Club Papi – Tijuana

Club Papi returns to Tijuana

Date: November 15
Time: 9:00p – 3:00a
Place: Club Extasis aka Fusion   Facebook

Cost: click the photo for details – note different cost for US or MX nationals

The location is immediately over the border crossing and is about a 3 minute walk.

Fusion is known for it’s go-go boys and dark rooms.

Tijuana Places Map Update

See the Tijuana places map for recent updates.

Club Papi Tijuana

Date: January 24

Time: 9pm – 3am 

Place: Club Extasis

Cover: depends if you have US or MX ID.

MX: $200 MN   US: $25 USD

Open bar 9p until midnight

Club Extasis at the border is less than a 5 minute walk from the pedestrian border crossing.

For more information see: Club Papi  Baja Advisor Tijuana Map  Club Extasis

Tijuana Map Update

Click the link Tijuana Maps and Places or scan the QR code with your phone or tablet.

Tijuana Places Update

See the Tijuana map update at Gay Tijuana Map

Or scan here with your smart device:

Mariachi Divas and Baja Idol Finalists

Date:  Friday, May 31

Time: 7:00pm doors open, show at 8:00pm

Place: Rosarito Beach Hotel – Salon Mexicano

 

The Mariachi Divas are the Grammy award-winning all-female mariachi group. They are the most decorated mariachi ensemble of either gender. Also featured will be performances by Baja Idol’s most talented vocalists from the second season. 

 

Tickets for the event are $10.00 US (125 pesos) for General Admission or $16.00 US (200 pesos) for VIP Reserved Seating. The event is a benefit for the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Rosarito Beach.

 

 

Wanna smoke in TJ – stand outside

A few weeks ago there was a change in the local laws that prohibit smoking in bars and clubs in Tijuana.  This change has been rumored for several years ever since smoking was restricted in restaurants.  Other than signs that state NO FUMAR there has not been much change in the clientele and business has not dropped off.  


The most interesting part of the change is that the smoking ban also now applies to outdoor restaurants that have some sort of covering or awning over the tables.  The quick answer was to move more tables farther away so they are not covered by an overhang.  

Tijuana Gay Bars and Clubs

This is a current listing of the most popular cruise bars and dance clubs in Tijuana. Be sure to see the map for locations: Tijuana Map

BARS and NIGHTCLUBS

PLAZA SANTA CECILIA is located in downtown Tijuana between 1st Street and Avenida Revolución and 2nd & Constitución. Ave. This plaza is easy to find because the famous Arch is at the end on Av. Revolución while the other famous arch (Mc Donald’s) is at the other end on Constitución. Revolución is Tijuana’s main tourist spot full of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, and night clubs. The following bars are within Plaza Santa Cecilia. They open daily at 10:00 a.m. and remain open until at least 2:00 a.m., and even later on Fridays and Saturdays.

El Ranchero is TJs most popular men’s bar for cruising. It has a ground floor and upper level. The upper level gets the busiest. Clientele consists of men of all ages and all economic backgrounds from both sides of the border. Some hustlers work it as well.

Hawaii is a few doors to the right from El Ranchero as you look at the front door. It is most popular for its nightly male stripper shows.

Villa Garcia is just to the right from Hawaii and under the same ownership as El Ranchero. It usually doesn’t get very busy, but often has drag shows on a small stage. Bar D.F. is several doors to the left of El Ranchero. Clientele mainly consists of older locals and younger macho types who hustle them.

Cosmos / El Taurino.  Tijuana and is located just one block from Plaza Sta Cecilia at the corner of Articulo 1-2-3 (First street) and Constitucion.  Mixed bar gay and straight.  The strip shows often split the crowd evenly between gay men and straight women.

Premier is a strip club with all male dancers. This club is on Ave Revolucion, just down hill from the arch, located next to Motel Alaska. Club Premier

Club 45 Opened June 2011, located on Ave. Revolución between 1st & 2nd. First floor location of the old Closet Bar. Mixed crowd, drag shows. Opens in the late afternoon and shows start at 9:00 p.m.

DANCE CLUBS

Zky Blue is a spacious two-story, upscale dance club located in downtown Tijuana on Avenida Madero between 1st and 2nd (Juarez) Street, just one block east of Ave. Revolución. The building sits back from the street due to its front parking lot. Clientele primarily consists of middle-class twinks and middle-age men, middle-class on up, from both sides of the border.

Colibri is similar in atmosphere and clientele to Zky, only it is not as large. It is located at the corner of 2nd & Revolución. The entrance consists of a stairway accessible from Ave. Revolución. The sign on the corner has a humming bird.

Club 41 is known to have go-go dancers in cages and has a separate dance area between the entrance and bar. Club 41 is located between Colibri and Cameleon and attracts primarily the same crowd.

Cameleon is next to Club 41 as you head toward the arch. Younger dance crowd much like you will find in Colibri or Club 41.

Club Fusion (Extasis and Cahuamamamas) was once two separate clubs until the owner of both”fused” the two together. In Spring 2011, a wall was put up splitting Fusion from the old Extasis making Excess. Excess is primarily about strippers and had long dark areas with private rooms. Fusion remains open with drag shows and karaoke. Fusion has a smaller dark area as well. 

LESBIAN BARS

Yadira’s is located on Ave. Madero between 7th & 8th. It includes a number of pool tables and draws some straight clientele. Open from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Flame Bar is now under a new name and is a karaoke bar.  The status for being gay friendly is not known.  Location is Av Madero #158, across the street from Zky Blue on Ave.  Formerly called Bobby Bar, a smaller meeting place mostly for men. 

>When the sun goes down in Tijuana

>

Article by Rex Wockner

A new flowering of art and nightlife has taken hold in adowntown that once filled with partiers from north of the border.  Whenthe sun goes down in Tijuana,a revitalized club scene heats up.

Americans pretty much have stopped visiting the city, putoff at first by long lines at the border after 9/11, then stopped in theirtracks by a new requirement to have a passport to hop back and forth between San Diego and Tijuana,and now scared by crime reports.

The city’s famed Revolution Avenue — where booming discos,cheap booze, a drinking age of 18 and uncountable souvenir shops hadattracted hordes of Americans for decades — fell on hard times.

But then something remarkable happened. Trendy clubsstarted opening on Sixth Street, on either sideof Revolution, a little over two years ago. Stylish and fashionable, some ofthem feel like an Almodóvar movie, like Buenos Aires, maybe Barcelona.

These hotspots are devoid of American visitors, filled with Baja California trendsters.Yes, Tijuana has gone andgotten groovy.

Jason Fritz, 33, is an American grad student in LatinAmerican Studies at San Diego State University. He lives in Tijuana because he finds it much more interesting than San Diego.“A lot of edgy, young hipsters had been hanging out here on La Sexta (Sixth Street) before therewas any of the new cool bars here — at the Dandy del Sur and La Estrella –but in January of 2009, the Mezcalera opened up and that’s when things justreally took off,” he said. “You started to see a whole new hip sceneemerging in Tijuana.”

“If people are open-minded to discover what’shappening here, they will really be impressed,” Fritz said. “I wouldsay it’s one of the great cultural centers on the West Coast, but the thing is,most people aren’t in on the secret.”

The coolest clubs play “amazing new cutting-edge” local music, he said,referring to internationally known Tijuana creations thatblend regional and folk genres with the latest electronic music.

Fritz is not alone in gushing over this big border citythat many foreigners consider gritty at best.  Derrik Chinn, 29, is anAmerican journalist who has lived in Tijuana for four yearsand has organized “atypical” outings in the city for friends on both sidesof the fence. Recent adventures have included a professional soccer game, the Tijuana Fair and a rollerskating night.

Tijuanais”organized chaos taking an aesthetic form,” Chinn said. “Youhave hundreds of different little worlds existing right next to each other inone city block. It’s amazing.”

“So many spaces have been left empty because of thelack of tourism and finally local businesses started opening up that werefinally catering to locals,” he said. “If you come here from theoutside and you observe what’s going on here — how people dress, the musicthey’re listening to, their overall style — it really does feel like a hipsterscene. Despite everything, Tijuana keeps moving…it keeps living.”

Sergio Gonzalez, 34, is one of the owners of La Mezcalera, which started it all, as wellas an owner of retro-cool Pop Diner at6th and Revolution.

“People were afraid to go out at night two yearsago,” Gonzalez said. “The city was really messed up [so] peoplestarted to come downtown because they weren’t [as] afraid [here]. When weopened La Mezcalera, we tried to do the mix of everything: Come here, it’s notgoing to be a pretentious space, you can be around all kinds of people. And Ithink that was the formula to start to develop this phenomenon and, after that,30 bars opened in the same street!”

“The street is about seeing people,” Gonzalezsaid. “It’s really exciting to see people walking around and to see thecity alive. That, and the fact that you can go from bar to bar and each bar hasa different concept. The people who have opened these bars are young people whotravel and have been in Europe or Mexico City. … I was inspired byPedro Almodóvar. [My] bar is one of the scenes in the movie ‘Volver.’ Theplaces look kind of stylish even though they are really simple.”

OK, we hear you. Sounds great. You’d love to check it out.But isn’t Tijuana too”messed up”? Let’s crunch some numbers and see what we can learn. Tijuana,population 1.6 million, had 818 homicides last year. That’s a lot. It’s not asafe city like San Diego,population 1.3 million, which saw 29 homicides last year. But consider this:New Orleans’ homicide rate is roughly the same as Tijuana’s, and St. Louis,Detroit and Baltimore saw homicide rates last year more than two-thirds as highas Tijuana’s. Beyond that, most of the violence in Tijuana
is not random.

“The violence that we live here is not fortourists,” said Gonzalez, a Tijuana native.”It’s a war between the police and the narcos. It’s nothing to do with thecommon citizen or the tourist.”

Fritz once lived in Baltimore and said it’s “a muchmore frightening town than Tijuana.  “I’ve never really felt threatened here.”

Chinn said humans tend to “identify with whatever weread in the newspaper: ‘That could happen to me.’ The trick is that, no, itprobably won’t happen to you. It really doesn’t affect our lives like peoplewould think.”

That certainly feels true on the downtown club scene. Toget to the action, head down Revolution to Sixth, turn right or left and startbarhopping. Check out trendy Don Loope, Callejón de la Sexta, La Mezcalera, La Chupitería, Zebra and Tasca.Iconic cantinas on the street include Dandy del Sur (said to be a favorite of movie starsDiego Luna and Gael García Bernal of “Y Tu Mamá También” fame) andTropic’s Bar. The blue-collar dancehall La Estrella also is a classic. Beer is$2. Absolut vodka goes for a bit over $4.  Fritz suggests starting with dinnerat Caesar’s, 8190 Revolución at Fifth Street.

Something else new and cool to explore is Pasaje Rodríguez, along passageway between Revolución and Constitución avenues that’s accessiblefrom Revolución between Third and Fourth streets.

“It’s all these independent galleries and shops,”Chinn said. “Most of the owners are under 30. They’re selling vintageclothing, accessories, housewares stuff. There’s cafes and bookstores.”

And although there are shuttered storefronts on Revolution,the old tourist drag is far from dead. On a recent Saturday evening, theremaining clubs, along with surviving and new restaurants, were busy. And thereare even a couple of nice new hotels with rooms for around $30 a night. Thesidewalks were hopping — 100 percent Mexican, a remarkable change for SouthernCalifornians who remember when trying to entice Tijuana friends toRevolution Avenue elicited howls of horror.

In a phrase, it seems this ain’t your daddy’s Tijuana no more.

Written for MSN Local Edition

Additionalresources:  Tijuanalandia Turista Libre La Mezcalara Pop Diner TJ Don Loope Cantina Zebra Mexican Pub Tasca TJ Dandy Del Sur Cantina Pasaje Rodriguez

>Tijuana gay bars update

>This is a current listing of the most popular cruise bars and dance clubs in Tijuana. Be sure to see the map for locations: Tijuana Map

BARS and NIGHTCLUBS

PLAZA SANTA CECILIA is located in downtown Tijuana between 1st Street and Avenida Revolución and 2nd & Constitución. Ave. This plaza is easy to find because the famous Arch is at the end on Av. Revolución while the other famous arch (Mc Donald’s) is at the other end on Constitución. Revolución is Tijuana’s main tourist spot full of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, and night clubs. The following bars are within Plaza Santa Cecilia. They open daily at 10:00 a.m. and remain open until at least 2:00 a.m., and even later on Fridays and Saturdays.

> El Ranchero is Tj’s most popular men’s bar for cruising. It has a ground floor and upper level. The upper level gets the busiest. Clientele consists of men of all ages and all economic backgrounds from both sides of the border. Some hustlers work it as well.

> Hawaii is a few doors to the right from El Ranchero as you look at the front door. It is most popular for its nightly male stripper shows.

> Villa Garcia is just to the right from Hawaii and under the same ownership as El Ranchero. It usually doesn’t get very busy, but often has drag shows on a small stage. Bar D.F. is several doors to the left of El Ranchero. Clientele mainly consists of older locals and younger macho types who hustle them.

> Cosmos – formerly El Taurino.  Tijuana and is located just one block from Plaza Sta Cecilia at the corner of Articulo 1-2-3 (First street) and Constitucion.  Mixed bar gay and straight.  The strip shows often split the crowd evenly between gay men and straight women.

> Premier is a strip club with all male dancers. This club is on Ave Revolucion, just down hill from the arch, located next to Motel Alaska. Club Premier

DANCE CLUBS

> Zky Blue is a spacious two-story, upscale dance club located in downtown Tijuana on Avenida Madero between 1st and 2nd (Juarez) Street, just one block east of Ave. Revolución. The building sits back from the street due to its front parking lot. Clientele primarily consists of middle-class twinks and middle-age men, middle-class on up, from both sides of the border.

> Colibri is similar in atmosphere and clientele to Zky, only it is not as large. It is located at the corner of 2nd & Revolución. The entrance consists of a stairway accessible from Ave. Revolución. The sign on the corner has a humming bird.

> Club 41 is known to have go-go dancers in cages and has a separate dance area between the entrance and bar. Club 41 is located between Colibri and Cameleon and attracts primarily the same crowd.

> Cameleon is next to Club 41 as you head toward the arch. Younger dance crowd much like you will find in Colibri or Club 41.

> Club Fusion (Extasis & Cahuamamamas) is approximately one block west of the San Ysidro border crossing on Calle Larroque just west of Av de la Amistad. This area is called Plaza Viva Tijuana and is where the Mc Donald’s is located just inside Tijuana at the pedestrian gate. If you cross the border on foot through the turnstiles, keep walking until you see the large “Tourist Information” booth slightly to your right, where you will then make a sharp right turn and walk to the next set of turnstiles. After passing through those turnstiles, keep walking across the street at the crosswalk, and continue in the same direction along the sidewalk for about a half a block to the entrance to the club. Club Fusion was once two separate clubs (Extasis and Cahuamamamas) until the owner of both “fused” the two together. The club is spacious, upscale, and includes male stripper shows and long, narrow dark rooms. Clientele primarily consists of twinks and middle-age men, middle-class on up, from both sides of the border.

LESBIAN BARS

> Yadira’s is located on Ave. Madero between 7th & 8th. It includes a number of pool tables and draws some straight clientele. Open from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

> Flame Bar is directly across the street from Zky Blue on Ave. Madero between 1st and 2nd, formerly called Bobby Bar.