Tales of Crime in Mexico's Restaurants / Café de Tacuba, a landmark in the Historic Center
Bearing witness to 112 years of history, it became the backdrop for a political assassination in 1936.
By Alejandro Pohlenz
We´ve already visited Café de Tacuba; it was established in the middle of the Mexican Revolution, in 1912, by Dionisio Mollinedo. We didn't mention that it was surely the inspiration for the name of a Mexican rock band; nor did we delve into the subject that fascinates us today: the assassination, in 1936, of Manlio Fabio Altamirano, governor-elect of Veracruz.
Historical context
In that year the president of the Republic was Lázaro Cárdenas and Miguel Alemán was a senator for the state of Veracruz: 10 years later he would become Head of the Executive. Manlio Fabio arrived to have dinner with his wife at Café de Tacuba at 10 at night. It is said that he was ideologically radical, that he had ties to the Mexican Communist Party; that he was a "defender of the peasants and poor workers." He obviously belonged to the PNR, which Calles founded and which would later become the PRI. When Mr. Altamirano was eating ice cream, they say, he realized that a man was pointing a gun at him. Instinctively, he pushed his wife aside. He received 6 shots: one of them in the hand that was holding the dessert. The killer ran into the street and a car was waiting for him to escape. He was never arrested.
Who killed him?
The murderer belonged to a group of hitmen called, believe it or not, La Mano Negra (The Black Hand). There are texts that assure that the intellectual author was the Veracruz landowner Manuel Parra: wealthy and conservative, he was not compatible with Altamirano's doctrine. Other sources reveal that the connection between the landowner and La Mano Negra was not proven.
The good news is that El Café de Tacuba has been alive and kicking for 88 years since that unfortunate incident. It offers, in a beautiful place in the Historic Center, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and a very extensive menu: tortilla soup, chicken in all its forms, ranchero appetizer, enfrijoladas, chuchulucos (small tacos), garnachas, tongue, panuchos, brains, tortas, tamales...
- Address: Calle Tacuba 28, Historic Center of CDMX.
- Hours and days of operation: Monday to Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Ideal for: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Payment: cash and cards.
- Accessibility: yes.
- Parking: no.
- Reservations: no.
- Nearby public transportation: Metro Allende.
- Pet Friendly: no.
- Suitable to go with children: yes.
- Vegan options: yes.
