Crime Stories in Mexico City Restaurants
Mexico City, with its vast and ever-bustling appetite, holds within its depths stories that gluttony itself cannot digest.
Places where mole and vengeance, ice cream and bullets, stingray and assassination were served at the same table. Among the many corners this capital has seen, some are more than just a menu: they are the stage of history, a history that reminds us that in this city, even death can arrive at the table.
EL MAQUECH PÚRPURA
José Pedro Roque had made a name for himself. He started with a tin stall and ended up with several branches of “El Maquech Púrpura.” At Christmas, he gave away suckling pig sandwiches to those who had nothing for dinner. On October 6, 2015, two of his employees murdered him and left his body in the refrigerator at the Av. Cuauhtémoc location.
Today, the restaurant operates as usual.
Address: José María Vértiz 808, Narvarte, CDMX.
OCHOA BALI HAI
A seafood restaurant on Insurgentes Sur, favored by and tipping in dollars from El Señor de los Cielos. Here, Amado Carrillo felt untouchable—until one day, assassins from the Arellano Félix cartel entered with guns blazing. The capo managed to escape, but the myth of his immunity was left in ceviche.
Address: Insurgentes Sur 1524, corner of Ceres Street.
Status: Permanently closed.
LA BOMBILLA
On July 17, 1928, Obregón celebrated his (already illegal) reelection at this San Ángel restaurant. A cartoonist distracted him with drawings in his left hand while the right fired six shots at his face. Some guests reportedly mistook the gunshots for percussion from the band playing. He died there, among traditional dishes and French wines.
In the 1930s, Parque La Bombilla was built with a monument to Obregón, displaying the arm that a bomb had torn off during the Revolution.
CAFÉ DE TACUBA
Thursday, June 25, 1936: the governor of Veracruz, Manlio Fabio Altamirano, was enjoying ice cream when he noticed a man pointing a gun at him. He shielded his wife but was hit with six bullets. He died there, among plates of mole poblano. The assassin was never caught, and the café continues to serve guests to this day.
Address: Calle Tacuba 28, Historic Center, CDMX.
Fun fact: Café de Tacuba has been alive and kicking for 88 years since that unfortunate incident.
Here they are the remnants of an unfinished dinner. Those dining rooms, those patios, those tables now serve patrons oblivious to the tragedy. Yet memory, that dish that never washes away, reminds us that splendor and violence, flavor and blood, are the ingredients of Mexico City’s grand chronicle. After all, what is a good banquet without a little historical gossip?
