The San Diego Food Tasting Tour comes with a choice of two themes; Brothels, Bites and Booze in the Gaslamp Quarter, and Tequila, Tacos and Tombstones in Old Town. Since I was staying in the Gaslamp Quarter, I decided to go for the Old Town tour so I could branch out and see more of San Diego (plus I love Mexican food). Arriving on a sunny Friday afternoon at Cafe Coyote, I met the bubbly tour guide Angela and the rest of the group; a mixture of people from California, Pennsylvania, and a bachelorette party from the Bay Area (who invited me in as an honorary member).
| Café Coyote
Once we’d all been introduced, we headed inside the restaurant to get seated. Cafe Coyote has been operating for over 25 years, offering a huge selection of tequilas and authentic Mexican food. It’s also been voted Best Mexican Restaurant in Old Town twelve times! The staff were incredibly friendly and served up chips and salsa, plates of steak, chicken and pork tacos, and a margarita cocktail each. I went for the chicken taco which turned out to be a great choice; the meat was juicy, the tortilla was soft, and the pico de gallo tasted super fresh. The margarita was also amazing!
| Cemetery of El Campo Santo
Out on San Diego Avenue, Angela gave a brief talk on the history of San Diego, before leading us up to the Cemetery of El Campo Santo; one of the first burial grounds in the city, dating back to 1849. There are very few graves in the cemetery, but each has a truly fascinating back story, like the grave of Anita Gillis which was covered in little trinkets and children’s toys (supposedly leaving her a gift meant she’d come out and play with you). We also heard the story of Yankee Jim, the village hooligan who was eventually executed by his uncle (the sheriff) for stealing a rowboat. The gravediggers didn’t account for his 6’2’’ frame when digging the pit, so they had to break his legs to fit him in. Nice.
| Old Tequila Factory Restaurant
Onwards and upwards, literally, as the next stop was up a pretty steep hill overlooking the Midway District. Old Town Tequila Factory Restaurant and Cantina is located on top of the Hacienda Hotel, serving fresh Mexican food and a hugely popular weekend buffet brunch (very tempting). The views were fantastic, and we were served a baja fish taco which is my favorite - so far so good! Then Patrick the ‘tequila expert’ came out to pour us a shot of Frida Kahlo tequila, accompanied by cinnamon and orange rather than salt and lime. I really hate tequila shots, but the cinnamon and orange was a unique twist that made it (almost) palatable.
| Alamo Mexican Café
The route to the next stop took us through Heritage County Park, an 8-acre space featuring beautifully restored Victorian buildings brought in from the surrounding area. At the bottom of the hill and next to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is Alamo Mexican Cafe, a fun and lively restaurant that prides itself on having the best prices in Old Town (I’m sold already). Here we had pork taquitos with rice and refried beans, plus another margarita which I was very thankful for - not sure I could have done another tequila shot!
| Old Town Jerky and Root Beer
Walking through the State Historic Park, we heard all about the Estudillo family and their splendid mansion within the park (now a museum), and walked through the Cosmopolitan Hotel because, in Angela’s words, it’s just really cool. This brought us to our fourth and final stop; Old Town Jerky and Root Beer for a root beer float! Now I’ve had root beer, and I’ve had ice cream, but together? I was a bit apprehensive, but it turned out to be pretty good, kinda like a vanilla flavored toothpaste drink. And that was that, we concluded the tour in the state park courtyard where we could continue drinking, eating, or dancing to the live mariachi band - but for me it was off to bed!
| Thanks for reading!
Big thanks to Angela for being so much fun; we learnt a great deal about the history and hauntings of San Diego and had some wonderful food and drink (except maybe the tequila shot) - so glad I chose to attend the Old Town tour! I’d highly recommend this experience if you’re a lover of Mexican food, as you get to try some of the top restaurants and receive plenty of advice for more places to go. It really is the best way to see Old Town San Diego!
