Hi - I was in Coyoacan today and was surprised to discover La Guadalupana cantina is permanently closed. I asked a guy in a neighboring business why but he didn't seem to know. I've been in that cantina a handful of times over the last ten years or so and it's always been fairly crowded with both domestic and foreign tourists (and locals too I guess), so it was surprising.
Does anyone know why it closed? It was a very good cantina, I thought.
That reminds me of the cantina at the northeast corner of the Zocalo, I remember it was called ¨El Nivel,¨ one of the oldest in Mexico City. And it´s been closed for years.
What was the address of ¨La Guadalupana¨? (added later) Never mind, I found it on Google Maps, but with a ¨cerrado permanentemente¨ affixed to it. Looks like everyone is drinking at ¨La Coyoacana¨ now.
I've been to El Nivel too, a long while ago.
That's exactly what I did: I walked up to the front door of La Guadalupana, thirsty from a morning's walking, and ended up a block or so away at La Coyoacana. It was OK too, good service and very tidy and organized but it doesn't have the same character. It does, however, have beer and tequila so all was not lost.
Actually I've noticed a few cantinas closed. There are lots of reasons businesses close down of course, but I'm wondering if there's any sort of pressure on cantinas these days. If you look at Britain, for instance, the pubs there are closing at a great rate, loads of them shutting down. Mexico City and London are very different in many ways but it got me wondering whether there's any sort of trend here with the small, oldy timey cantinas.
I think young Mexicans are not drinking at the same kind of cantinas as their fathers did, and as the older clientel disappears, the bars shut down or change to attract a younger more diverse crowd. I wonder how many bars mentioned in ¨And Let the Earth Tremble at Its Centers¨ by Gonzalo Celorio are still open?
Yes that's a good point. Some of the older cantinas change or for some reason start attracting a hip crowd and take on a whole new life. There are a few that still look exactly as they've always done but are half full of young people with tats and nose rings, side by side with the old guys crying as they sing ranchera. One of the many things that's so cool about DF...
Here, I found a recent article: http://www.lajornadadeoriente.com.mx/2018/01/08/violencia-corrupcion-coyoacan/
And a Google translation of the first para: ¨Resident in Coyoacán since 1968, although born in the vibrant Guerrero colony, I have had extensive relationships with those who live in the demarcation of coyotes. The same with the parishioners of the former ink bar, La Guadalupana, which in the center of this beautiful area (El Parnaso), as in CU and in the neighborhoods of Santo Domingo, where violence has increased markedly in the last ten years . Even that last neighborhood was a few boys to settle at the FCPS of the UNAM where they performed battering and medium (dog fighting, selling drugs and attacking women), which were, fortunately, already expelled.¨
That article also states businesses are being extorted in that área. Another good reason to close up shop.
That story reminds me of a coworker who took his retirement savings and bought a bar, this in Canada. Well, he was an easy going trusting sort, and hired a worker, a motorbike enthusiast, who along with his friends, pushed my coworker out of his business. Goodbye retirement, hello Walmart greeter.
I´ve heard many stories in Oaxaca about the extortion payments business owners are required to make if they want to stay in business.
