Kind of a so-so atmosphere, but not unpleasant.

On the way to our seats, we spotted the large and varied bar of salsas, sauces and other toppings. It’s impressively large!

Rolling toppings and salsas buffet of deliciousness.

We started off with a round of aguas frescas, ordering four of the six or so available flavors. They are $1.89 each, and we got horchata, melon, mango, and tamarindo. The horchata was good, but not as good as the one I had at Taquiera Michoacan. However, it was cheaper and I don’t intend on returning to Taquiera Michocan, so Tijuana’s wins! I sampled them all and they were all good – and everyone liked their drinks, though Stephen only sorta-kinda.

Ashley ordered a oaxacan chicken tamale ($2.99) and a mexican chorizo tostada ($2.50), both of which turned out to be huge for the price. I tasted them both, and while I wasn’t wowed by the tamale, I thoroughly enjoyed the tostada. It seems like a great dish for piling on stuff from that toppings bar. We should note that the tamale was not only cheaper than one from Bone Garden (our gold standard for mexican, apparently), but larger as well.

Oaxacan tamale.

Mexican chorizo tostada. Teh noms.

Stephen ordered epically large steak nachos extra. (Nachos extra as in the larger size. Way larger, apparently.) This things were only $6.99, and look at how huge it is! Ridiculous value. He liked them okay, but says he enjoys the ones at Alvarado’s ( a joint farther up BuHi) more.

No he didn’t finish that. Soooo big.

Adam and I splitsied a mega chorizo burrito ($5.79) and the sopa de mariscos (seafood soup – $9.99). The mega burrito was indeed big. It was tasty and while cheaper than and as big as a Bone Garden burrito, it wasn’t as good. It was pretty average, but there are some damn good burritos in Atlanta, so I can forgive this. Not every one can be a winner.

Pretty darn big! Excuse me, I mean mega.

The soup. Ohmigawd, the soup. This wasn’t a “seafood” soup that was actually just shrimp. Nor was it was I was expecting, which was a decent but not large amount of maybe three types of seafood. No, this had five types of seafood in large quantities. And the soup base was absolutely to die for. The color was bright and cheery, and the tasty was… to die for. Just fantastic. And big.

Here’s all the sauces we tried. And a jalepeno. Hot tortillas are hiding in the foil there, though I found the soup to be quite filling without them.

Sopa de mariscos.

An interior shot of the burrito.

In the end we were as a group, torn between 3.5 and 4 stars. It could be difficult to order if you can’t do spanish and/or are too shy to ask for help. The booth we sat at was pretty crappy, AKA broken, but perhaps not all of them were. The atmosphere was lackluster. But we try to do these ratings based on the position a restaurant holds in the world, not some pie-in-the-sky ideal. As a “crappy” restaurant, which is to say, not a place you’d take someone to impress them (unless they are a foodie), that is open 24 hours a day, and very cheap, this place is 4 stars. Compared to other places on it’s level, the value for your money is through the roof. While the more stereotypical mexican basics were kind of blah (burrito, nachos), the specialty items were super amazing. So… 4 stars. Check it out for good, cheap eats and a larger than normal (thus so far) selection of aguas frescas.

Lastly here’s a little bit of endearing “lost in translation” to brighten your day:

Please do not waste! Baskets tank you!

Tijuana’s Taco-Mex
3360 Buford Highway NE
Atlanta, GA 30329