303 Best Bars in Mexico

One of the most personable and funky bars in the area is also the oldest. Overlooking the town square, La Crema serves well-mixed cocktails such as the donaji, a mix of mezcal and orange juice rimmed with sal de gusano (chili-worm salt). A mix of canned tunes provides the beat: rock, lounge music, ranchera, and other Mexican music. A wood-fired pizza oven keeps energy levels high. There's dancing after 10 pm.

Calle Sopeña is one of the hottest streets on weekend nights. La Dama de las Camelias, with its dingy-hip furnishings and longtime regulars, manages to stay unpretentious while pulling off its dive-bar-meets-vaudeville theme. You'll find everyone from twentysomethings to sixtysomethings hitting the dance floor for salsa and cumbia. It's open until 4 am.

With its endearingly faded elegance and beguiling collection of vintage bullfighting artwork, costumes, and memorabilia, this cavernous cantina from the 1950s feels decidedly from another era. Along with its wonderful neighbor, Bar Mancera, it occupies the 1535 Palacio del Marqués de Selva Nevada. Although international hipsters have gained a foothold, La Faena still entices a steady flow of old-timers and often features mariachis, live Latin jazz, and dancing.

Appealing and unpretentious, La Fuente opened in this location in 1950. The cantina draws business types, intellectuals, and blue-collar workers, all seeking cheap drinks, animated conversation, and live music. Above the bar, look for an old bicycle. It's been around since 1957, when, legend has it, one of a long list of famous people (most say it was Jesús Álvarez del Castillo, founder of local newspaper El Informador) left the bike to pay for his drinks. 

Mexico is home to a growing number of artisanal brewers, and this is the place to try craft Mexican beers as well as additional selections from over 33 other countries. The bartenders are knowledgeable about their brews.

The Querétaro outpost of a Mexican chainlet of popular bottle shop-bars known for the vast selections of craft beer is a fun place to mingle with locals and dine on light pub fare.

The vibe at this hip, open-air mezcal bar right on the Paseo del Pescador is pure kitsch, complete with colorful vinyl-cord chairs and tables covered with lotería cards. It serves dozens of varieties of mezcal from five different Mexican states, along with inventive cocktails and tasty dishes ranging from burgers and tacos to duck carnitas. You'll find occasional live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. It's generally open from 4 pm to 2 am but closes early in the low season.

A cool—although a bit posh—bar with the largest TV screen in Puerto Vallarta, it attracts locals for "pre-copa" (pre-drinks) and to watch big soccer or boxing matches.

For some local color, stop at La Maestranza, a renovated 1940s cantina full of bullfighting memorabilia.

Many locals consider the merengue and salsa music played at this dance hall, southeast of Colonia Roma, to be some of the city's best. It also offers dance classes and live music. 

Eight different mezcals, all from Oaxaca state, are used to create mixed drinks as well as shots to be savored. Try a cucumber-and-cilantro margarita, or one with red grapes, chilies, or ginger and mint. Many of the ingredients used in the indoor–outdoor bar's satisfying snacks—from sausages to bread and ice cream—are made by the owners themselves, a Swede and his Mexico City–born wife. The small but interesting menu meanders from oysters baked with spinach and Parmesan cheese to arugula salad, beef fillet on a coffee crust, and the Oaxacan specialty fried grasshoppers. Also available are Mexican wines and Dos Aves, San Miguel's artisanal beer.

Part of a national chain, La No. 20 is an upscale cantina with slick decor and high-end mixology service. Mariachi bands roam the bar, while young professionals dine on satisfying (if pricey) old-school Mexican cuisine. Try to nab a table on the terrace for the full experience.

This charming martini lounge has red walls and a huge, eye-catching chandelier. Gringo-owned, it attracts a crowd of gay 20- to 40-year-old men (a mix of foreigners and Mexicans). Electronica and house music are the favorites. But, to get back to the martinis, the house makes excellent cocktails, and they're not too expensive, either. Make sure to visit the spectacular rooftop garden. 

One of the city's classic watering holes has attracted top personalities since it opened in 1870. Don't forget to have your waiter point out the bullet hole in the ceiling allegedly left by Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa. Come at night for live mariachi and good tequila.

Bar-restaurant La Oreja de Van Gogh has reasonably priced drinks and both indoor and outdoor seating. Although you can eat here, the restaurant is recommended primarily for drinks and for its location on cool Plazuela San Fernando. There's a larger branch at Plaza de la Unión with similar offerings, called simply Van Gogh.

Live music on Thursday and Friday coupled with the refreshing cocktails make this one of the best spots to grab a drink in San José del Cabo. Acoustic guitars add to the quaint atmosphere you’ll find in the lantern-lit, stone courtyard. Tapas make a tasty accompaniment to the house sangrias.

La Papaya is an enormous venue open to the stars. Patrons eat, drink, and dance while bikini-clad dancers entertain.

Just a block from Plaza Grande, in the heart of the historic center, this loud, colorful bar is one of the best spots to grab a beer, listen to live music, and watch Mérida in action. Check the website for weekly promotions.

Live salsa, cumbia, and other Latin tunes are played at La Porfiriana every night from 10:30 pm to 3 am.

La Quimera throbs with dance music Wednesday through Saturday nights.

Talent at this karaoke spot varies; it's open Monday through Saturday (except during low season, when the schedule is less consistent) after 9 pm. Come practice your standard Beatles tunes or hip-hop before your next official recording session.

International DJs and a young, cosmopolitan crowd groove to electronic music until very late at this "underground disco cantina." For a breath of fresh air, head upstairs to the rooftop lounge for cool drinks and chill-out music.

With more than a dozen organic javas on the menu, it's not surprising that La Selva Café is always filled with people. It's a big space, so there are plenty of quiet corners, and there's free Wi-Fi.

Located in what was the oldest cantina in town, the small, often lively and crowded "Fat Mermaid" offers exotic drinks such as fresh ginger martinis starting at 1 pm. Enjoy yummy seafood tacos at tiny booths or on the equally diminutive open-air back patio.

One of the city's most venerable watering holes offers salsa, merengue, and cumbia dancing on its terrace nightly beginning at 10 as well as light snacks and appetizers.

La Vaquita is arguably the hippest of all the El Centro clubs. A mostly young crowd packs the place every weekend, dancing to the rhythms of house, techno, Latin, pop, and rock music. The location is outstanding, with great ocean views. Here it's customary to enjoy your favorite drink in a litro, a 1-liter Styrofoam glass, with a straw. 

Enjoy masterful mixology at this beachfront hot spot, where you can hear live music and enjoy creative cocktails featuring local flavors and ingredients. On Tuesday, when drinks are two for one, this is the place to be.