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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
PS Letter from Haiti:
From the email of a friend working in Haiti: "I can suggest you donate (to The Haiti Clinic) which serves the poorest of the poor in the worst section of Port au Prince via an existing building that by some incredible stroke of luck was not demolished in the earthquake. However, the prison gangs are now in control of ...that part of the city and the patients are afraid to come into the clinic. For this reason, Haiti Clinic is now trying to raise money to purchase and furnish a mobile clinic (i.e., on a truck) to travel to the people - especially the many regions that have yet to obtain any medical care whatsoever. I can vouch that the money will be put to the best possible use... NO skimming from donations, no administrative costs etc. 100% of the money is used for purchasing supplies.
click here to view
PS Letter from Haiti:
From the email of a friend working in Haiti: "I can suggest you donate (to The Haiti Clinic) which serves the poorest of the poor in the worst section of Port au Prince via an existing building that by some incredible stroke of luck was not demolished in the earthquake. However, the prison gangs are now in control of ...that part of the city and the patients are afraid to come into the clinic. For this reason, Haiti Clinic is now trying to raise money to purchase and furnish a mobile clinic (i.e., on a truck) to travel to the people - especially the many regions that have yet to obtain any medical care whatsoever. I can vouch that the money will be put to the best possible use... NO skimming from donations, no administrative costs etc. 100% of the money is used for purchasing supplies.
