Bars, Cantinas and Mezcal
Bars on the World’s 50 Best Bars and North America’s 50 Best Bars lists (2026), Eater’s 38 and Dua Lipa’s list are marked in brackets.
Marca Negra mezcal
Roma
Bar Mauro · Tabasco 149 · World’s 50 Best #10 · North America #2 · Eater 38
A tiny Italian-style aperitivo bar for Negronis, vermouth and amari. Arrive early or wait.
Tlecān · Álvaro Obregón 228 · website · World’s 50 Best #47 · North America #5
A dark, sexy agave bar with mezcal, raicilla, bacanora and very good agave cocktails.
Form + Matter · San Luis Potosí 37 · World’s 50 Best #59 · North America #13 · Eater 38
Sleek hidden bar of steel and marble, with inventive cocktails.
Licorería Limantour · Álvaro Obregón 106 · website · World’s 50 Best #63 · North America #20
The pioneer of the city’s cocktail scene, on two floors. Order the Margarita al Pastor.
Café de Nadie · Chihuahua 135 · website · North America #60
Listening bar with vinyl, every cocktail inspired by a song, and a serious mezcal list.
Brujas · Río de Janeiro 56, on Plaza Río de Janeiro
A women-run bar with Mexican herbs and flowers in the drinks.
Salón Covadonga · Puebla 121
A huge Asturian cantina, open since 1940. Old men play dominoes in the afternoon, and the hip crowd takes over at night. Beer, brandy and tortilla española.
Supra Roma · Álvaro Obregón 151, 14th floor
Rooftop with 360° views; book a table at sunset.
La Vista · Puebla 90 · Instagram · Eater 38
A hi-fi listening bar with cocktails.
Outline · Oaxaca 99, basement · Instagram · Eater 38
Cocktails in a basement behind a shop, plus a Mexican kitchen.
Bar Nino · Sinaloa, Roma Norte · Instagram · Eater 38
Italian-leaning bar and restaurant from the Hugo team.
Club San Luis · San Luis Potosí 28 · Dua Lipa’s list
An old-school salsa dance hall, open for more than 70 years, with a live band. Go late, and dance. Review: Time Out México.
Condesa
Baltra · Iztaccíhuatl 36-D · North America #48
A tiny neighborhood bar, from the Limantour team.
Bijou Drinkery Room · Sonora 189-B · website
Speakeasy with six house cocktails, or tell them what you like and they’ll make it.
La Clandestina · Álvaro Obregón 298
Small, dim mezcal bar, a classic. Order from the chalkboard.
Lagerbar Hércules · Campeche 322, Hipódromo · Instagram · Eater 38
Beer bar.
Juárez and Zona Rosa
Handshake Speakeasy · Amberes 65 · website · World’s 50 Best #6 · North America #12
The most famous bar in the city, World’s Best Bar in 2024. Book well ahead; order the clarified piña colada.
Hanky Panky · Turín 52 · website · Dua Lipa’s list
Billed as the city’s first speakeasy, with a hidden entrance; ask for the guest-bartender menu.
Fifty Mils · Four Seasons, Paseo de la Reforma 500
The luxe hotel bar, one of the best hotel bars anywhere.
Cananea · Marsella 28 · Eater 38
Sonoran dive cantina with a pool table and jukebox; birria tacos and Sonoran hot dogs.
Terraza Cha Cha Chá · Av. de la República 157, Tabacalera · website
Art deco rooftop facing the Monumento a la Revolución.
Le Tachinomi Desu · Río Pánuco 132, Cuauhtémoc · Dua Lipa’s list
A tiny Japanese standing bar with very good sake and snacks. Review: The Infatuation.
Centro Histórico
Bar La Ópera · 5 de Mayo 10
The gilded 1876 cantina with Pancho Villa’s bullet hole in the ceiling. Look up.
El Gallo de Oro · Venustiano Carranza 35
Claims to be the city’s oldest cantina (1874). Go for the Saturday spread.
La Faena · Venustiano Carranza 49
Faded-grand cantina full of bullfighting relics.
Tío Pepe · Independencia 26, by Chinatown
Long crimson bar, around since before the Revolution.
Bósforo · Luis Moya 31
Dark and bare-bones, and one of the most serious mezcal bars in the city.
Bar La Ópera, the gilded cantina in the Centro
- For a drink with a view: Balcón del Zócalo (see Where to eat in the Centro), or the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, 16 de Septiembre 82. Look at the Tiffany glass ceiling in the lobby, then go up to the terrace over the Zócalo
Plaza Garibaldi
Eje Central at República de Honduras
The mariachi square, where bands in silver-studded charro suits wait to be hired every night. Have a tequila at Salón Tenampa, the “cathedral of mariachi” since 1925. Mariachis charge per song, so agree on the price before they play. Garibaldi has a rough reputation and the streets around it are rougher after dark, so go as a group, stay on the plaza, keep your phone out of sight, and leave by Uber.
Polanco
Ticuchi · Petrarca 254 · website
Enrique Olvera’s candlelit agave bar. Book.
Franz 145 · Anatole France 145
Intimate, a tree growing through the glass roof, very good classic cocktails. Hard to get into.
Coyoacán
La Coyoacana · Higuera 14, steps from the main plaza
Classic cantina with mariachis on the back patio.
La Calaca · Centenario 2, on the Jardín Centenario
Modern cantina in a courtyard under big trees.
Cantina Masiosare · Felipe Carrillo Puerto 50
Contemporary cantina; guacamole with chapulines (grasshoppers)
Further Afield
Kaito del Valle · Pestalozzi 1238, Del Valle · website · North America #25
Japanese izakaya-style cocktail bar with an all-female bar team.
Pink Rambo · Cedro 66, Santa María la Ribera · Instagram
Loud, fun “psychedelic cantina” with a retractable roof (see Where to eat in Santa María la Ribera)