315 Best Bars in Mexico

This long bustling bar ranks among the city's most popular pool halls. Since there's often a wait for the tables (it's two-for-one games before 4 pm), the bar area is an always buzzy gathering spot. There are often contemporary photography exhibits on the walls, and pretty good pub fare is served, too.

Juan Hernández opened Salón Tenampa in 1925, and was the first to introduce mariachi, originally a folk music of his home state of Jalisco, to Plaza Garibaldi. Now Plaza Garibaldi is the place to hear (and hire) not only mariachis, but also groups playing regional music styles from around Mexico. Spend the night under Salón Tenampa's historic brick arches sipping on tequila and hiring the mariachis by the song (prepare, if you can, to sing along). 

A great place for sunbathing and enjoying great gourmet food with tasteful lounge music playing in the background, Sapphire is not as spectacular (nor as crowded) as the other big beach club in the area, Mantamar. Here, the swimming pool is smaller, but more intimate, and customers have access to free Wi-Fi, lounge chairs, umbrellas, a bottle of water upon arrival, and Oshibori towels.

A small bar with delicious cocktails, Scotch is a great place to stop after dinner in Polanco. Although ccasionally filled with smoke from cigarettes or sparklers, the music and the vibes make up for that.

Known for its over-the-top drinks, Señor Frog's serves up foot-long funnel glasses filled with margaritas, daiquiris, or beer, which you can take home as souvenirs once you've chugged them dry. Spring breakers adore this place and often stagger back night after night. For $29 you get your entrance cover, food menu, and a yard of beer.

The Animal House ambience at Señor Frog's at night includes loud music and a bar-dancing, bead-throwing, balloon-hat-wearing, anything-goes drinking scene. During the day, the pub grub is better than you'd expect, the drinks are flowing, and the waiters are always entertaining. You'll find two locations here, near the Punta Langosta and the International cruise terminals.

What's called simply "Frog's" by the locals is a good old-fashioned free-for-all for the young and the restless. There are black lights on the walls, barstools shaped like thong-clad women's butts, and a giant-screen TV above the dance floor. Expect foam parties, ladies'-night Friday, or, in the high season, beach parties with bikini contests and other shenanigans. 

For a family-friendly atmosphere where you can order in English your choice of food and beverage and watch sports on big-screen TVs, head to Shooters, a rooftop bar overlooking the main square. It's open daily from 10 am to 11 pm, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Take your pick from the sporting events shown on seven big-screen TVs at the consummate sports bar in Todos Santos. Enjoy the scrumptious burgers here, too.

Catch the sunset at this rooftop lounge while enjoying a "Margarita Guaycura," made with lemon, tequila, orange liqueur, and the local spirit, damiana. There's a pool, too, you can swim in or relax beside, should you visit during the day.

Slim's calls itself "the world's smallest bar," and you'll be lucky to get a seat at this kitschy four-seat space that plays honky-tonk music and serves $3 beers and tequila shots. Signed dollar bills line the walls and ceiling, and a buzzing, standing crowd loiters out the door and onto the Boulevard Marina sidewalk each evening, vibing off its energy.

This sports-bar style cantina is the de facto after-work meeting place in Los Barriles for cocktails and cervezas, or whenever there's a big game on TV. For visitors, the main attraction is the barbecue straight from curing in the on-site smokehouse. Highlights include the pulled pork and the char-grilled chicken breast slathered in Maker’s Mark and barbecue sauce.

There must be a bar like Snapper's in every Mexican beach town—namely, a place where every American and Canadian visitor goes to watch their favorite sport games and enjoy a cold beer and a tasty burger. Snapper's is open every day until midnight.

Live blues, easy listening, and classic rock music on Saturday nights draw an older set to this rustic beach bar on the sand overlooking the waves at Playa Marinero. You can order barbecue ribs from the open-air grill, but the main draw is dancing barefoot under the stars.

This warm, unpretentious spot has all-day drink deals and tasty Hawaiian-inspired food. There’s often live music, drawing in the same faces night after night. Credit cards aren’t accepted, but you can pay with either pesos or dollars, or even PayPal and Venmo.

Serving Mexican and imported artisanal beer, including three brands brewed on-site (you’ll be engulfed by the scent of malt while you imbibe), seating at this small bar is mostly communal and against dark walls with tattoo-style art. Snacks (including charcuterie plates and guacamole with grasshoppers and pork rinds) are served each afternoon, with a special brunch menu on Sunday.

Although Taboo does have a handful of lounge chairs on the sand, the real party is at the beachfront pool, where a DJ spins music that gets everyone dancing. It's a place best enjoyed with a group of friends, as those in rented cabanas and ordering bottle service are given preferential treatment. Beyond food and drinks, you can also request a hookah to enjoy amid the sea breeze.

It would be easy to pass by this nonchalant sidewalk bar without a second thought, but you'd be remiss: virtually everything (the quality of the drinks, live music, general energy) is better than you'd expect. The crowd is quite diverse in terms of age and nationality, but everyone there is ready to have a good time. Bonus points if you hit the dance floor!

Within a transformed older house about four blocks from the main plaza, this chummy bar serves exotic margaritas with cucumber or chilies. You can also get a variety of small tapas plates, many featuring fresh seafood, if you want a nibble with your cocktail. Although each of its three contiguous rooms is smallish, the high ceilings make it quite acceptable to claustrophobes.

Recommended as much for its food as for the attractive bar-restaurant's decor and its huge menu of mezcals from Oaxaca, Michoacán, and Jalisco, as well as expansive wine list, Tata Mezcalería offers tasting menus and specialty appetizers featuring ingredients typical to Michoacán. Wednesday beginning at 8 pm, local musicians set up to entertain with different styles of music each week.

Tequilas Bar is a popular nightspot with a small dance floor, big crowd, and live music on weekends.

Enthusiasts shouldn't miss Diego de Mazariegos Hotel's Tequilazoo, which has more than 175 tequilas on hand, all served in simple shot glasses.

This expansive rooftop bar at the edge of the Plaza de República combines elements of modernist chic, tiki bar greenery, and Mexican crafts in a way that, against all odds, works beautifully. Combine that with extraordinary views of the Monument of the Revolution and this makes for a great place to spend an afternoon or evening over beers (or something stronger).

A second-floor restaurant called Trattoria by day transforms into a salsa dance club called Tiki Tok after dark. On Friday and Saturday, local bands draw salsa aficionados of all stripes from 10 pm to about 3 am; a DJ spins Latin and reggaeton through all hours of the night.

Although primarily a restaurant, Tío Lucas, across the street from the Angela Peralta Theater, offers live music nightly—jazz, blues, and salsa—and welcomes drinkers as well as diners to its intimate, upscale, rock-lined dining room.

A dark back room and naked, muscular, bar-top dancers make for a cruise-y atmosphere at this long-popular Condesa gay bar. It doesn't attract as much leather gear anymore, but is a favorite of otters, bears, and guys who favor Scruff as their favorite hookup app.

Banda music is everywhere in Mazatlán, including Toro Bravo, but the mechanical bull is unique. The music starts after 11 pm. It's open Thursday through Sunday, or nightly during holiday seasons.

Txalaparta is one of the bigger alternative bars featuring live music most nights, great cocktails, and a roof terrace among its many twisting and turning spaces. The vibe changes each evening, so be sure to check out what is going on. Every night brings in a large crowd, but Friday and Saturday are when the party really starts.