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Love
Socialites line up for Love, upstairs from the fusion restaurant Ixchel, in a typically ornate Colonia Roma mansion. You're unlikely to get in without reservations, and even then it'll depend on your looks. Once inside the velvet-draped lounge, order an apple martini and party like it's 1983 - the DJ will help you remember what that was like.
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Malafama
As trendy as its bars and cafés, Condesa's sleek billiard hall doubles as a gallery of photo art. The well-maintained tables are frequented by both pool sharks and novices.
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Mamá Rumba
Mamá Rumba features contemporary salsa, attracting a younger, upscale crowd. It's also a gathering place for the local Cuban community. Be sure to arrive early if you want a table, as the club invariably fills beyond capacity.
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Mesón De Thé Caravanserai
This French-managed tea room has over 100 blends, carefully categorized by their intended effects (Tokyo Springtime is 'a subtle tea for the afternoon'). Guests lounge on sofas and pillows to enjoy a pot of their chosen brew, which is ceremoniously served on silver trays.
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Mestizo Lounge
This highly social hole-in-the-wall run by gregarious hosts Gina and Manuel is very much at the heart of the mezcal renaissance. Taste a smoky cenizo (a Zacatecas variety) or have a mezcal martini. They make excellent sandwiches, too.
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Momma
Currently Polanco's hottest antro, Momma attracts hordes of party people. Beyond a chic, minimalist restaurant, the brightly lit hall of mirrors resounds with pop en español and hits from past decades. As elsewhere in Polanco, expect a discretionary admission policy.
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New Orleans
Littered with bric-a-brac, the DF's longest-running jazz club has a relaxed, homey ambience, and the kitchen prepares homemade pastas and salads. Gregarious owner Ángel keeps things eclectic, staging everything from Dixieland jazz to scat singing to funk and fusion.
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Papa Bill's Saloon
For those in need of their sports fix, this sprawling gringo-style parlor has plenty of flat-screen TVs showing the big game. Happy hours (two-for-one drinks) are from to .
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Pasagüero
Some visionary developers took a historic building and transformed its ground level into a space for various cultural happenings, particularly rock and electronica gigs. When buzzworthy bands visit Mexico, they'll likely be playing here. Located off a pedestrian esplanade, El Pasagüero features a front café-bar (from to ) with cheap chelas (cold beers), making for a fine pre-show hangout.
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Pastelería Maque
Condesa sophisticates gather mornings and evenings at this Parisian-style café-bakery near the south end of Parque México. Waiters bring around trays of fresh-baked croissants and conchas (round pastries sprinkled with sugar) - point to your preference.
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Pata Negra
Nominally a tapas bar, this oblong salon draws a friendly, clean-cut crowd of 20-something Chilangos and expats. There's live music on both levels, with the upper Salón Pata Negra striking a more bohemian tone.
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Patio De Mi Casa
This low-key venue is a new addition to the clandestine club zone on the east edge of Colonia Juárez. Minus the exclusive attitude of some venues, it's simply a gathering place for fans of electronic music that has managed to attract such globally prominent figures as Alan McGee and Jeremy Scott. After a few Mezcal Sunrises, the warped decor begins to make sense.
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Pervert Lounge
A pioneering electronica venue in the heart of the Historic Center, the Pervert routinely hosts DJs the stature of Luca Ricci and Satoshi Tomiie. Tribal house, deep house and progressive house are among the featured styles heard in within the narrow, stone-walled room.
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Rexo
A minimalist, triple-decker supper club, the perennially popular Rexo really packs them in toward the weekend. There's dining on the upper levels, though the focus is on the lit-from-below bar at the bottom, which fuels the revelry with mezcaltinis and other unusual cocktails.
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Rioma
Once a restaurant owned by Mexican screen star Cantínflas (the name is a jumbled version of the actor's first name), Rioma is now an exclusive lounge attracting a sexy 20-something crowd. The below-street-level space retains the restaurant's original mahogany paneling, with the red polka dots contributed by Japanese designer Yayoi Kuzama. Star DJs fire up the turntables.
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Ruta 61
Catering to Mexico City's denim-clad blues cult, this split-level venue stages electric blues artists in the Buddy Guy-Howlin' Wolf mold. About once a month there's a direct-from-Chicago act, though you're more likely to see one of the many local cover bands.
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Sala Carlos Chávez
Named after the famous 20th-century Mexican composer, this small sala with seating for just 165 (and designed so no big hairdos can obstruct the view of the stage), is the ideal intimate space for enjoying chamber music (for which Chávez was particularly famed) and soloists (including classical guitarists).
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Sala Miguel Covarrubias
This contemporary dance venue programs exceptional and diverse performances. Recent shows include performances by La Rossignol; an Italian company that delivers an evocative show of Renaissance music and dance. The auditorium also serves as the venue for the Festival Internacionál de Musica y Escena (International Festival of Music and Scenery), an annual event since 1998.
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Salón Corona
Beer lovers from punks to suits make a beeline for this boisterous, no-frills bar that's been hoisting up the cold ones since 1928. Amiable staff serve up tarros (mugs) of light or dark cerveza de barril (draft beer) and bottles of almost every known Mexican beer.
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Salón Tenampa
Graced with murals of the giants of Mexican song and enlivened by its own songsters, this historic cantina on the north side of the plaza is an obligatory visit. Founded in 1925 by a Jalisco native, the cavernous hall is always in a festive mood, with carved wood booths around the perimeter and roving mariachi bands performing for groups of revelers. It's the ultimate setting for el último trago, the evening's final shot of tequila.
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Segafredo
The Bologna-based chain expertly prepares all the espresso variations, from caffé latte fredo to macchiato con panna. Try a Caffé Maya, spiked with the Yucatecan anise liqueur Xtabentún. Attracted by wireless access, laptop-users often occupy the upper level, which has an open-air terrace attached.
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T-Gallery
A low-key crowd kick back with cocktails in the various salons of this lovely old Condesa home, each appointed with a splendid array of kitschy sofas, coffee tables and mirrors. It's like going to a party at your hippest friend's house, with a difference - you can purchase any of the furniture that appeals to you. Jazz, blues and bossa nova combos jam downstairs nightly.
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Taberna Red Fly
An elegantly furnished space in a typical Porfiriato-era residence, the Red Fly organizes monthly mezcal tastings, where aficionados can appreciate the subtle gradations in flavor, based on where the beverage is distilled.
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Tiki Bar
Amidst the salsa dance clubs, this South Pacific spree spreads on the kitsch with bamboo-fringed walls and teak floors. The wacky cocktails are the real draw: not just mai-tais but chocotikis, mojotikis and various other rum creations that thrill a celebrity-studded crowd.
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Travazares Taberna
The downstairs adjunct of a cultural center, this popular Roma hangout strikes a suitably bohemian tone. Recycled objects furnish a series of cozy, candlelit salons where artistically inclined youth sip wine or Cerveza Cosaco (a Mexican mircrobrew). The fusion menu is hit-or-miss, depending on who's in the kitchen.
