Where to eat seafood in Tijuana: taco carts, aguachile houses and a rooftop sushi bar

Seafood in Tijuana runs on two clocks. Carts cook from the morning into the early afternoon and can sell out, while the sit-down seafood houses are made for long lunches with aguachile and something cold to drink. This guide pulls together six places we’ve profiled, with what each is known for and when to go. Follow the links for addresses, hours and sources, and confirm the details before you cross, since hours and prices change.

Know the menu

• Aguachile and ceviche: raw seafood cured in lime juice; aguachile adds chile. Erizo’s menu has ceviche and aguachile sections, and Cabanna’s has aguachiles and tiraditos.
• Tostadas: seafood piled on a crisp tortilla; look for them at Cabanna and Erizo.
• Pulpo or camarón enchilado: octopus or shrimp in spicy chile sauce. At Mariscos El Mazateño, the camarón enchilado is cooked in butter with chile de árbol.
• Campechano: two proteins in one taco; ask for it at Carreta Los Compadres.
• Zarandeado: grilled seafood; LionFish’s OpenTable listing names camarones zarandeados.

Morning and lunch: a taco cart and a seafood-taco house

Carreta Los Compadres is a cart on Avenida 20 de Noviembre, in the colonia of the same name, in the Agua Caliente-Hipódromo area. Chilango lists it as open daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the food can run out early. Chilango recommends the tacos de pulpo enchilado and the Titán, with octopus, shrimp and bacon. Bring pesos in case cards aren’t taken, and check its Instagram for the day’s schedule.

Mariscos El Mazateño, on Calzada del Tecnológico in Colonia Tomás Aquino, is a destination for seafood tacos. Its namesake taco, the taco Mazateño, is a thick folded shrimp taco shaped like a quesadilla, and the camarón enchilado comes as tacos or a plate. It’s open daily from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., takes cash only and doesn’t serve alcohol; a 2026 guide put tacos at about 90 pesos each. Lines form on weekends, and most people order two tacos each.

Long lunches: the seafood houses

Erizo, on Avenida Sonora in Chapultepec, has been open since 2009 and is run by the Plascencia family; it blends street-seafood traditions with a chef’s kitchen. Reviews single out the green ceviche, the octopus carpaccio and the taco tijuanero, its house version of a fried-fish taco. It opens daily at 11 a.m., and closing varies from 8 to 10 p.m., so plan on lunch or an early dinner.

Cabanna, in Plaza Paseo Chapultepec on Bulevar Agua Caliente, serves Pacific seafood beach-style: aguachiles and tiraditos, tostadas and tacos playeros, plus margaritas and house cocktails. OpenTable puts the spend at about 310 to 500 pesos per person. The patio is where most people want to sit, and on Sundays it closes at 7 p.m. Eric wrote about it here.

LionFish Restaurant Río, in Zona Río, is a seafood restaurant with an oyster bar and cocktails on two floors with terraces. Its OpenTable listing names camarones zarandeados, tuna sashimi and hamachi tiradito. The price guides disagree, so budget for drinks if you’re settling in for the afternoon. A Lion Fish also appears among the Tijuana Restaurant Week participants named by Siempre en la Noticia, though the report doesn’t say which branch.

Raw fish with a view

Sushi en la Azotea sits on the rooftop of the K Tower hotel on Paseo de los Héroes, with rolls, nigiri and sashimi, sake and cocktails and a view of the Zona Río skyline. OpenTable puts the spend at about 500 pesos and up per person. Seating is outdoors, so pack a jacket in winter; for the sunset, book about an hour before it. Eric’s review is here.

How to plan a seafood day

• Start early. Carts can sell out, and Carreta Los Compadres closes at 3 p.m.
• Carry cash. Mariscos El Mazateño has no card reader, and carts may not take cards.
• Ask about the heat. Dishes at El Mazateño are spicy by default, and Erizo’s kitchen is generous with chile.
• Use ride-hail. Erizo and El Mazateño aren’t walkable from Avenida Revolución; El Mazateño is about 20 minutes by car from the San Ysidro crossing and closer to Otay.
• Tip at sit-down restaurants. Ten to 15 percent is customary, as our Erizo profile notes.
• Watch for Restaurant Week. From Nov. 2 to 12, participating restaurants serve set menus at 199, 399 or 799 pesos (our story).

For seafood tacos alongside the city’s other taco styles, see our taco guide, and for a drink after lunch, our cocktail bar guide. Find more places in our guides, and see what’s on this week on the calendar.