303 Best Bars in Mexico

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.

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.

This tiny, cash-only palapa bar has a diehard fan following, many of whom will wear its branded merch around town and abroad. Stop by for margaritas made with fresh-squeezed juice and conversation with the friendly owners and regulars. Pace yourself, though, as these drinks have been known to pack a punch!

Though it's around the corner from the clubbing scene, the vibe at Vas Que Vuelas couldn't be more different. Come by to enjoy an artisanal cocktail or pour of small-batch mezcal; they've got the largest selection in town. Like the drinks, the food is also inspired by Oaxaca; order a tlayuda for a great late-night snack.

Vertice is one of the few bars where you can have a conversation. There's music Tuesday through Thursday.

Wine and charcuterie are the orders at this simple but sophisticated spot, conveniently located right in the historic town square.

For a casual yet refined bar scene, this chic spot is a favorite of Ensenada's many vintners, chefs, and brewers. Showcasing local beers from the region, as well as wines from nearby Valle del Guadalupe, the friendly owners have literally mastered the craft with their own cervezas that landed them the titles of Mexico's best beer in 2015 and 2019. Beer tastings in their brew pub are available by reservation only. If you're hungry, Wendlandt serves elevated bar food using local ingredients. The nondescript bar is simply marked by their logo and an antique door.

A few blocks up the hill from Plaza de Armas in the La Cruz neighborhood, this classic Irish pub lives up to its theme with a great selection of imported whiskies and beers, plus live rock bands many evenings. It has pretty tasty burgers, wings, and the like as well.

This unpretentious place filled a bar void in Nuevo Vallarta. Large TV screens show every major sporting event, and the second floor has a pool table. The bar fills with young locals, especially on Thursday when there is live music (mostly rock). A variety of chicken wings and other snacks are available, along with a wide array of beers, both national and international. 

A wall of windows allows the fashionable patrons of this posh champagne bar to enjoy views of lush Parque España. Inside, beneath a coffered ceiling and vintage light fixtures, you can sip bubbly or any number of well-poured cocktails while noshing on upscale bar fare. There's also seating on the rooftop deck.

Centrally located and open past midnight, Yambak Bar has a live DJ and craft beer on tap.

Drop by this cozy, festive brewpub to sample the well-crafted blonde, amber, and brown ales or to sip traditional mezcal and pulque. There's a lovely tree-shaded terrace illuminated by hanging lanterns and offering nice views of town.

A moody subterranean jazz bar tucked into the basement of an art deco building straight out of Gotham, Zinco is as chic a place to pass a night as Centro has to offer. Keep an eye on their website for up-to-date performances of some of the city's best musicians.