Navio Seafood and Drinks: Sonoran Blood. Tijuanense Heart.

TIJUANA, B.C. – “My father is from Chihuahua, but my mother and grandmother are Sonoran,” chef Julio Rodríguez began as he welcomed us into Navio Seafood & Drinks. Navio is a bright, smartly designed restaurant located in an otherwise nondescript strip mall on bustling Agua Caliente Boulevard.

Rodríguez showed us to our seats and continued, “My grandmother comes from a small fishing village in Sonora called Yavaros. Since I was a kid, I’ve been in love with the way she and my mother cook. This is where my interest in working with seafood began. We recognize this family connection in some of our dishes here. The smoked tuna we serve, for example, is one of my mother’s recipes from Sonora.”

But while Sonora may provide the bloodline to Rodríguez’s menu, its heart resides solidly in Tijuana; pumping rhythmically like a dropped Nortec beat to the city’s myriad street food offerings…

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