5 Best Nightlife in Mexico City, Mexico

It housed conquistadors during the 16th century; today the Centro is a Spanish cultural center with daily art exhibits, plays, films, and other events, including occasional live indie, electronic, and rock bands on the terrace of the bar-restaurant.

This grand, cavernous 1940s-era cantina has a long antique bar to one side and a kitchen serving up tasty Asturian Spanish fare. It's filled nightly with the sounds of the tercera edad (a polite phrase for the elder generation) playing exuberant games of dominoes and millennials chatting about their adventures at Roma's latest gallery opening.

This sloppy gem of a loft is part metro stop, part college-dorm commons, part debating society, and part pulquería. It's run by 1950s national lightweight boxing champion and folk hero Epiphanio "Pifas" Leyva, and serves beer and pulque (a drink made with the fermented sap of one type of agave plant) to a young, intellectual crowd that loves to sing and dance to the excellent jukebox of punk and local guacapunk (Mexican ska) classics. If you want a rowdy afternoon (the bar is usually closed by 11, and always closed on Sunday), this is the place. Note that it's technically in the Doctores neighborhood, but borders Colonia Roma.

The slogan of this classic dance halls says it all: "Whoever doesn't know Los Angeles doesn't know Mexico." When Salón Los Angeles turned 80 in 2017, a who's who of Mexico City turned out to celebrate, from actors and writers to politicians and ambassadors. 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. Note that La Guerrero can be dangerous at night, so it's best to come and go by Uber.

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.