La Fonda Santa Clara

My favorite restaurant in Mazatlán? Hands-down, La Fonda Santa Clara en Olas Altas. Never been to Fonda Santa Clara, where do I begin? Never been to Olas Altas, well this is the stretch of coast on the south end of Mazatlán, down towards the faro, or lighthouse.

Let's start with the view. On the left is the island where las tortugas, the turtles, come to lay their eggs every year. On the right you can see the two southernmost of las tres islas. It doesn't get much better than this, and we're just getting started...

Fonda Santa Clara is where regulars come when they want to be near the beach but don't want to leave their home. Some come for a meal, some come for a drink, but most all stay for hours and hours. Just about every local in Mazatlán knows this place. Like they say about Hollywood and Vine, if you can't find somebody just come here. If you stay long enough, everyone comes by sooner or later.

El servicio

Chalio is the waiter here in the mornings (on the left), and has been for the last forty years. If you don't know him yet, you'll get very professional and courteous service, and he often handles every table in the place by himself. Once he gets to know you, assuming you understand spanish, he's the Don Rickles of Olas Altas.

Freddy is bartender and waiter in the evening (on the right). He's one of the nicest guys I know in México, and he's been my friend for about 15 years. We call him Astroboy, after the cartoon character, and you'll hear people yell "Freddy" or "Astro" about every five minutes as they drive El Malecón in front of the restaurant.

If you don't know Freddy then you don't know Olas Altas. If you do know him, then you've got a cool place to hang from late afternoon till they shut the place down.

I've gotten to know Javier during my current visit to Mazatlan. A waiter's waiter, you'll rarely notice him, the sign of a true professional. This guy is one of the wizest people I know, but like I say, he's a professional. If you want his opinion on something, you'll probably have to beat it out of him.

La Comida

Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, at La Fonda Santa Clara each plate is prepared individually and to order. The exception to this is los chiles rellenos, chiles stuffed with cheese and with an outer layer of egg batter, and one of my personal favorites. Los rellenos are traditionally prepared ahead of time everywhere in México, and those from La Fonda are as good as any I've ever had, and I've tried them throughout México, los Estados Unidos, and Canada. I originally found La Fonda twenty years ago as I searched throughout Mazatlán Viejo for my favorite food. I've been coming back here ever since.

Another delicacy you'll find here are two pollo, or chicken, dishes prepared with the most delicious salsa mole I've ever tasted, Mole Poblana and Enchiladas en Mole. If you are already familiar with mole, suffice it to say that this is certainly the best in Mazatlán and likely the best in the entire state of Sinalóa. If you've never tried mole, it is a chocolate based sauce combined with a couple dozen other ingredients, including several different types of chile peppers. Mole is not sweet, but rather delicate and fiery, something you simply have to sample to understand.

El dueño, the owner, Oscar is an accomplished chef, and imports the key ingredients for his mole from the city of Puebla, several hundred miles from Mazatlán, where this sauce was invented hundreds of years ago.One of the differences between other restaurants and La Fonda Santa Clara is that most restaurants use the same salsa for every plate. Here at La Fonda a special salsa is used for each specific dish, each recipe has been developed individually, and each is the personal pride of the chef and owner.

La musica - Los Rangers

The crowd favorite here is Los Rangers who play 60's rock-and-roll here every Sunday night. Lots of dancing and good times for all. This is an excellent way to close out the weekend.

Los Rangers forever!

La musica - Kannon

My personal favorite is El Grupo Kannon who play here every Friday and Saturday night. These guys play classic and contemporary rock-and-roll and in my humble opinion represent la futura de rock en Mazatlan.

Carlos Santana lives in my home town of Santa Cruz, California and I've seen him live twice at the Santa Cruz Civic and once in San Berdu about thirty years ago. These guys do a version of Europa that is every bit as good or better than the original.

The thing about Kannon, and everybody I've talked to says the same thing, is that they live for this music. They have an energy and charisma I haven't seen in ages.

For now, you can also catch these guys at Tony's in La Zona Dorada every Sunday and Monday night.

Semana de Las Motos - 2009

Semana de Las Motos - 2008