Do you like fresh oysters, clams and crabmeat? Do you also have an affinity for excellent Mexican pastries with a made to order omelet? How about adding a healthy selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and dips to compliment your meal? Do you enjoy the company of other likeminded folks celebrating the beauty of the morning and the Ensenada, Baja California area? All the while savoring perhaps the best biscuits and gravy you have ever experienced keeps calling you back for another serving. Would you like to have an all you can eat Sunday brunch for 10$ that includes all of the above plus a magnificent view of the Todos Santos Bay, Islands, and the Punta Banda ridge? Well my friends out there in GillBillyville, Baja Mamas Restaurant is definitely the place for you.
More a gathering at a treasured friend’s house than a restaurant, this place will charm you with not only the generous board of fare, but perhaps more importantly the new people you will meet and blessings you will delight in sharing together. After all, isn’t that what Sunday is all about, a day of rest and exaltation in the good lives we all are able to share? And yes, you will need to rest after this generous feed. You can grab a book in the library facing the beach, walk the beach, or just relax in the company of your new acquaintances. Dogs are welcome here and they too will look forward to Sunday as you will after visiting Linda, Ralph, Mike and their friendly cast of helpers.
Baja Mamas is located just off the road to the Blo-Hole or La Bufadora about 20 miles south from Ensenada on the sand spit that extends out into the Todos Santos Bay. Make the right turn at the last stop light and the “Y” split in the road as you pass out of Maneadero en route to the wine country of Santo Tomas and on to La Paz and the south cape of the Baja peninsula. After you turn right, be aware of the series of 7 speed bumps along this road, as they are very dangerous if you go over them at high speed. 7.3 miles after you exit highway 1 you will see a white sign on the right hand side of the road marked “Aguacaliente”. Make a right turn on this road, most of which is paved but there is a short ½ mile dirt section that navigates you to the paved road. About a mile after the occupied guard shack (just wave as this guy as he is just there to keep out the bad guys which you obviously are not) you will see one of the yellow Baja Mama signs guiding you to turn left toward the beach. Here you will encounter another guard gated stop at the end of the road. After a short uphill dirt road along a high wall you turn left to the restaurant a short distance down the road on your right and on the beach.
Today we took a fishing buddy that has definitely been around the block a few times and is a hardened Baja vet. Knowing the area, the available oyster, clam and crab population, we were interested as to his response to the feed. 3 buckets of clamshells later he was still smiling broadly and struggling with the urge to go back for more! These tasty treats are brought up from 100 miles south farmed from San Quintin where the water is much cleaner and the harvest much more pure of the pollutants up north. Oh, and yes for 10 bucks this is an all you can eat brunch establishment; we figured our buddy ate more than his share at that price plus had a serving of his own custom omelet and all the refreshment he could drink. I told Baha Mama he’d have to find his own way out there next time! No worries as she gets a kick out of making sure all are fed righteously and all the food is consumed by the end of the weekly Sunday brunch.
Linda, aka Baja Mama is you hostess, Fred, her husband and greeter, and Mike, their son and cook will all basically “Make Your Day”. This custom of serving started when they lived in Michigan. Weekly informal gatherings of families at their house grew to a scope that they were forced to develop the talent they now share for making all feel at home and comfortably well fed.
Chuck Clark
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