Must-see nightlife in Central Pacific Coast

This simple bar only really serves one thing: Pacifico beer, which has been a fixture of city life ever since the Germans opened the local brewery in 1900…

This Flintstones-esque faux grotto construction opens up to the thumping of unbridled reverie and bad decisions. The fun kind. Translation: it's a popular…

The adjoining bar of restaurant La Fiera provides a much-needed escape from the Zona Dorada's raucous nightclubs. Resident and guest DJs spin everything…

What do you get if you mix pop art with slushies and add generous helpings of tequila, gin and Absolut vodka? Something like this fun bar, we imagine,…

By far the best of three adjacent clubs here, this cinema-sized spot has privileged malecón (beach promenade) frontage and keeps a youngish crowd happy…

Right on the plaza, this is the beating heart of the San Blas expat community – a place to catch up on local gossip, sip an iced margarita or a bucket…

At the rubber-duck sign and up a spiral staircase, this lively bar on the main plaza pumps out live music or DJ sets most nights, with an open mike on…

This snug little bar welcomes you with its arctic chill and Zihua's first, bona fide craft beer. It has four of its own bottled brews: a fruity IPA, a…

Do you believe in life after love? Actually, you're not terribly likely to hear Cher here but there's usually a decent set played by a roster of local DJs…

It's a real relief to come in here on a hot afternoon and leave bland beer behind. There's a fine selection of craft brews from around Mexico and imports…

Sip a spicy mango margarita or Bloody Mary while soaking up the scenery of a jungle-backed beach at this quiet resort about 6km north of town. To get here…

This palapa restaurant-bar occupies an excellent beach for swimming. It stays open until 9pm, which makes for a late evening by Playa Ventura standards. A…

An attractive brick-arched, concrete-floored pub and microbrewery that draws a lively mix of old-timers and visitors. The beer comes in seven varieties…

Stylish and with professional staff, this mirror-clad bar makes for a classy drink. More than 50 mezcals are available (plus mezcal cocktails), and the…

Perhaps set up by Andy Dufresne himself (of Shawshank Redemption fame), this two-room bar has a dance floor, screens live sporting events and does karaoke…

Trading rainy Seattle for Mazatlán sunshine, Kim and Jim run a resto-bar hugely popular with visitors – good for knocking back a Pacifico beer while…

The tiled walls, old floors and wood paneling practically bead with sweat in this unrefined but popular hotel-bar on the malecón (beach promenade). Try to…

Part of the Ramada resort, this popular oceanside spot with a never-ending two-for-one happy hour is a beach bar by day and morphs into a DJ-fueled disco…

Our favorite coconut stop in town, this street stall run by a retired teacher known as 'El Profe' has carefully peeled fruit and chilled water straight…

The walls are scrawled with handwritten poetics and inanities in several languages, the bar is blessed with fine rums and tequilas, and the staff pour a…