Caesar's
Caesar's is a restaurant on Avenida Revolución in Tijuana, Mexico, famous as the home of the Caesar salad.[1] Restaurateur Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant, opened the restaurant in 1923,[2] and it is now under chef Javier Plascencia, leading chef of Baja Med cuisine.
![](../I/Caesar's_restaurant_interior_2019.jpg.webp)
![](../I/Caesar's_restaurant_exterior_2019.jpg.webp)
![](../I/Bar_at_Caesar's_restaurant_2018.jpg.webp)
![](../I/Caesar's_hotel_and_restaurant_exterior_2019.jpg.webp)
History
The original Caesar's bar and restaurant was first opened in an alley in 1923, and its salad became famous after its reported invention on July 4 of the following year.[3][4] Julia Child said that she visited the restaurant during her youth in 1925 or 1926.[5] In 1926 it moved to 2nd Street, and a year later it moved to its current location at the Hotel Caesar's on Avenida Revolución Street between 4th and 5th streets. Cardini bought the hotel and restaurant in 1932.[6]
Following a huge reduction in U.S. visitors to Tijuana after 9/11 and subsequent long border wait times to return to the U.S., the restaurant closed in 2009, due to debt.[7] Javier's father Juan José Plascencia renovated the restaurant and reopened it in July, 2010, with a luxurious art deco interior reminiscent of the 1920s.[8] In 2017, the San Diego Reader called it the "classiest joint in Tijuana".[9] Waiters prepare the "original" Caesar salads tableside.[9]
The restaurant and hotel were featured by Andrew Zimmern in his Travel Channel television special The Border Check.[6]
References
- Khan, Sarah (6 February 2018). "Through a Tijuana Turnstile and Into Tacos and Tortas". The New York Times.
- "Cesar Cardini, Creator of Salad, Dies at 60". Los Angeles Times. 5 November 1956.
Caesar Cardini, 60, credited with the invention of the Caesar salad, died [...]
- "We Can Thank Tijuana and Prohibition for the Caesar Salad". Food & Wine.
- "Zagat". www.zagat.com.
- Lacey, Marc (21 October 2008). "Wary Tourists Toss Aside a Chance to Taste History". The New York Times.
- "Tijuana's Last Days of Bullfighting". Roads & Kingdoms. 7 November 2017.
- Bramen, Lisa. "Hail Caesar—The Birthplace of the Famous Salad Closes". Smithsonian.
- Cesar’s Restaurant springs back to life laprensa-sandiego.org
- Rudkus, Sammi (5 August 2017). "Arguably the classiest joint in Tijuana". www.sandiegoreader.com.