Bar entertainment in Mexico
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La Botica
Like an old apothecary, La Botica dispenses its elixirs from squat bottles lined up on the shelf. Available varieties are suitably scribbled on pieces of cardboard – try the cuesh, distilled from a wild maguey in Oaxaca. La Botica has opened other branches with similar hours at Campeche 396 in Condesa, and Orizaba 161 in Colonia Roma.
reviewed
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B
La Viña de Bacco
At San Cristóbal’s first wine bar, chatty patrons spill out onto the street, a pedestrian block of the main drag. It’s a convivial place, pouring a large selection of Mexican options (among others), starting at a reasonable M$18 per glass.
reviewed
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C
La Bodeguita del Medio
The walls are scribbled with verses and messages at this animated branch of the famous Havana joint. Have a mojito, a Cuban concoction of rum and mint leaves, and enjoy the excellent son cubano combos that perform here.
reviewed
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D
El Paraíso
This smart bar in the southwest corner of the Mercado González Ortega attracts a friendly, varied, mostly 30s clientele; it’s busiest on Friday and Saturday.
reviewed
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E
Cerdo de Babel
The sociable Cerdo de Babel, with jazz and other mellow music on the stereo, is an intimate bar on the pedestrianized part of Ocampo.
reviewed
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Plazuela del Zacate
There's buzzing nightlife in Cuernavaca, supported by a year-round student population who keep places busy every night of the week. The most accessible bars are around Plazuela del Zacate and the adjacent alley Las Casas, where there's a selection of fun joints, most of which offer live music or karaoke, not making them great for a quiet beer. These places all open around sunset and typically don't shut their doors until around sunrise. There are no cover charges.
reviewed
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G
Bengala
This low-lit concept bar evokes a desert trek, with decor influenced by Casablanca and The Sheltering Sky, though disco-friendly DJs may put you on an entirely different plane. Its slightly out-of-the-way location only adds to the conspiratorial air. Have a ‘Module’ (a green cocktail of cucumber, Pernod and mescal) and mingle with the film and TV figures who customarily pop up here.
reviewed
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La Lunita
In the shadow of the Pirámide Tepanapa, this raucous, family-run bar has been in business since 1939. Painted in bright colors and decorated with an assortment of old advertising posters and other knick-knacks, La Lunita looks a lot like the movie version of a Mexican cantina. But this isn’t a tourist spot. It’s popular with locals, who come for its broad-ranging menu, live music and plentiful drinks.
reviewed
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El Nivel
The country's first cantina proudly displays its license (No 1), dating from 1855. Inside the building that once housed the hemisphere's first university, it's within shouting distance of the Palacio Nacional. Since then, every Mexican president except Vicente Fox has stopped in for a trago. The botanas (drinking snacks) here are particularly fine.
reviewed
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Hemingway's
Saunter into this sophisticated cigar and tequila lounge for good smokes and great swill. The tequila bar features over 150 premium tequilas, and you can purchase a tasting of five types (which keeps you from getting drunk and going broke too quickly). There's a walk-in humidifier for top-end Cuban puros (cigars), and the bar serves knockout mojitos and daiquiris.
reviewed
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La Prisciliana
La Prisciliana is laid-back and stylish, with arched windows, burgundy walls, worn tile floors and an antique wood bar in an old colonial building. It can get wild late and there’s a drag show from time to time, but usually things stay chill. Downstairs Club Ye Ye is smaller but louder and wilder, with metallic decor and a club soundtrack.
reviewed
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L
Casa Bariachi
This bright barn-like restaurant-bar has romantic lighting and leather chairs, along with piñatas and colorful papel picado (cutout paper) hanging from the ceiling. This place may fail the hipster test, but the margaritas are bathtub big and mariachis jam from 4pm to 11pm daily. It’s about a 10-minute taxi ride west of the city center.
reviewed
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Dandy del Sur
For something more down-to-earth than many La Revo watering holes, hit this Tijuana classic. The sort of nostalgic dive that would make Tom Waits proud, it's been around since 1957, and the charreada (Mexican rodeo) photos, vinyl barstools, mixed clientele and eclectic jukebox make it one of the most interesting places downtown.
reviewed
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Siete de Copas/La Tequilera
This bar complex features Siete de Copas, a large, somewhat rowdy modern cantina (imagine a contemporary version of the one in Robert Rodriguez' From Dusk Till Dawn); and La Tequilera, a two-story bar with dueling live music on the open-air roof upstairs and indoors in the bar down below. Both attract the city's young and hip.
reviewed
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La Fuente
La Fuente, set in the old Edison boiler room, is an institution – and a rather friendly one. It’s been open since 1921 and is mostly peopled by regulars – older men who start drinking too early. But they treat newcomers like family and women like queens. A bass, piano, violin trio sets up and jams from sunset until last call.
reviewed
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El Colmillo
DJs crank the volume to coccyx-crunching levels at this hallucinogenic hangout. Downstairs there's a dance floor on which to take advantage of the music (deep house; psychedelic trance) and a bar-lounge area; a more subdued upstairs lounge has performance events. The line at the door doesn't keep people waiting too long.
reviewed
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P
Bar Berta
By rights Berta should be flooded with lost-looking tourists, but instead there’s a clientele of local roughs knocking back stiff drinks and watching fútbol. There’s a tiny upstairs terrace for people-watching over the zócalo. Try a berta (tequila, honey, lime and mineral water), the house specialty.
reviewed
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Q
La Camelia
This restaurant-cantina has been drawing Mexican celebrities since 1931, as evidenced by the star-studded photos on the walls. On Friday and Saturday karaoke nights, it’s your time to shine with a rendition of, say, Michael Jackson or Madonna. Liquid courage comes in the form of tequila or cerveza mexicana.
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La Casa del Mezcal
Open since 1935, this is one of Oaxaca’s most atmospheric bars, 1½ blocks south of the Zócalo. It’s a cantina, but a reasonably respectable one. One room has a large stand-up bar and shelves full of mezcal; the other room has tables where botanas are served. Most, but not all, customers are men.
reviewed
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Cinna Bar
Looking at Parque España through red-tinted windows, this lounge-cum-dining room sports a self-consciously minimal aesthetic. Smartly outfitted professionals stop in after work to nosh on Vietnamese spring rolls, sip raspberry martinis and groove on sounds concocted by DJs with iBooks.
reviewed
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Bulldog Café
Bills itself as ‘the home of rock and roll,’ and features live bands and a jumbo Jacuzzi that’s made to look a bit like a cenote but is really just a showcase for bikini-clad staff to splash around in. Look for the giant bulldog sign outside and you’ll know you’ve found the right place.
reviewed
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El Refugio
This elegant hotel bar has two (quite different) points of highlight: the lovely wood-burning fireplace that attracts couples and sparks good conversation, and the flat-screen TV above the bar that displays global and American football games to an international expat crowd.
reviewed
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Hostería la Bota
This fun and funky bar is one component of the Casa Vecina community arts center, a cultural beachhead in the rough-and-tumble southern fringe of the Centro. Tapas and tequilas are served amidst a profusion of warped bullfighting bric-a-brac and mismatched furniture.
reviewed
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Balcones del Ángel
A hip and beautiful crowd gathers in this open courtyard lounge on the top floor of a 17th-century building. The design is seamless, the music bounces between global pop and electronica and the glowing dome of the cathedral is visible through the open roof. Stunning!
reviewed
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W
Nikki Beach
On the sand in front of Hotel Meliá San Lucas, Nikki Beach guarantees a lounging good time all day, all night, with goodies like sushi happy hours (18:00 to 21:00 every Friday) and fire shows (20:00 to 22:00 Thursday and Saturday) and lots of fine, fine people.
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