Where to Eat in Loreto Baja California Sur

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This charming town in Mexico packs a big–and delicious punch when it comes to its culinary offerings.

For a town of 15,000 souls, walkable, friendly Loreto has a bounty of outstanding eateries, offering everything from casual bites to fine dining. A ten-minute drive from the airport (a minute longer if the single stop light isn’t working) takes you past rolling green hills studded with lanky cardon cactus, copal bushes and prickly chain-link cholla plants right into the historic town square.

Cafe Ole is a popular local gathering spot

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Begin your day at Café Ole where a dozen kinds of egg dishes, omelets, pancakes and refreshing fruit smoothies called licuados are on offer. Huevos divorciados comes with both red and green sauce facing off on the plate. Huevos nopalitos are scrambled eggs with grilled cactus, without thorns, of course. Give it a try. It looks and tastes a bit like a pickle. Before noon, steer clear of the table reserved for The Coffee Dudes, six Canadians who have been meeting here every morning for eight years.

The Coffee Dudes’ table at Cafe Ole

Orlando’s Cocina Mexicana, a two-minute walk from the square, offers traditional Mexican breakfast specialties under a shady palapa, as well as huge platters of fluffy French toast dusted with icing sugar. The owner devotes one month a year to searching for new items to add to the menu. This year it’s avocado toast with scrambled eggs, fresh vegetables and a homemade chili dipping sauce.

Cafe Ole in Loreto is a popular local gathering spot

Cafe Ole is a popular local gathering spot

TAKE TO THE HILLS

Wine, goat cheese and mangoes are just a few of the edibles that the Jesuits bestowed on Baja California Sur after they arrived in 1697. They brought along a ranch foreman, a muleteer and a herder, and their descendants became the vaquero, the original western cowboys, raising cows and goats for milk, cheese, leather and protein. In the Canyon of the Vines that leads to the oldest original mission in the hills at San Javier, the Jesuits planted olive and orange trees, date palms, and grape vines from the Canary Islands to produce “missionary wine.” These hardy vines moved northward as more missions were built and began the wine culture of Sonoma and Napa Valley.

On the way to visit Mission San Javier, stop in at Rancho Viejo to meet the owners Chary and Tista. Chary has been making flour tortillas for over fifty years and her technique is impeccable. She will teach you how to slap the tortillas from hand to hand with a gentle stretch and lay them on the wood-fired grill before she presses them with a hot iron plate. Try your hand at milking a goat, then taste their homemade goat cheese. Add some spicy beans and a cup of strong Talega coffee that’s double-poured through a cloth filter, and you have the makings of a typical ranch breakfast.

Chary demonstrates her tortilla technique at Rancho Viejo

SEA WHAT’S FOR LUNCH

Back in Loreto, take a stroll along the seawall called the malecon. Within a few blocks, you can find fishermen casting into the waves, bicyclists getting in a few laps and swimmers enjoying the miles of beachfront. You’ll have a good view of it all at Baja Mar Restaurant. Their speciality is seafood, which is obvious from their aqua colour scheme and the giant octopus mural on the wall. The shrimp ceviche with avocados and jalapenos is a work of art. Add a sauce (from mild to make-me-cry) to the deep-fried seafood tacos with two kinds of fish and shrimp. They also offer gluten-free dishes and takeout. In Loreto, they say that tacos were the original paper plate.

The seafood at Baja Mar in Loreto is as fresh as can be

The seafood at Baja Mar is as fresh as can be

UNA BELLA NOCHE

When night falls, head to the planned community of Nopolo. The ninth hole of the golf course overlooks the Sea of Cortez, there’s a library, a wine bar and golf carts are the ride of choice. Canadians and Americans who rent or own villas here can be found at Ocotillo Restaurant where the wall mural sports a maple leaf. Enjoy a cocktail created by mixologist Ceasar Gomez, two-time second-place winner overall out of 1,800 contestants in the international Made With Love mixology competition. Dishes here are wonderfully complex and beautifully presented. The pear and apple salad with cranberries, goat cheese and honey dressing is a refreshing standout on a warm evening, while the seafood pasta combines the best local shrimp, scallops and octopus in an herb-infused cream sauce. The dessert menu is worth a look if you fancy delicious layers of milk and dark chocolate mousse to end a beautiful night, una bella noche.

Pull up a chair for the best cocktails in Loreto

HOW TO GET THERE?

Take advantage of convenient, direct service with WestJet from Calgary to Loreto every Friday from November to April with connecting flights from across Canada.

Photos courtesy of: Debra Smith