 pesos in Pasaje Rodriguez, but still, beer had the texture of mud and the smell and taste of fermentation through dirty tanks. They started picking up, having slightly better brews, but still not to the level they once had. Mamut is a complete roller coaster, you never know what quality you are going to get.

With all this said, I said fuck it, I’m going to have a Farmhouse brew. I had a taste of my companion’s Stout, it tasted like soapy water. The Farmhouse had the same taste, except with a bit more of a yeasty after finish. I finished my beer and went home before midnight (Sonidero Travesura was still playing, didn’t see anyone else).
Mamut is definitely a great place in downtown Tijuana, with great parties and food, but their beer at the moment… I rather drink Tecate (which is what I’m drinking as I am typing this!)

Ok. I already wrote a lot. And I hope my blog posts to be way shorter than this. I should probably post more than just Sundays but whenever I feel like it except like a ¼ of the size of this blog post. I should just write a mini blog every time I go out for new craft beer or food in Tijuana. That will probably work… right?

Oh shit! I forgot to mention. 1994 had their third year party! I wasn’t there, but I wish I at was. It was probably the beer party of the night.

—Matingas

Double Date Tour Success – I Should Have Brought My Camera

Posted on May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 by Matingas in Matingas, Tijuana Adventure Blog

I’m still continuing to give tours, I’m just not really calling them tours. The tours I give are usually much different than the rest of the other tour guides. I tend to befriend everyone that goes on my tours and it just doesn’t feel like I’m a tour guide. That’s why I say I’m not doing them anymore. I don’t know what to call them…

I had a blast yesterday in a sort-of double date tour.

I have done this before. A couple wants to tour around Tijuana and wants someone to show them where to go. The problem is that just as one tour guide is that I don’t want to be third-wheeling. It would be really awkward. So whenever I am presented with this circumstance, I invite a lady friend with all expenses covered to go out. This time, I asked a friend, who I just found out that she is my neighbor, to join us in this Tijuana Adventure.

We met Ryan and his wife Meara right under the arch on 1st street. Ryan and Meara have been married for 8 years (or was it 18?) have been together since their college years. Ryan from Minnesota, Meara from Oregon, they have lived all over the USA and have traveled quite a bit from all the stories they told me. And since they are keen of traveling, they have been to Tijuana more than just a few times sans my help (they even have Global Entry).

My friend/date, works retail up in Hillcrest, so she is used to crossing everyday and living the border lifestyle. However, she had never been to some of the places I took the tour on. And what fancy feast did we have (not the cat food).

Since Ryan and Meara have been to Tijuana a few times, they already knew my favorite breweries, so they wanted to see much more than craft beer besides Plaza Fiesta and Norte. This made me venture into new territory as well, keeping the name of this website to a real ADVENTURE.

First stop was Nelson bar, a Tijuana classic and one of the oldest bars in the city (also, the first building to have a working elevator). They wanted to see what cocktails Tijuana offers so this was a must stop. Nelson’s is known for having Especial, a simple drink that consists of light and dark rum, splash of sprite and coke (on a highball glass with salted rim).

We hit up La Justina next for a bite to eat and more cocktails. I always get the Snake Oil here, which is bourbon, fernet, coke and two roasted marshmallows (in your hipster mason jar glass). We sampled some of the menu including tacos de lengua, there steam buns (which are amazing), oysters, and a tostada served on a bean sauce.

After a short walk, I showed them Bresca (that resembles North Park to my taste), and Colectivo 9. But we were looking for cocktails, so we went to El Tinieblo, the bar behind la Cevicheria Nais. The Mezcalitas here are amazing (margaritas but made with mezcal). I know they have other drinks that are great, but they haven’t upgraded their menu and I always forget to ask for the ones that are not in there.

We then took the long walk to Teléfonica Gastro Truck Park. No cocktails here, but we enjoyed a few craft beers and Ryan and Meara split a hot dog from Humo. After that, we enjoyed another long walk through the maze of La Cacho towards CazaClub, a restaurant that I knew about, but had never been inside (I used to live across the street from there). Cocktails here were good, but way too sweet. I got the “Homenaje” (Homage) which was bourbon with basel and tobacco leaves and honey. I expected a smokey taste, all I got was sweetness. The other drink I tried was the Coco-rosa, a pink frosty drink that tasted like a piña colada/Brandy Alexander but without the grated nutmeg (and if I’m going to have a girly drink, put some nutmeg please, I love that touch on girly drinks).

We did heavy walking through the eve, because after that, we walked to Plaza Fiesta. I took them to the newest craft beer tap room, El Sauzal. They had some DJ playing good dancy music but too loud for us to enjoy a conversation. Here I tried their Bob Barley beer, but I was also already pretty drunk, details are fuzzy, all I can say is that it was good.

We stopped by the other new tap room from Rosarito, Los Reyes Brew. Both Ryan and myself opted for their double IPA while the girls chose water. I had a glass of water as well and… well… it was really nice good cucumber water. About the double IPA… it didn’t taste like an IPA. It was too syrupy and had no hoppiness to it. If an IPA is not hoppy, I’m not happy (especially a double). Still fairly drinkable.

And for the last stop… Paralelo 28. I had Silenus’ Xanthos IPA and like I mentioned on the beer guide, it is one of my favorite beers in Tijuana. We parted ways after that, taking an Uber home and Ryan and Meara to the border.

When I got home, my neighbor had a party going. I stopped by for one drink (some random wine in a plastic cup cuz my neighbor got mad after grabbing a glass). The party went until 5:30 a.m. I didn’t. Wine kills me and it did it’s job fine. I went to bed and did not hear the roaring party.

FOR THIS WHOLE ADVENTURE, I didn’t have my camera. I thought about carrying it everywhere, but for some reason, I opted against it. Not going to happen anymore, next time I’ll bring my camera with me so this is not just a wall of text.

The only picture I have is of this morning. The small community patio of the apartment building woke up like this. I can only imagine what my neighbor’s apartment looks like (apparently it got vandalized… )

—————————————-
My cousin says I should be a new form of Anthony Bourdain. And that’s kinda what I’m going for. I don’t know how much Anthony Bourdain would charge to join him in an adventure, but I would like to think it’s nothing. I am still going to give tours, but tours are reserved for awesome people that don’t cancel on me.

I have also invited other writers to share their Tijuana Adventures to give this blog diversity and include everything that what Tijuana can be. Another friend is also designing a logo, so far he only provided this:

It’s better than what I have done, but I think it can still be way better.

Let’s see how this goes!

Thanks for reading and let me know if you like the new Tijuana Adventure.

—Matingas

Changes Little By Little – New Writers Hopefully Will Join

Posted on April 29, 2016April 29, 2016 by Matingas in Matingas

There!

I have changed the overall look of the page. This is not the final look, but it’s the overall idea.

Every Tuesday I will be posting about beer and a general sense of my Tijuana Adventures throughout the weeks. I have invited other writers to do the same thing and write about whatever they want that is related to their own type of Tijuana Adventure. Friends/Trusted writers will have full access to write whatever they want without the need to go through me or edit anything and should always sign with their name. They will all have their own profile page as well.

Tijuana is so different for everyone that I want other voices heard and not just mine. If you want to contribute, contact me. There is no compensation, just a space where you can write whatever you want. If you become a friend/trusted writer, I will grant access for you to do whatever you want.

That’s my idea.

Oh yeah.

I wrote the cover of the San Diego Reader this week and this is one of the reasons I decided to do the changes. I love beer and I’ll be talking to all the brewers to blog about it here! I wish the Reader would publish me every week about beer, but alas, they will not. So it’s my mission to just do it here, even if it’s unpaid. You can read more about it by clicking the picture:

And about tours. People can still hit me up for tours. I still have not decided on a price at all. But I am thinking that $100 gets my attention and then we can discuss more after that.

—Matingas

Changes Are Coming – Tijuana Adventure Is Not About Tours No More

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

So….

I haven’t posted in this blog in ages. I have been posting on my regular blog of Matingas.com every Monday of every week. The idea now is that I will post in Tijuana Adventure every Tuesday of every week and also maybe make a weekly podcast. What am I going to post about? Well… about my Tijuana Adventures! I have invited other friends/writers to do the same.

I also created a couple logos yesterday. I am not a designer or a webmaster, so bare with me as changes to the page are made slowly.
Option 1:
Option 2:

^or something similar. I might talk to friends to make an actual new logo.

Now tours…

I’ve been doing a lot of tours and I am a bit tired of them. Not because I do not enjoy them, but because my inability to run a business. I never like to charge my clients, because most of them turn to friends a short time into the tour. I always feel like I am robbing them, even though I know I am providing a service. It happened the same way when I was teaching guitar, I had a few students, and I always felt weird charging them since I had fun teaching. They always paid me extra (even gave me gifts), but felt so strange to make money from something I enjoy.

I am also very bad at organizing events and trying to make a large group happen. I always knew I didn’t want to do large tours anyway, I hate being a shepherd of drunks. I rather know everyone personally and give more than just follow me to random places. Also, I hate cancellations. They ruin my plan for the day. If I am not doing tours in Tijuana, I am working on freelance writing mostly for the San Diego Reader.

For that reason, tours are going to be sidelined. The intention of this page is to act like a guide for those that do not know Tijuana. Not only for foreigners, but for locals. New places open every week and there is almost no one covering them (especially for beer). I know there aren’t many outlets out there for me to write about beer, so I decided to make this blog active and for the tours to be secondary.

I will still be giving tours, I’ll just be way more picky. New rule as well, $100 gets you my attention for 6+ hours, everything else is extra. I will try to get this as a paypal or other sort of payment, to make sure cancellations don’t become the norm.

This summer the webpage and myself will be doing a lot of changes.

Expect this page to become more active as a blog. Sharing information of new breweries, restaurants, concerts, culture, border life and more!

—Matingas

Next Tour Event – Mezcal and Tacos – December 26th

Posted on December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

The last Saturday of every month I will be organizing public tours open to everyone. Saturday, December 26th, the day after Christmas, it’s time for an all inclusive Posada Adventure!

For $60 you get 4 tacos, 4 mezcales in 4 different locations and more!

Tour starts at 3:00 pm at the meeting spot/border pickup. From there to Kokopelli for tacos and mezcal. Mamut is next for mezcal and optional beers. Cevicheria Naiz for more tacos and mezcal and finish off at popular bar La Mezcalera for more mezcal and crickets!
All included, only $60!

You can’t make it that Saturday? Book me for a private tour! Or wait until the last Saturday of every month for a different event!

[contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="1"/][contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="1"/][contact-field label="Size of Group" type="text"/][contact-field label="Posada Adventure Event" type="checkbox"/][contact-field label="Comment" type="textarea" required="1"/][/contact-form

Tijuana Rumble Fest is Here. Courtesy Guide to Venue

Posted on December 4, 2015December 4, 2015 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

Tijuana Rumble Fest is already here. It’s tomorrow, Saturday December 5th.

I didn’t do much this year, virtually nothing at all. Last year I organized the whole damn thing (not by myself, but a lot of it).

It should be the best festival of the year for Tijuana. We expect many people to cross the border to check it out and because of that, I am offering my services FOR FREE!!!!

I didn’t have time to make a better poster, but there you go! I will be helping people go through Tijuana and into the venue to enjoy 10 hours of great music!
No need to email me or anything, I simply will show up and see who wants to join me and walk to Rumble Fest!

See you then people!

Featured on the San Diego Reader, Poster Correction.

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

I have been writing for the San Diego Reader for two years now, covering Tijuana and the border. This last week, Reader people came over for a quick tour. My tours usually involve more stops, more food and more beers, but the guys wanted to head back early. They gave me a shout out on the San Diego Reader facebook and posted the following pictures. My tours might start getting busy. And I should mention from now on that I write for the Reader and that I have my other personal blog, Matingas.com

Here is the full album.

TJ Adventure

Visit this link for a shorter album and a description of all.

Also, I posted that my next brewery tour was going to be Saturday, November 24th. I made a mistake and meant November 28th. As of now, I have not receive any emails about it, which makes me wonder what am I doing wrong… But I do receive a lot of messages of people telling me they will come on a tour a different day.

Here is the updated poster:

I will be posting the next tour as soon as December starts and depending on how good this one goes! Hopefully this will increase the tours. I love showing the city and meeting new people!