Ensenada is a seafood town with a wine problem. The port delivers fish. Valle de Guadalupe delivers grapes. Thirty-five craft breweries deliver hops. Pizza has no obvious place in that equation. But the best pizza in Ensenada exists because of that equation. The ovens are wood-fired. The dough ferments with wine lees. The toppings come off the boat. This is not pizza that ignores where it lives. This is pizza that could only exist here.
We ate our way through Ensenada’s pizza scene. From the wine country hills of San Antonio de las Minas to the downtown strip on Calle Segunda, these five tell the story. A port city took Italian technique and made it Baja.
What Makes the Best Pizza in Ensenada Different
Valle de Guadalupe sits 30 minutes east. It produces 90 percent of Mexico’s wine from more than 100 wineries. That proximity changed how Ensenada eats. Wine pairings are not an afterthought here. They are infrastructure. One of the best pizzerias in town started as a wine tasting room. The pizza was an accident. The accident became the business.
The craft beer revolution deepened the connection. More than 35 breweries operate across four circuits in and around Ensenada. Several pair house-brewed beer with wood-fired pizza under the same roof. One family runs the pizzeria and the brewery from the same ranch in the hills.
Ensenada’s port adds what no other Baja city can match. Fresh shrimp, mussels, and local catch arrive daily. Pizza toppings here include things you will not find on a menu in Tijuana or Mexicali. The seafood is not imported. It came off a boat this morning.
Italian immigrants arrived during the Porfirian era in the late 1800s. They left traces in the food culture, including a documented spaghetti factory. The modern pizza scene is not a direct continuation of that heritage. It is a new wave of entrepreneurs, some Italian, some not, building on the ingredients and economy the port and the vineyards created.
Prices range from 100 pesos ($5 USD) for a late-night slice to 400 pesos ($20 USD) for a full dinner with wine. Ensenada’s pizza is not expensive. It is simply good in ways that reflect where it comes from.
1. Ochentos Pizza
The name comes from a motorcycle. The founder rode an 80cc bike as a young man, and the nickname stuck. Everyone called him Ochento. His daughter Jacqueline runs the operation now. The family started with a cookie bakery in 1999, selling Angelinos cookies from a small kitchen. A fire forced them to rebuild. Ochento looked at the new equipment and decided to add pizza. The cookies stopped. The pizza never did.
The main location sits at the base of a hillside in San Antonio de las Minas. This is where Valle de Guadalupe’s wine country begins. The setting is rustic. The oven is wood-fired. The craft beer comes from the same property. El Chivo Gruñón, the family’s brewery, operates from the ranch. Julián named it after his grandfather’s nickname: “the angry goat.” The beer debuted at the 2015 Ensenada Beer Fest. It has not left the tap since.
Ochentos is the place where pizza, craft beer, and wine country converge in one family’s backyard. No other pizzeria in Ensenada has that combination.
What to Order
The Cameron pizza with shrimp and chipotle. This is the house signature. The chipotle heat cuts the richness of the shrimp without overwhelming it. Follow it with the mushroom appetizer. Ask for whatever El Chivo Gruñón has on draft. Budget 200 to 300 pesos ($10 to $15 USD) per person. Family-sized pizzas run around 400 pesos ($20 USD).
What to Know
Two locations. Valle Dorado is open daily noon to 8 PM. San Antonio de las Minas runs Wednesday through Sunday, 1 PM to 10 PM. The San Antonio location is the one to visit. The drive into the valley is part of the experience. Cards accepted. The setting is family-friendly with hillside views.
Details
Address: Rancho Cimarrón S/N, San Antonio de las Minas 22766, Ensenada, B.C.
Hours: Wed-Sun 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM (San Antonio). Daily 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM (Valle Dorado).
Phone: +52 646 116 4001
2. Cava Ocho
Eight friends started a wine project. Juan Pablo Arroyuelo led the group. They produced their own label through Vinícola Rincón de Guadalupe in the San Vicente Valley. The winemaker was Lourdes Martínez Ojeda, trained in French Grand Cru vineyards with more than 13 years of experience. In 2014, they opened a tasting room on Calle Ocho in downtown Ensenada to pour their Bruma Ocho wines. On opening day, someone lit the wood-fired oven. They cooked pizzas for the guests. The pizzas outsold the wine.
The tasting room became a restaurant. The wine stayed. The pizza took over. Today Cava Ocho is a place where the Chardonnay and the Margherita arrive together and neither feels like an afterthought. The outdoor seating fills on weekends. Live music plays. The wood-fired oven runs all night.
What to Order
Start with whatever is open from the Bruma Ocho line. The Sauvignon Blanc pairs clean with the house pizza. The mushroom pizza pairs better with the Reserva red. Ask the staff to match. They know the wine because they made it. Budget 300 to 400 pesos ($15 to $20 USD) per person with a glass of wine.
What to Know
The restaurant sits on Calle Ocho in the downtown zone. Walkable from Hussong’s Cantina and the tourist strip but far enough to feel local. Weekend evenings fill fast. No reservations confirmed in research. Cards accepted. The vibe leans more wine bar than pizzeria, which is the point.
Details
Address: Calle 8 #160, Zona Centro, 22800 Ensenada, B.C.
Hours: Check social media for current schedule. Weekend evenings are peak.
Phone: Check Instagram or Facebook (@cavaocho)
3. Tanto Santo Pizza Kitchen
Tania Livier arrived in Ensenada from Mexicali in 2011. She did not come to make pizza. She worked through the kitchens of Criollo Tapería, Sarmiento, and Casa Marcelo. She helped organize the Valle Food and Wine Festival. She built a reputation as one of the region’s most capable chefs. In 2020, she opened Tanto Santo inside the historic Bodegas de Santo Tomás complex on Calle Miramar.
The pizza is sourdough. Not the generic sourdough label. Tania ferments her dough with enological yeasts from wine lees. The same organisms that make Valle de Guadalupe wine shape the crust. The hydration is high. The fermentation is long. The result is a crust with depth that standard pizza dough cannot reach. She fires it in a stone oven and changes the toppings with the seasons.
What to Order
The Purple Rain. The name changes with the menu, but ask for whatever seasonal pizza Tania is running. The Margherita is the baseline test. The Nutella calzone is dessert. Do not skip it. Budget 300 to 400 pesos ($15 to $20 USD) per person. Weekend brunch is also available.
What to Know
Located inside Plaza Bodegas de Santo Tomás, the historic winery complex on Miramar. The space connects directly to Ensenada’s wine heritage. Cards accepted. The restaurant is small. Weekend evenings draw the food-industry crowd. Tania is often in the kitchen.
Details
Address: Miramar 666, Local 10, Plaza Bodegas de Santo Tomás, Zona Centro, 22800 Ensenada, B.C.
Hours: Check Instagram (@tantosantoens) for current hours. Brunch on weekends.
Phone: Check social media
4. Ennio’s Restaurante Italiano
Ennio is from Italy. He ran a restaurant in San Clemente, California. Then he moved to Ensenada and opened on the waterfront boulevard. The reasons are his own. What matters is what he brought: handmade pasta, house-cured sausage, and pizza made the way an Italian trained in Italy makes pizza. No Baja Med fusion. No craft beer tie-in. No wine lees in the dough. Just Italian food from an Italian cook in a city that needed one.
The restaurant sits on Boulevard Costero near the cruise ship dock. The music is Italian. The atmosphere is Italian. Ennio works the room. He is not a distant owner who shows up for the books. He is the chef and the host. The pizzas are New York and Chicago influenced, which sounds contradictory for an Italian, but Ennio spent years in California. The crust shows both traditions. The Bianca is the one regulars order.
What to Order
The Bianca. White pizza, no tomato sauce, olive oil and cheese. This is the pizza that shows the dough. The Chicago-style deep dish is the heavier option for a hungry table. Start with the handmade pasta if you want proof that the kitchen is serious beyond pizza. Budget 300 to 400 pesos ($15 to $20 USD) per person.
What to Know
Open daily 11 AM to 10 PM. The boulevard location means cruise ship traffic during port days. Go at dinner for the quieter crowd. Cards accepted. The waterfront setting is Ensenada’s prettiest dining corridor. Parking is easier on weeknights.
Details
Address: Blvd. Costero 999, Zona Centro, 22810 Ensenada, B.C.
Hours: Daily 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Phone: +52 646 178 8425
5. La Stella Pizza
La Stella opened in 2011 on Calle Segunda, the downtown artery where tourists and locals cross paths. It has been selling New York-style slices from the same corner for 15 years. The owner is a woman who greets every table. Her name does not appear on the signage or the social media. She is the type of operator who lets the pizza do the talking.
The style is thin crust, sold by the slice or whole. The basil is fresh. The olive oil is good. The dough is right. Thursday through Saturday, the kitchen stays open until 2:30 in the morning. In a city where most pizza closes by 10, La Stella owns the late-night window. The pesto pizza is the one that shows up in every recommendation. The apple and cheese pizza is the one that surprises first-timers.
What to Order
The pesto pizza. This is the reputation builder. Follow it with a slice of the apple and cheese if you trust the kitchen. You should. The Margherita is the safe call. A single slice works for a snack. Two slices and a drink make a meal. Budget 100 to 200 pesos ($5 to $10 USD) per person. This is the most affordable pizza on this list.
What to Know
Open Monday through Wednesday 1 PM to 9:30 PM. Thursday through Saturday 1 PM to 2:30 AM. Closed Sundays. The late-night hours on weekends are the secret. La Stella is the only quality pizza in Ensenada available after midnight. The Calle Segunda location is walkable from every downtown hotel. A second location operates in El Sauzal. Cards accepted.
Details
Address: Calle Segunda 377 (between Ruiz and Obregón), Zona Centro, 22880 Ensenada, B.C.
Hours: Mon-Wed 1:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Thu-Sat 1:00 PM to 2:30 AM. Closed Sun.
Phone: +52 646 204 8489
Tips for Your First Visit
A pizza crawl across three stops in Ensenada runs 600 to 1,000 pesos ($30 to $50 USD) per person with drinks. A single dinner at any spot on this list costs 200 to 400 pesos ($10 to $20 USD).
Ensenada sits 90 minutes south of the Tijuana border crossing on Highway 1. The drive is coastal and scenic. Most restaurants on this list cluster in the downtown Zona Centro, within walking distance of each other. Ochentos is the exception. The San Antonio de las Minas location adds 20 minutes east, into the valley where wine country begins.
Pair the pizza crawl with a wine tasting. Valle de Guadalupe is 30 minutes from downtown. Start with wine, end with pizza. Cava Ocho and Tanto Santo both pour local wines with their pies. Ochentos pours its own craft beer. Ennio’s is the pure Italian play. La Stella is the late-night closer.
Cards work everywhere on this list. Ensenada’s weather is mild year-round compared to Mexicali’s desert heat. Outdoor seating is comfortable most evenings. Weekend nights draw crowds downtown. Thursday is the sweet spot for a quieter crawl.
For burgers in Ensenada, see our guide to the best burgers in Ensenada. For pizza in other Baja cities, check our guides to the best pizza in Tijuana and the best pizza in Mexicali.