Little Tijuana
Little Tijuana things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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Hidden Gem: A Mexican Restaurant in Newark
JohannahJohannah
60
Special shout out to our waitress Alice aka Zoe Saldana who was super friendly, attentive, and inviting. The atmosphere of this location is large and spacious. It’s a restaurant and lounge setting. This location has 3 parts, a festive patio area where you can eat, drink and do hookah. The lounge area with the neon lights and the real bass and treble of the music with a bar and upstairs and downstairs sitting area to drink and do hookah. Then they have a back area that is another restaurant area with a bar. The music played by the disc jockey was a mixture of old and new school hip hop and R&B. Parking is in the rear of the building where you pay $20 cash only. Parking is limited in the lot space as well as parking is hard to find in the area especially on a weekend. The drinks 🍹 was really the main best part of the restaurant. Special shout out to the bartender Tyler who was hooking up the Sunset in Tijuana drinks. It was lightly sweet with a strong kick of Hennessy babyyyyy… The food in my honest opinion was mediocre, the fish (flounder) tacos wasn’t really seasoned, the sweet plantains wasn’t charred enough for me, the sautéed veggies was pretty good, and their version of a chipotle sauce. The guacamole was excellent, honestly best part of the dining experience. I will say they only gave you a small amount of guacamole with mad tortilla chips. The shrimp tacos that my cousin had was seasoned pretty well according to him. The bria tacos that my sister had was okay, she complained that it lacked seasoning to it. The main entrees that we all wanted was the MP Crispy fish of the day which was Red Snapper. However, it’s so popular there that they sold out quickly, which we all had to substitute the entrees that we ordered. Overall the ambience is great at this spot. I would definitely visit again for the experience. Their hookah was quite expensive in my opinion compared to majority of the spots, $45 where most places sale it for $25~$30. Our bill wasn’t that bad at all it came up to $150 for our drinks, appetizer and entrees. Keep in mind they automatically charge a gratuity service charge fee when using credit card. Also, I love how they do their birthday shot outs with a sign with your name and a shot of mixed tequila. I will definitely visit this spot again for the ambience, drinks, and to experience their sold out crispy fish of the day, lol…. All the staff there were pretty welcoming and friendly. Also, I will say its weird at the magnitude of security they have in this place, they all buffed out like their on steroids, some of them were wearing bullet proof vest, and they pat you down like you are entering the White House to see the president or entering a corrections facility. It’s a little overkill for me in a restaurant dining experience, Lmaoo.. However, I’m assuming past events required these staff to present themselves the way they do…
M JAYM JAY
00
So my sister and I were super excited to come here.. First I have to say that I thought there was absolutely no parking at all. On the side street there is a tiny parking lot for them which is ok because around Newark there is never parking. We walked in to this beautiful colorful area with sombreros and flowers.. 😍😍 The view was so beautiful 10/10 for sure.. Also the music was bumpin 10/10 Bruna was a server for the evening and she was polite and attentive.. My sister and I started with the Margaritas first! I had the Coconut & sister had the Pineapple.. they were 7/10 not bad but not great.. We started off with the Queso Fundido (stated by my sis HOT MILK ANYONE) is didn’t really have flavor is was more milky then anything and if you let it get cold it gets hard and clumpy so that was a 6/10 (our server gave us a warning so that’s fine) The Mexican Shrimp App was delicious 9/10 for sure came out hot with flavor to it. We also got a salad with shrimp that was super based with barely any dressing and tasty shrimp.. 5/10 So here we go with round two of drinks and my sis winded up getting a drink called Que Onda ☠️ 🥃 wellllllllll let’s say that she almost 😅 passed out with just a tiny little sip!!!! That drink was so potent that she probably grew hair on her back haha… that’s was a 1/10 (to eachs own) I decided to get a Coconut Mojito 😢 and it was not at all a good mojito 3/10 I feel like they were just scrambling to put ingredients together and it was bad bad I had to return it.. Bruna tried to explain that the coconut was the same they used for the margarita but the difference from margarita and mojito was literally completely different in coconut.. Bruna said that drinks can not be taken back because they would most likely not switch it for you.. I explained there was no way I was going to drink it and I needed it to be changed regardless… She was lovely and sent it back and replaced for a margarita BUT they still tasted similar so I kinda felt that they used part of the mojito for the margarita… my first drink was NOTHING compared to the last one.. well at the end of it we got our bill and paid out $74 cause the tip is automatically included.. Not sure if we would go back.. I see a lot of reviews here that are positive, maybe it was a bad day for us.. BUT maybe next time would be better.. I always give a resturant the benefit of the doubt you just never know.. it could have been a bad day for us or the bartenders..
Chris HernandezChris Hernandez
00
1st time coming to Little Tijuana yesterday for brunch and the experience was underwhelming. The weather was terrible (windy and rain), and the restaurant itself was not busy (about 4-5 empty tables at 2pm for our brunch time) downstairs. As the host was telling me where I was sitting to meet my 2 friends who had just gotten seated, the manager on duty told me that my attire was not allowed but he was willing to make an exception because the weather was bad out. First of all, I was not underdressed with wearing tight black moto pants with a crop top, however I had just walked in from the rain so I had my hooded jacket on (which also was not underdressed). Second of all, according to your dress policy on your website, a dress code is enforced on Friday and Saturday AFTER 7pm.. it was 2pm. Third of all, after I was spoken to and I was sitting and eating with my 2 friends, I was observing people around me only to notice that there were plenty of other people wearing active wear/sweat jackets, sneakers, beat up Tims, and CROCS in the same area that I was sitting. I felt extremely targeted and I would not be surprised at all because of my race. Our food was ok and the choices were limited, but I appreciate our waitress for being attentive and informative about the menu. We did get the platinum brunch option so it included bottomless margaritas and they were subpar. Also, I’m not sure if it is automated, but i did not find it on the menu that the restaurant includes gratuity in the bill. It was 3 of us and we only did brunch (no extras), but a gratuity was also added onto our bill, which is fine but I also was not tipping in addition to the tip we were billed for. At the end of our 90 minutes, we weren’t rushed away, in fact the other manager was super nice to us and said we can finish up our drinks and if we wanted to we could move to the bar. My takeaway from this restaurant is if you are looking for a bar/brunch where you want to put it on social media/ig then this is your spot. If you’re looking for good food and relaxing experience, then I would look elsewhere. Plenty of other great spots to go to!
Danielle KellyDanielle Kelly
00
This place was good for the atmosphere but definitely not worth the hype in my opinion. Came here on a Tuesday around 6:40 pm for a small girls night ( 3 people). The bill came up to $195 which to me seemed absurd and not reasonable. My table ordered the BLT tacos, fish tacos, Carne Asada, 2 orders of fries, 4 drinks and 3 shots. Below are the reasons why I would not give them 5 stars; *no water was given ( should be offered) *Fish tacos ( they chopped up the fish which seemed unusual to what we've normally been served) *Small portion sizes for the price, $16 for tacos that were not worth the quality ( these tacos were not apart of their taco Tuesday menu) * one host mentioned that we were able to pay in one form for the tacos due to their ATM machine being broken but our waiter said we can only have the deal if the whole table pays in cash *drinks were small and seemed watered down *Their "grande" drink is not that big, there are other locations that will sell bigger and better for that price $17 * hot air was blowing on our table the whole night *Gratuity was NEVER mentioned in menu, on their website ( that I can see), and never vocally mentioned until the receipt came out. They added an automatic $30 gratuity which was not mentioned. The service was decent. *I ordered the BLT tacos (bacon was THICK, so thick I had a hard time trying to chew it, my first bite of the taco was filled with fat) I did not enjoy it all I really ate was the tortillas and salsa. I understand that some bacon does have a thicker cut but not hard to chew on *Valet is $20 which seems unreasonable *if you want their photographer to take pictures it's $20 What was good; The music, the decor and our waitress. I really tried to give this place a chance but I do want to be very honest with my experience to be able to help others. If I had a choice this place would be a one and done for me. I've gone to the Chart house and have never paid this much money for a dinner and this is just very overpriced and not worth it. The food looked nice but in all honesty I have had better
Tatiana AmadorTatiana Amador
00
My friend and I went to celebrate her birthday weekend on august 11. We were very excited because we heard many great things about this place. Our night was going amazing until we experience something terrible no girl should go through. We decided that we wanted a table so we went to the vip a section to see if there was anything available. We were told that everything was taken. We are two short girl( around 5’1) .It was very tight so we had a hard time trying to get through the crowd. A large men around 5’8-5’10 weighting around 200 lbs is exiting the VIP area is PUSHING through. He pushes my friend and hurt her, she confront him about it and tells him to be careful, she was trying to get away from the crowded area just like he did. He was highly intoxicated, he got frustrated and started aggressively grabbing her and pushing her around, i got involved like any other friend would to defend their friend from getting physically assaulted. This man grabs both of us and started telling the security guard to kick us out. The security guard witness him handling us aggressively, instead of helping us from this intoxicated man he took us to the side and kicked us out with out no explanation. This place needs to learn how to handle situation like this better. Ladies please be careful if you decide to come here, it looks like this place doesn’t care about our safety at all and rather have an intoxicated man be there spending more money on liquor than protect their guest from potentially getting assaulted by this aggressive man. Everything happened so quick, i was terrified. I wish I got a good look of this man face and who was the security guard that witness everything and did nothing to protects us from this aggressive man. What is he there for if he can’t do his job correct ? Above is a picture of the bruise this man left on my friend.LADIES PLEASE BE SAFE, ILLL REPEAT THIS ONE MORE TIME. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR SAFETY.
Stephanie ChavezStephanie Chavez
00
Nearby Attractions Of Little Tijuana
Sports Illustrated Stadium
Seabra's Market
Independence Park
Independence Park
DoubleTree by Hilton Newark Penn Station
Evolution Fitness
NORTH AVE. DRIVING SCHOOL
SaveSmart of Newark
Element Harrison - Newark
Riverbank Park

Sports Illustrated Stadium
4.5
(2.6K)Click for details

Seabra's Market
4.2
(1K)Click for details

Independence Park
4.5
(922)Click for details

Independence Park
4.5
(920)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Little Tijuana
Fornos of Spain
Flaming Grill & Supreme Buffet
Famous Bartending School Newark NJ
Brasilia Grill
Sol-Mar Restaurant
Seabra's Marisqueira
Ferry Street Barbecue
Adega Grill
Krug's Tavern
Casa d'Paco

Fornos of Spain
4.6
(2K)Click for details

Flaming Grill & Supreme Buffet
4.2
(1.8K)Click for details

Famous Bartending School Newark NJ
4.9
(1.4K)Click for details

Brasilia Grill
4.2
(1.4K)$$
Click for details
Basic Info
Address
538 Market St, Newark, NJ 07105
Map
Phone
(973) 230-9417
Call
Website
littletijuana.com
Visit
Reviews
Overview
4.4
(1.8K reviews)
Ratings & Description
Description
Festive destination with outdoor seating & colorful decor serving tacos, quesadillas & margaritas.
attractions: Sports Illustrated Stadium, Seabra's Market, Independence Park, Independence Park, DoubleTree by Hilton Newark Penn Station, Evolution Fitness, NORTH AVE. DRIVING SCHOOL, SaveSmart of Newark, Element Harrison - Newark, Riverbank Park, restaurants: Fornos of Spain, Flaming Grill & Supreme Buffet, Famous Bartending School Newark NJ, Brasilia Grill, Sol-Mar Restaurant, Seabra's Marisqueira, Ferry Street Barbecue, Adega Grill, Krug's Tavern, Casa d'Paco

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