35 Best Bars in Mexico

The glow of flickering candles welcomes visitors to this swish Parisian-style bar that presents live jazz and blues bands several days a week, along with a menu of designer pizzas, Mediterranean tapas, wine, and cocktails. It's a popular spot on weekends, and reservations are recommended if you want a table. Around the corner, sister restaurant Franca Bistro serves a more extensive food menu and has a similarly classy but laid-back air about it.

Best known for its terrific cocktails and live music, Fayne's is a brightly painted place with a hip, energetic personality. The party kicks off nightly at 8 with everything from American rock to Caribbean rhythms providing the soundtrack. Bring your dancing shoes.

This casual gastro pub is a colorful rooftop hot spot that shares the same stunning view of the famous Los Cabos Arch as its downstairs counterpart, Sunset Monalisa. With live jazz music every day and a selection of more than 140 wines and champagnes, this is the place to watch the sun set over light bites and cocktails.

Right in the heart of town, some of Mexico's most talented jazz musicians perform at this well-respected and lively music club that also turns out excellent gastropub fare, such as burgers, cheese fondue, and pizzas. There's a second branch in Roma Norte in Mexico City.

At this welcoming, lively Cuban joint set in a grand but faded mansion that wouldn't look the least out of place in Havana, every surface is splashed with graffiti. Inspired by the original Havana establishment where Hemingway once lapped up mojitos, La Bodeguita also serves inexpensive Cuban food and sells Cuban cigars. Much of the time, live salsa, timba, and rumba bands provide entertainment.

For drinks with a view of El Arco, head to The Rooftop bar and lounge at The Cape hotel. The sleek setting boasts a beer garden, handcrafted cocktails, and live music at sunset. If it gets too breezy, move to their Glass Box boutique hotel bar specializing in tequilas and mezcals.

Puerto Vallarta's only rock house is a very energetic club that features live music every night at 11 pm. Roxy is an institution and one of the few places that attracts all kinds of visitors—you'll find nationals and foreigners of all ages on the premises, and they're not afraid to sing and dance. 

You'll find the best and largest frozen margaritas in town at Wet Wendy's. Sit at the bar, and down one of the potent concoctions, or grab a table in the outdoor garden to dine on remarkably good food and dance to the salsa, rock, and jazz bands that play here several nights a week. Service is friendly, so don't be surprised if the bartender asks you if you want "the usual" on your second visit.

Set in the vault of an art deco bank in the heart of Centro, the capital's coolest jazz joint hosts local and international acts. The intimate setting and enthusiastic audiences seem to bring out the best in performers. It's open Wednesday through Saturday, and offers a small menu of international dishes.

A classic cantina in the colonia Tabacalera, 5 Caudillos serves up botanas (snacks) that rotate through weekly specials, with options like chamorro (roasted pork shank) and solomillo (pork loin) drawing crowds on Thursday. Musicians play daily after 4 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.

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.

The café-bar at Mérida's landmark 1908 theater is one of the most happening nightspots in town. Tables spill onto the street, where locals gather to hear balladeers singing romantic and politically inspired songs. The drinks are expensive, and the food is nothing special, so only go if you want culture, live music, and an opportunity to splurge.

On most days, this restaurant at the boutique solar-powered VIDASOUL Hotel is a quiet place to enjoy a drink or meal overlooking gorgeous beachfront views of the Sea of Cortez. But on Friday and Saturday night in-season (November through May), live bands play, and it becomes the best of the scant nightlife options between Los Barriles and San José del Cabo. Locals and visitors alike party down, East Cape style, and the restaurant closes when the last guest goes to bed.

One of Mérida's historic traditional cantinas, Dzalbay is experiencing a second life in the hands of a group of expat musician-owners. The bar has a crowded calendar of performances by blues and jazz acts, both local musicians and ones passing through Mérida. A large outdoor terrace and menus of signature cocktails, microbrews, and bar snacks also help make Dzalbay a local favorite. If a low-key, welcoming cantina is what you are searching for, it may become your favorite, too.

Though it's hardly a secret—it's one of the venues that hosts the Guitarfest in March— El Canto de la Sirena is something of a hidden gem, if only because of its unlikely location outside of town by the main bus station. This local favorite is owned by a local legend, guitarist José Luis Cobo López, who performs most evenings. There's live music (and sometimes dancing) Tuesday through Saturday starting at 10 pm; jam sessions usually last until the wee hours.

For Cuban rhythms downtown, head to the unpretentious El Rincón de la Trova, where people of all ages gather Thursday through Saturday.

An anchor of Playa's live music scene, cool Kitxen features bands from Mexico and the Caribbean playing everything from rock to reggae. Cash only.

Graffiti-styled La Bodeguita del Medio, a franchise of the famous Havana outpost, features live Cuban music every day.

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.

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.

This noisy, friendly roadhouse always attracts those looking to down a shot of tequila, sip cold beer, and mingle with old or new friends. The menu features good, dependable, and mostly American fare. From October to June they host live music, ranging in style from pop to blues to country.

A pleasant atmosphere, flowing beer, and live music are what make this bar one of Mérida's best-kept secrets (you might want to pass on the food). Grab a spot in the beer garden where you can listen to live reggae, rock, or jazz. A rather worn billiard table and occasional entertainment—such as belly dancers and fire spinners—draw a decent crowd.

In the early 2000s, this became one of the first bars to draw hip crowds from other parts of town to Centro. Since then, things have calmed down, but the bar remains a pleasant spot for an afternoon beer and a lively spot for live music, which might range from salsa to hip-hop to cumbia, on weekend nights after 9 pm. For a complete listing of upcoming events, visit their Facebook page.

Although it caters mostly to guests of the Privilege Aluxes hotel, you can also visit this architecturally modern bar that plays chill-out music by day and has live music at night, just make sure to book a table (or a palapa) in advance via email. The fish tacos are a perfect cerveza accompaniment. Try to stop by for the gorgeous sunset.

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).