Painting the town red....my favorite bars and cantinas in El D.F.

Updated August 2013

Mexico’s capital has always been a city for nightlife, ever since its ‘golden age’ of the ‘40’s and ‘50’s. Bars, cabarets, restaurants and clubs of every description buzz until the wee small hours. Bohemian ambiance, long gone in New York or Paris pervades here. From the chic Condesa D.F. hotel’s open air bar, which has hosted the likes of that frivolous hotel-chain heiress to the old-fashioned but arty downtown Salón Corona, where yuppies and artists alike down draught beer and tacos, there is something for everyone. On a given night one might catch a show of Astrid Hadad, the ‘Mexican Bette Midler’ at El Bataclan in La Bodega, an old mansion converted into a cabaret, or a lively young jazz group at the downtown club Zinco . Underground chilango sleuth David Lida and I were recently featured in a cover article in El Universal about cantinas and bars. Interviewed as to why we liked them, I replied "What enchants me about Mexico City is the way its past is present; this doesn’t happen in the U.S. where it seems all traces of it are erased; here it is alive and well and living in the centro".
It follows that most of my favorite places to hang out are the oldest ones, although I admit to being partial to a couple of newer hipster spots.

Bar Opera - Cinco de Mayo 10, Centro

Open Monday-Saturday 1pm-Midnight,Sunday 1pm-6pm

The famous Bar La Opera with its bullet hole from Pancho Villa’s gun is on everyone’s list but Belle Epoch has never been “beller” than here and I still stop by once in a while for a slug. My fondest memory is of my Godmother, downtown actress/diva Joyce Aaron, who, a few years ago, stood up and conducted the entire bar through two full choruses of ‘Solamente Una Vez’. Don’t eat here the food is lousy, just drink and wax nostalgic.

Cantina Tio Pepe - corner of Independencia and Dolores, Centro

In Mexico City many old places have been preserved simply because nobody ever thought to change them; they are authentically old and do not have a “Disney-fied” restored look. This old cantina, with its original Art Nouveau bar has been the scene of many political discussions over the years. If you’re lucky you’ll get a booth.

Salón Corona - Bolivar 24, Centro

Tel: 5512-5725, open daily 8 am-1am

This truly cool place has been serving an excellent and wide variety of tacos ince 1928. Beer is cold and on tap, unusual in Mexico: order it “de barríl”. A mixed crowd (in class and age) has re-discovered this, one of the few surviving cervecerias in the Centro, and it is always bustling.

La Guadalupana Higuera 14, near the central plaza, Coyoacán

Open Monday - Saturday 1pm-11:30pm

Everyone knows that Frida, Diego and Trotsky partied here. But unlike the equivalent Hemingway hangouts, La Guadalupana has not become an overpriced tourist trap; it retains its old-fashioned working class charm, bullfighting décor and experienced service. Botanas are offered with drinks and there is a serviceable menu of Mexican standards at lunchtime.

Covadonga - Puebla 121, Colonia Roma

Open Monday-Saturday 1pm –2am

This traditional club for Spanish expatriots has become a hangout for the artsy-fartsy, but the old-timers can still be found sitting around schmoozing and playing dominoes in the vast, flourescent-lit room. There is a good wine list, but don’t be tempted by the food, which is mediocre at best. Stick to classic tapas like bocadillos, tortilla española or chorizo a la sidra.

La Bodega - Popocatépetl 25, corner of Av. Amsterdam, Condesa, Tel: 5525-2473

www.labodega.com.mx , open Monday-Saturday 1pm-1am

This lively bar/restaurant/cabaret occupies a funky old Condesa mansion. Downstairs live music is featured (usually Cuban), and upstairs there is a small theatre where well-known cabaret performers entertain. This is the home base for Astrid Hadad, the “Mexican Bette Midler” – she has to be seen to be believed. The food is good. We like to share the plato de entremeses, a plethora of Mexican antojitos, or the fish tacos.

Condesa DF - Veracruz 102 at Parque España, Condesa

Tel: 5241-2600, Open Sunday-Wednesday 7pm-Midnight, Thursday-Saturday 7pm-1:30am

Visiting frivolous like to stay at the Condesa DF, and since such people probably don’t sleep much, the noisy rooms must not bother them. For the rest of us, the rooftop terrace bar is a great spot for a drink and an hors d’oeuvre. Try to be there at sunset but do call to reserve a spot or you will be left in the lurch.

Cantina La Capital - Nuevo León 137, Condesa, Tel. 5553-0438

This is a new ‘cantina’, more of a casual restaurant really, its space open, modern and airy, its ambience mature, more sophisticated than the average Condechi hangout. The food is quite good – I recommend the tres ceviches.

Zinco Jazz Club - Motolinia 20 (basement), Centro

Tel: 5512-3369 , Open Wednesday-Sunday, from 9pm

www.zincojazz.com

The best jazz club in the city is in the basement of an Aztec-Deco office building and will remind aficionados of the Village Vanguard in New York. Good local groups headline; check their webpage for schedule.

Salón París - Torres Bodet 152 corner Salvador Diaz Mirón, (corner of the Alameda of Santa Maria la Ribera) Colonia Santa Maria La Ribera

This traditional and friendly cantina is supposedly the place where ranchera giant José Alfredo Jiménez got his start singing in public – although some say he was only a waiter here. It is a favorite with locals and still, at times, offers live traditional music.

Las Dualistas Aranda 30 (Ayuntamiento, near the Mercado San Juan) centro

This old pulquería, in business since the 1930’s, is one of the last in the centro (La Risa , Mesones 71, is the other). Although nothing of the original decor remains, a recently painted Aztec rock and roll mural gives the place a bit of pazzazz, as if the customers and juke-box weren’t enough. The curados of such flavors as honey, celery and tomato will convert even the most reluctant and the free botanas, make a 11 peso glass of pulque into the cheapest sit-down lunch in Mexico. Pulquerías usually close around 8 or 9.

El Oasis - República de Cuba 2, centro

This freindly working class gay men's spot is the only one of its kind. There is old fashioned couples dancing to ranchera music, karaoke on Wednesday nights, and a floor show on Saturday during which a gay mariachi sings and the pudgy waitors get up and strip!

Author Nicholas Gilman and Mexico City are flatteringly mentioned in the Washington Post:
click here to view

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