Fonda del Barrio Now Open In Barrio Logan
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| Salpicon de Jaiba (courtesy photo) |
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant at 2234 Logan Avenue in the Chicano heritage-rich community of Downtown San Diego is divided into two areas – a traditional dining room and a bar/lounge.
Torres, Executive Chef Eduardo Baeza, and Sous Chef Jesus Rodriguez will offer the cuisine of mainland Mexico by utilizing ancestral pre-Hispanic flavors and European influences such as Oaxacan mole sauces, Mayan achiote rubs, and handmade masa. The menu features dishes from each of Mexico’s seven primary culinary regions – North Mexico, North Pacific Coast, Bajío, Central Mexico, South Pacific Coast, Gulf Coast, and South Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula).
Entrées to be featured include Ciudad de Mexico-style Filete de Res Porfirio (filet mignon filled with panela and cotija cheeses in a squash blossom white wine sauce), Pulpo Sarandeado (Sayulita-style octopus), Puebla-style Puerco Manchamanteles (thinly sliced pork loin medallions with traditional mole sauce), and Cholula-style Pollo en Mole de Guayaba (27-ingredient guava mole).
Starters include Salpicon de Jaiba (Papantla-style tostada with gulf crab meat and flounder fish), Mango Habanero Aguachile (shrimp crudo), and Dedos de Pescado (Ensenada-style golden fish sticks with potato and corn grain breading). Huasteca Potosina tortilla soup and fresh-tossed Pasquaro-style house guacamole are also available.
Desserts include Ciudad de Mexico-style Flan de Elote (traditional Mexican custard infused with corn), Tlaquepaque-style Frutas Borrachas (seasonal fruits flambéed with tequila and finished with French vanilla ice cream), and “mole for dessert” according to Torres – a San Cristobal-style house creation panela cheese slices topped with a sweet potato mousse, fresh berries, crumbled amaranth, dehydrated pasilla chile, and pumpkin and sesame seeds over a bed of chocolate mole.
Torres is originally from Mexico City, and he moved to San Diego in 1992. Chef Baeza, also a Mexico City native, has a relationship with Torres dating more than 25 years. They first worked together at the Downtown San Diego restaurant Candelas, where Torres was a waiter and Baeza served as Executive Chef. Baeza is now the Executive Chef of all Torres’s operations, including Tour de Tapas (est. December 2024) and the seven City Tacos locations (est. May 2014).
“Being a part of the Barrio Logan community has been my goal for a long, long time,” Torres said. “There may not be a more culturally exciting area in all of San Diego, and we are blessed to be even a small part of it. The chefs and I want this restaurant to feel like home, and we welcome everyone to our hacienda that will always be filled with great food, great service, cool vibes, and unrelenting love.”
Similar to homes/haciendas in Mexico and Spain, plants and succulents provide the décor throughout the restaurant.
Fonda del Barrio has a capacity of 90, and it features all locally sourced furniture, including pieces from Consignment Classics. The traditional dining room has French doors that open to patio seating along Logan Avenue. The bar/lounge area has a garage door that opens to Logan Avenue with high-top bar seating and outdoor patio tables.
The cocktail program was curated by Rudy Corona, and it focuses on Mexican spirits tequila and mezcal. Mexican craft beer will also be served, as well as wines from the acclaimed Valle de Guadalupe region. Coffee service will be exclusively café de olla, a traditional Mexican coffee made in an olla de barro – or clay pot – and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and star anise, and sweetened with piloncillo.
Live entertainment will be featured Thursday – Sunday on the bar/lounge side of the restaurant. Torres is planning to introduce weekend brunch service in September.
Fonda del Barrio is only 0.2 mile from historic Chicano Park and 0.7 mile from the Barrio Logan stop on the MTS Trolley’s Blue Line.
