303 Best Bars in Mexico

PV's original martini bar, Apaches is the landing zone for expats reconnoitering after a long day, and a warm-up for night owls. When the outside tables get jam-packed in high season, the overflow heads into the narrow bar and the adjacent, equally narrow bistro. If you're traveling alone, this is the place to make friends of all ages.

Owned and run by musicians, Atemoztli Foro resto-bar overlooks Zicatela Beach from an airy second-floor dance floor in the heart of the Zicatela strip. Each night offers a different musical theme: take your pick from reggae, rock, blues, Mexicana, salsa, or Latin rock performed by the talented house band fronted by Vicente "El Diablo."

Frequented primarily by tourists, this lively open-air bar is on the beach and not far from other nightlife spots. You will get two drinks when you order, and the mood is conducive to meeting other people. There's no cover charge during the week, but on Saturday it's about $7 or $8 and on Sunday it's around $5 and includes a drink.

Small, expensive, and exclusive, Baby'O caters to the local elite. The club has long had the reputation of being Acapulco's classiest, and the well-dressed clientele lounges and dances in a jungle-inspired interior. It can be hard (and pricey) to get in, and even harder to get a table, but this is the place to go if you're looking for a glamorous night in Acapulco.

The Baja Brewing Co. serves cold, on-site–microbrewed cerveza and international pub fare. You'll find entrées ranging from ahi tuna quesadillas to basil-and-blue-cheese burgers. Our favorite of the eight beers is the Baja Razz Ale; the BBC also brews Oatmeal Stout, a gluten-free honey mead, an Indian pale ale, and experimental brews served the first Friday of every month. If you can't make up your mind, order the sampler.

There's salsa, Cuban, or romantic music at Bandidos from Tuesday through Saturday (in low season call to confirm the schedule). It's smack in the middle of downtown and almost as popular with locals as with travelers—both foreign and domestic. In the afternoon and early evening you can get drinks, snacks, and full meals at the bar and outdoor patio. The TV is usually tuned to sports, though the volume is turned way down.

Bar de Félix is a large bar with crimson faux-velvet settees; a dance floor for Latin tunes, Spanish rock, some American oldies, and electronica; and a giant-screen TV.

Don't miss the trendy Bar de Los Juaninos, in open air atop the Hotel de Los Juaninos, for the best view of Morelia's cathedral, and proper cocktails to complement it. The bar pushes champagne, too, and it has a great tequila and mezcal selection—even if it is a bit overpriced. It closes at 5 pm on Sunday.

A favored fixture along the voguey nightlife row that is Avenida Álvaro Obregón, Félix is a popular, dimly lit cocktail bar at first glance. Head down the side hallway to the back, however, and you'll find a chatter-filled garden pizzeria that rakes in sizable crowds until late into the evening—the pies here are pretty tasty, too.

Bar Fly is the place to party to the hottest techno, house, electronic, and dance music mixes by local and visiting DJs. Popular on theme nights and open until almost dawn, it's upstairs from Hosteria Banana's restaurant.

A good plaza-side perch is Bar Luna, part of the hotel by the same name. It's open late into the evening. Indoors it's got cheeky design, and outdoors it's got a great crowd.

Dim and elegant with a long wooden bar, stained glass, and high-backed chairs, Bar Mancera is perhaps the best preserved of all Centro's early 20th-century watering holes. Founded in 1912, just two years after the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, this is the perfect place to sit back with a tequila or a beer and imagine yourself living in the optimistic days after the fighting had ended and a new political order had emerged.

The young and the hip favor this bar, a 10-minute walk northeast of Zona Rosa. Upon entering, you need to change pesos into milagros (miracles), which are notes necessary to buy drinks throughout the night. The trick is to remember to change them back before last call.

Bright lighting and a bold color scheme create a striking vibe for singing karaoke, watching live bands, dancing, sipping craft cocktails, and nibbling on Japanese-Mexican-fusion bar snacks in this quirky late-night space that draws a mix of artists, club kids, and style-makers. Music tends toward the playful and accessible—think trash disco, alternative, reggae, and pretty much anything that gets the diverse crowd moving. Oriente's two private karaoke rooms are great for small parties (they hold up to 30 guests).

Attached to the Rana Cansada Hotel, Bar Ranita is a favorite among rowdy expats. The prices are unbeatable, and the margaritas pack a powerful punch.

If you're in the mood for live music, Barlovento heats up with a salsa beat Wednesday through Saturday.

One of the most revered artisanal mezcal makers in the country, Oaxaca-based Alipus—which also runs the restaurants/bars Los Danzantes and Corazón de Maguey in Coyoacán—operates this stylish little spot in historic Tlalpan Centro. Stop by to sample the mezcal either straight up or in the extensive list of interesting cocktails, and note the well-prepared traditional Mexican food, including a number of Oaxacan specialties.

Centrally located Berlin is a pretty, popular, upscale bar with an international crowd. With German as well as international entrées, salads, and appetizers, the food is great, too; eat at the bar, the small restaurant in the back, or in the lounge under the exhuberant oil paintings of Peter Leventhal. Dinner is served until 11:30 pm.

A chilled-out alternative to Cabo Wabo, you can listen to excellent live music play on an outdoor stage designed to look like a mound of sand. Sports games are also frequently broadcast. For a bite to accompany a beverage, try the sushi.

Set in a cozy and convivial historic space with stone walls and a ornate tile floor, you can sample the superb European-style craft beers of this acclaimed local brewer, including a light and refreshing Hefeweizen and heady Dunkles Bock. The bar also serves well-made cocktails and fine mezcals. There's an additional location in Cholula.

The owner of Dzalbay Cantina has this low-key alternative on the opposite side of Centro. Instead of live music, most nights, the soundtrack is provided by the extensive and curated vinyl collection. The bar serves pizza and beer—there are 12 different artisanal brews on tap every night.

Ensconced within one of the most opulent Porfirian mansions in Roma, this urbane bar is a dramatic setting for well-crafted cocktails and tasty tapas. Located in the mansion's former courtyard, the bar is just one element of the building's rambling series of dining spaces (which also includes an oyster bar and a more formal high-end farm-to-table restaurant), but it's also arguably the most delightful of the venues to pass time in.

The lounge in the Camino Real Hotel, southeast of Polanco, has a sophisticated crowd, mellow music, and good martinis—a relaxing stop if you're staying in the hotel or just passing through. Lighting and overall color schemes are, as you probably guessed, blue tinged. There are several seating areas; furnishings are eclectic but are heavy on mid-century modern pieces. One area has a translucent floor that's lighted from below and set over water—very cool, very blue.

In addition to its famous beach scene, Blue Chairs, at the south end of Los Muertos Beach, has the popular Blue Sunset Rooftop Bar, which is the perfect place to watch the sunset. It has daily late-afternoon and evening entertainment, and is open to the public between 3 and 11 pm; after that, it's hotel guests only.

With music so loud that it rattles the windows of passing cars, the video bar Boulevard 93 is popular with college students. It's open Tuesday through Sunday.

Right on the sand across from Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, this restaurant-bar has bargain brewskis and equally inexpensive fruity margaritas by the pitcher. The seafood is less than inspired, but nachos and other munchies are good accompaniments to the drinks. Watch the waves and listen to Bob Marley and the Gipsy Kings among lots of gringo couples and a few middle-age Mexican vacationers.

The tiny, gritty Cabaret La Perla dates from 1946 and is now one of several popular gay bars lining the western end of Calle República de Cuba. Weekend drag shows are some of the city's best, with performances focusing on Mexican pop divas. 

Easily the most famous bar in Los Cabos (if not Mexico as a whole), Cabo Wabo is worth a visit for the novelty alone. There's live music every afternoon and evening, and if you're lucky, you might just witness a jam session from owner Sammy Hagar and some of his legendary musician friends, who stop by a few times a year. The club's zany design—high cavernous ceilings, zebra stripes, and psychedelic neon patterns—are as fun as ever, even if the venue is now past its prime. (The energetic crowds once featured on MTV are largely a thing of the past, save for Hagar's annual Birthday Bash, which sells out instantly.) There's a steep markup on the menu's prices, but the house Cabo Wabo Tequila still merits a taste. Grabbing a bottle or a T-shirt from the on-site souvenir shop is a must for any Van Halen fan.