Restaurante 19 is one of the oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurants in Mexicali, and one of the best examples of the Cantonese-Mexican fusion that the city is known for. The menu reads recognisably Cantonese — chow mein, fried rice, sweet-and-sour pork, kung pao — but with portions sized to local appetites and a few clever local twists (jalapeños, larger rice servings, a generous helping of tortillas alongside the rice).
The dining room is unspectacular but well kept and almost always busy with families. Service is fast. Prices are modest by any standard. A useful representative of an entire restaurant tradition that you cannot easily find north of the border.