Vivo Cocina y Vinos

Vivo Cocina y Vinos is a wine bar and kitchen tucked inside a small shopping center on Avenida Ensenada, in Cacho, with a wine list that’s entirely organic and minimal-intervention. Since it opened in late 2021, it has had “an outsized influence” on Tijuana’s natural-wine scene, Wine Enthusiast wrote in May 2025, naming as its owner Jaime Moreno, who also owns an organic market.

The food

OpenTable’s listing describes seasonal dishes that bring Japanese, French and Italian techniques to fresh Baja California produce, on a menu that changes. Wine Enthusiast mentioned pasta and risotto next to Japanese notes such as miso and soy, along with raw and fried oysters, a ceviche of giant queen clam and an artichoke salad with dates and pine nuts. Food critic Marco Beteta’s online guide recommends the queen clam ceviche, the oysters and the pollo al sartén, a pan-cooked chicken. A February 2025 OpenTable review mentions the changing menu, a chocolate dessert and the chicken.

The wine and the bar

As an example of the list, Wine Enthusiast gave Testalonga’s “El Bandito Cortez,” an old-vine Chenin Blanc from South Africa. OpenTable also lists a classic cocktail bar, and Beteta mentions signature cocktails, so the table doesn’t have to agree on wine.

What to expect

OpenTable describes the place as casual-elegant, says it aims to be relaxed and family friendly, and lists the dress code as casual. OpenTable reviews from February and March 2025 praise the service. It’s a sit-down restaurant. OpenTable lists it but says it isn’t on its booking network, so call ahead to check availability.

Prices and entry

OpenTable puts the average check at more than 500 pesos per person, and Beteta’s guide marks it $$. It takes American Express, Mastercard and Visa, per OpenTable.

Getting there

The address is Av. Ensenada 2269, interior E, Col. Madero (Cacho), per Beteta’s guide; OpenTable lists the same street number in Col. Madero and mentions a parking service. A taxi or ride-hail is the simplest way there from the border or downtown. Our other Cacho profiles include the cocktail bar Minimal, which our profile lists at the same Avenida Ensenada number, and the Wendlandt Tasting Room for a drink, and Maximiliano Bistró and Diner House for another meal.

Good to know

• Hours: Monday to Thursday 1–10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 1 p.m.–midnight, Sunday noon–7 p.m., per OpenTable; Beteta’s guide lists Sunday from 11 a.m.
• Phone: +52 664 367 0623.
• Reservations: not through OpenTable, which says the restaurant isn’t on its booking network; call to check availability.
• Instagram: @vivotijuana.
• Sundays: it closes at 7 p.m., so plan Sunday as a lunch or an early dinner.
• Drinks elsewhere: our cocktail bar guide covers day drinking, a speakeasy and the classic cantinas.

More places to eat are in our guides, and what’s on this week is on the calendar.