Not long ago, Mexico News Daily published a look at some of the long list of cocktail bars in Mexico that made it onto the 2025 list, 50 Best Bars of North America. In fact, it was such a long list, we didn’t have the room to tell you about all of them in one article.
That in itself is something amazing. Known a few decades ago as a nation that drank little else but beer and tequila, Mexico has in recent decades embraced mixology in a big way. In this article, we delve into the stories behind the seven other bars that were included on this year’s list.
Arca, Tulum – No. 27
Deep on the jungle side of the main road through Tulum’s hotel zone is the sexy and sultry Arca, one of my absolute favorites on this list. If there’s a reason to pop down the coast, it’s Arca.
The bar program is created by Carlos Mora, Edson Sánchez and head chef José Luis Hinostroza, drawing inspiration from the jungles of Yucatán with local flavors like achiote, mamey and melipona honey. These stunning cocktails are paired with delicate dishes from the kitchen of Hinostroza, who, after a string of positions at Michelin-star restaurants, is utilizing the best that his home country has to offer in terms of ingredients and flavors.
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Selva, Oaxaca City – No. 29
Swanky and sophisticated, Selva has won a spot on 50 Best Bars of North America’s list since its inception in 2022. The chic ambiance gives the feeling of being in a much larger city, but the menu’s focus on seasonality and local ingredients — one, of course, being mezcal — brings you right back down to the earth you’re standing on.
Selva is working towards sustainability, trying to maximize the use of leftovers from their bar and the restaurant downstairs, Los Danzantes — to whose hospitality group they belong — by reimagining the leftovers with infusions, fermentation and other tricks.
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Bijou Drinkery Room, Mexico City – No. 34
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A newcomer to the list this year, Bijou is more of an expression than a bar, drawn from the mind of communications engineer turned bar owner Dani Ortega. A math geek, Ortega has made the ordering process at Bijou one of the most complicated and fun in the city. It involves using a Rubik’s Cube to create an infinite number of combinations.
You can choose a liquor along with a flavor profile — bitter, fruity, dry — and a texture — bubbles, frothy, clarified — a specific fruit juice, and so on, and the ace bartenders will create your concoction on the spot.
While a plethora of options might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Ortega says that this speakeasy has won the hearts of regulars who like to come in and stump the team with requests.
Hanky Panky, Mexico City – No. 35
Hanky Panky was created as an homage to the speakeasies of the 1920s and was the first of its kind in Mexico City when it opened in 2015. Through a hallway and behind an unassuming Oaxacan restaurant, visitors enter a world of red leather and dark wood, dotted with the many wall mirrors that make this tiny space feel bigger than it is.
Hanky Panky continues to focus on classics with a twist, creating new cocktails by the team’s bartenders and through collaborations with mixologists around the world.
“We want our customers to be able to experience the recipes of Eric Lorincz or Charly Aguinsky even if they couldn’t fly to London or Argentina to taste them in person,” says Gina Barbachano, one of the bar’s partners.
Kaito del Valle, Mexico City – No. 40
“I think the list acts as this first stop for people, and then they are like, ‘okay, where should I go next?’ and we have a good network of bartenders sending people to bars across the city,” says Claudia Cabrera, Kaito’s co-owner and bar director. “A lot of new people are coming from abroad who were not used to coming to Mexico, and 50 Best has helped to get people thinking that it’s a cool place, and that it’s not dangerous. It’s been switching the mood about the city.”
Located in Mexico City’s residential Del Valle neighborhood, Kaito del Valle is definitely the furthest bar off the tourist track on this list, but it is moving on up to a space in Colonia Juárez this July and taking their Asian-inspired cocktail menu — featuring garnishes of nori, a fortune cookie, shiso and sake — with them.
Don’t worry, the karaoke rooms at the new place will be even bigger and better.
Café de Nadie, Mexico City – No. 47
Café de Nadie is an accidental cocktail star, according to co-founder Billy Castro.
“For 10 years, we were dreaming about a place to hang out and listen to good music, not trendy stuff but with good DJ-ing — a place that would be like going over to friends’ to listen to vinyl. We never even had the idea of cocktails on our mind.”
But when they opened the bar in 2021, brand manager and mixologist Mapo Molano knew that a solid cocktail menu would be a requirement in the burgeoning bar scene they were entering.
The selection of alcohol-forward concoctions at Café de Nadie prioritizes seasonality, a thread woven throughout the business at large due to the influence of Pablo Usobiaga, who cofounded the organic CSA Arca Tierra with his brother Lucio. Arca Tierra just opened Baldío, which bills itself as Mexico City’s first zero-waste restaurant, and Café de Nadie’s cocktail and food menus incorporate the zero-waste philosophy.
“We love what 50 Best has meant for us and other bars,” says Billy Castro. “But even more than that, the award and the notoriety allow us to have the kind of bar we want — one that’s focused on creating incredible musical experiences.”
Bekeb, San Miguel de Allende – No. 49
Located inside San Miguel’s Aqua Live Hotel, Bekeb has a desert chicness that folds nicely into the overall feel of this Guanajuato city.
Fabiola Padilla has created a menu of libations that overlays local flavors — copal, prickly pear and garambullo — with agave and other spirits to showcase the bounty of central Mexico.
She works closely with Casa Dragones, an award-winning local tequila brand with its own strong following in the San Miguel bar scene.
Even more Mexican bars make the extended list
This year also saw the inaugural 51–100 list of North America’s Best Bars, allowing space for an even greater selection of Mexican bars to be included:
- Sabina Sabe, in Oaxaca city, came in at No. 54
- Brujas, owned by the Hanky Panky group, was No. 65
- Zapote, in Playa del Carmen, was No. 74
- Ticuchi, Enrique Olvera’s bar in Mexico City, came in at No. 82
- Casa Prunes, an Art Nouveau beauty in Mexico City’s Roma Norte, was No. 94
Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City. She has been published widely both online and in print, writing about Mexico for over a decade. She lives a double life as a local tour guide and is the author of “Mexico City Streets: La Roma.” Follow her urban adventures on Instagram and see more of her work at mexicocitystreets.com.
