Bygone restaurantes in México City
Like everything in life, some of these iconic establishments have closed their doors, leaving a bittersweet void in the city’s culinary landscape.
This is a nostalgic trip to remember those restaurants that once defined our city’s flavor—and that, for one reason or another, no longer exist.
ShowBiz Pizza
One of Atari’s co-founders—yes, the video game pioneer—decided to merge pizza, arcade machines, and animatronics into one glorious chaos. In 1977, he opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre in San José, California. After a business split, ShowBiz Pizza was born in 1980 in Massachusetts. Its trademarks: pizza, arcade games, and a terrifyingly charming animatronic band called The Rock-afire Explosion.
Burger Boy
Burger Boy became a legend mainly for its marketing genius. The sacred names of its Brontoburgers deserve to be remembered: Unifante, Brontodoble, and Dinotriple. Add to that the absurdly fun spiral straws called locopopotes (not exactly eco-friendly), and you had a fast-food fever dream.
Kids always got a toy, and the brand’s fame was boosted by its endless TV ads, especially on the Sunday morning show En Familia con Chabelo.
Rainforest Café
Honestly, nobody really remembers the food—it was “American,” meaning burgers, fried chicken, fish, pastas that weren’t quite Italian, and BBQ ribs. But what everyone remembers is the experience: thunderstorm sound effects, glowing stars above your table, and jungle noises so real you half expected a parrot to steal your fries.
Helen’s
Packed with kids since the ’70s, Helen’s was pure birthday-party chaos. The cheese corndogs were legendary, but the real stars were the sundaes, banana splits, floats, and milkshakes. The whipped-cream pie-in-the-face ritual for the birthday kid was sacred tradition.
Mr. Kelly’s
This classic survived until November 24, 2024—56 heroic years after opening in 1972. Mr. Kelly’s outlived crises, fads, and even a pandemic. Famous for its juicy, cheese-laden burgers, it later added salads, wraps, nuggets, and even Greek-style tacos. It was the last of its kind, and its final closing felt like the end of an era.
