38 Best Bars in Mexico

This little cabaret offers entertainment six nights per week, ranging from drag shows and burlesque to exotic dancers and impersonators. There’s nothing dull about a night at Cabaretito, and it’s a welcoming space for all. Bottle service is available, and you'll find plenty of alcohol to lower your inhibitions and fit in with the rollicking crowd eager for a good time.

Open only on Friday nights, The City is a giant party complex with several large bars selling overpriced drinks and a cavernous dance floor with stadium seating. Dancing and live shows are the main draw during the legendary foam parties. This is by far the loudest club in the Zona Hotelera, so don't be surprised if you go home with your ears ringing. Doors open at 10 pm; expect to pay a MX$500 cover or MX$1,300 for open-bar entry.

The wild Coco Bongo has no chairs, but there are plenty of tables that everyone dances on and capacity for 1,800 people. There's also a popular show billed as "Las Vegas meets Hollywood," featuring celebrity impersonators and an amazing gravity-defying acrobatic performance with an accompanying 12-piece orchestra. After the shows, the techno gets turned up to full volume, and everyone gets up to get down. Doors open at 10:30 pm. Tickets are MX$1,400–MX$2,600 for open bar and shows.

Like its successful sister properties in Cancún, Coco Bongo has things like flying acrobats, bar-top conga lines, live bands, and DJs mixing everything from rock to hip-hop. The cover charge includes unlimited drinks.

The trendiest club in town and a favorite of locals and foreigners, La Santa has two different dance floors, one playing electronic and house music and the other mixing a variety of pop and rock in English and Spanish. There is a stylish swimming pool in the second room, where things can sometimes get a bit out of control. It has some great parties, but can get a bit too crowded.

Although Papaya Playa Project is a hotel, many folks simply patronize its beachfront club, where they can kick off their flip-flops and dance among the trees. Party people, in particular, appreciate the DJs spinning electronic and house music on Saturday night or the monthly full-moon events.

The slogan of this classic dance halls says it all: "Whoever doesn't know Los Angeles doesn't know Mexico." A flashback to the hot pink splendor of Mexico's mid-century boom years (it opened in 1937), Salón Los Angeles is a fairly quiet place on most nights, where older couples from the surrounding neighborhood come to dance to live bands playing salsa, cumbia, and danzón. But when big acts come through town, the hall, large enough for 600 people, bursts to life. These are the nights to be here, so keep an eye on the line-up on their website. Just note that this is out of the way for most city visitors, so plan to take an Uber to get here.

This stylish nightclub can seem a bit small, but it features an enormous dance floor. The light and sound systems are state-of-the-art, which is highly appreciated by the world-famous DJs that come here to mix it up. They play mostly electronic dance music (EDM), but, as the night goes on, you'll also hear some '80s and '90s pop-rock hits. 

Inside a cavern, Alux has a bar, disco, wine cellar, and restaurant. There's a MX$100 drink minimum.

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).

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.

You can dance to live salsa music every night at the most popular club in town.

Brought to you by the makers of the famed Coco Bongo, Congo Bar is hard to miss. This spot stops traffic due to the go-go dancers who perform on open platforms lining the street. Expect Jell-O shots, confetti showers, and loud music. A regular dance floor ticket costs $47.

Open later than any other venue in La Paz, this is the place to wind up if you have one more dance left in you before calling it a night. Tacos are sold for under a buck-fifty, should you need some sobering up, too.

Previously known as Dady'O, Cancún's original dance club has rebranded itself as D'Cave and is still very "in" with the younger set. A giant screen projects music videos above the always-packed dance floor, while laser lights whirl across the crowd. During spring break, Hawaiian Bikini contests make the place even livelier. It's only open on Saturday from 9:30 pm to 3 am, and a general access ticket costs $30.

The epitome of Cabo San Lucas nightlife, this original and iconic three-story dance club has changed very little since its opening three decades ago, but remains as popular as ever. Revelers of all ages can be found lined outside for admission on any given night, despite a hefty cover charge and the neighboring clubs remaining empty. It's known to get wild, and that's the main draw for most---either to participate in the madness, or to people watch with amusement. At virtually every breakfast buffet in town, you'll hear someone remarking about "what happened last night at El Squid Roe."

Students gather for drinks and salsa dancing (including classes) at Galería de Sabores.

This is the spot for those who are into electronic music, with capacity for 1,000 revelers.

Kachimba is a great spot for live Cuban music. It's open Thursday to Sunday.

People of all ages come to salsa and drink mojitos made with Cuban rum at this wonderful Cuban bar and restaurant with a friendly vibe. The small dance floor fills up as soon as the house sextet starts playing around 9:30 pm. There's no cover.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.