10 Cantinas with free botana / Part 1
Born in the 19th century, Mexican cantinas have witnessed revolutions, love affairs and heartbreaks, and have seen all kinds of characters parade through their doors, from artists and writers to politicians and revolutionaries.
Today, we invite you to rediscover the magic of these emblematic places with our guide to 10 cantinas in Mexico City where the botana (snacks) are free, where you can enjoy the generosity of the chilangos (Mexico City residents) without overspending.
Cantina Ciudad de México
This is a tribute to the cantinas of the everyday chilango, who arrives looking for a place to eat and drink well at a good price. Their motto "Cantina without free botana is not a cantina" invites you to try their 4-course botana menu that is included with the purchase of 4 drinks. Try the chamorro (pork shank) they serve on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Address: Rio Lerma 161, Cuauhtémoc
- Price of beer: from 85 pesos
La Texana
Traditional cantina in the tough neighborhood of Guerrero. They bring you a botana for each drink, but I recommend ordering at least three drinks as dictated by the unwritten etiquette of free botana cantinas. The clients are not only residents of the Guerrero neighborhood but, says Mr. Aguirre, "from all over the city."
- Address: Degollado 101, Guerrero
- Price of beer: from 38 pesos
El Paraíso
This botana cantina was born about 75 years ago as a brothel. The most famous octopus in its ink torta in Santa María la Ribera is found here. The botana is given in exchange for four drinks. During the weekends, the tables are rearranged to make room for a musician and his melodic organ. Thursdays are for grilling (which they do right there on the street) and on Fridays they serve paella.
- Address: Sabino 245, Santa Ma. La Ribera
- Price of beer: from 65 pesos
La Reforma
Upon crossing this door with golden aluminum frames, the gray terrazzo tiles and the tiles in different shades of brown speak to us of another era. The two-level resin bar, a curiosity from the mid-20th century, confirms that this is a place with a resume. The owner boasts about his botana: it changes every day, there is always broth, soup, a side dish, leftovers from yesterday...
- Address: Ayuntamiento 48, Peralvillo
- Price of beer: from 65 pesos
La Mascota
You can read the botana of the day on the napkin holder: shrimp broth, potato quesadillas, meat juice, fish fillet, tongue in adobo. Here the botana is preserved with a minimum consumption of drinks. The mascot remains frozen in a past, present and future that invites us to delve into its flavors, memories and forgetfulness.
- Address: Mesones 20, Historic Center
- Price of beer: from 98 pesos
Cantina New York
Sopa de codito (small pasta soup), chorizo sopes and a sauce with chunks of avocado was the menu of the day we visited this cantina with very friendly hosts where the locals sit down to reinvent the gossip of the neighborhood. The TV dominates the soundscape but you can start the jukebox with some classic tunes.
- Address: Calle Soto 217, Guerrero
- Price of beer: from 50 pesos
Cantina La Dominica
The food at La Dominica is not going to change your life nor are its drinks the elixir of eternal youth, although they may make you feel that way because of how well served they arrive. This is a traditional cantina that delivers what it promises: to be a living document of the cantina experience in Mexico City.
- Address: Belisario Domínguez 61 ground floor, Centro
- Price of beer: from 55 pesos
La Colonial
La Colonial has almost 100 dishes to choose from, divided into four courses, and they boast that you will find them all available every day. The first three courses are included with the consumption of drinks. The fourth has an extra cost of 85 pesos. We see the fourth course of La Colonial as an extra pleasure, a treat, and from this perspective we could say that it is even cheap if we take into account that they offer shrimp, arrachera, rib-eye, salmon, chamorro...
- Address: Av. Revolución 216, Tacubaya
- Price of beer: from 75 pesos
La Castellana
La Castellana survives the tradition of botana with food. With more than a hundred years old, its tortas encompass the memory of a flavor that overcomes the ravages of time. It is said that Pedro Infante took Azcárraga Vidaurreta to the cantina for the first time and that, from then on, the founder of XEW, now Televisa, would send for tortas from time to time.
- Address: Ayuntamiento 64, Col. Centro
- Price of beer: from 75 pesos
Casa Abundio
A cantina where caguamas (large bottles of beer) reign and reggae is played on Saturdays. The liquid specialty of Cantina Casa Abundio is beer. A good number of drinks made with this elixir are sold in this place: the bull, with rum, lemon, ice and beer, the beer mojito, the black velvet, the submarine and the micheladas; there are with clamato or chamoy.
- Address: Zaragoza and Moctezuma, Buenavista
- Price of beer: from 75 pesos
