With the aim of contributing to the visibility and documentation of our history, Local.mx makes a tour of the cantinas, bars and nightclubs of "ambiente" in Mexico City from 1960 to 2000. They are ordered by decade, with their name, address, years in which they existed and a brief description "of their uses and customs". Obviously, not all the gay bars, pubs and cantinas are listed because that would be practically impossible. But later we promise to broaden and deepen the list, and also map the public baths, saunas, gyms, parks, restaurants and corners of the city that served as spaces for socializing and homosexual flirting during those three decades. We also urge our lesbian sisters to do the same, for the sake of memory.
60's
During the first half of the 1960s, life was not easy for gays in Mexico City or for other "sinners". They had to live in virtual invisibility, especially those who liked the night. This was because, after a highly publicized crime, the "iron regent" Ernesto Uruchurtu, who ruled the capital from 1952 to 1966, unleashed a campaign of moralistic repression and closed down cabarets, persecuted prostitution and shut down almost all the gay bars. However, some meeting and entertainment places flourished, such as the Safari.
The Safari
(corner of Havre and Hamburgo in a building that was demolished, Zona Rosa. Closed in 1966)
It is considered the first openly homosexual nightclub. The only reason that allowed the existence of such a place, during the Uruchurtian era, was that it belonged to Fernando Romero, chief of the Judicial Police of Mexico City (who was said to be gay). It was decorated with African motifs: tiger skins, crossed spears and aboriginal masks. There was a live orchestra. It became famous when Chavela Vargas spent a long season there, and her presence summoned the Mexican intelligentsia influenced by Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. The Safari had three perfectly defined sectors: the south side (the Devil's Cauldron), occupied exclusively by homosexual men, the north (the Lesbos Quadrant), by lesbians, and the center by a mixture of heterosexual participants and four or five prostitutes who accepted both men and women.
70's
In 1968 things began to change. On a global level: the feminist movement, the hippies, sexual liberation and the Stonewall riots, and on a national level: the student movement and the Olympics marked a break with the tradition of concealment, repression and silence of Mexican homosexuals and opened the doors to a future of greater freedom. At the same time, the Mexican homosexual liberation movement emerged during these years and contributed to gaining visibility and rights. As a result, several gay venues were opened in the city to socialize and reaffirm the new "gay" identity. During the six-year term of Luis Echeverría (1970-1976), a progressive agenda was introduced (the promotion of contraceptive methods was encouraged and sexual education was strengthened), but it was common for gay establishments to be raided and closed down. It was not until the six-year term of López Portillo (1976-1982) when morals finally relaxed and more gay bars and nightclubs appeared in the city.
Gina D'Bico, Pamela and Nana. 1977. Photo by Adolfo Patiño.
El Villamar or L'Hardy's ( basement in a building on Independencia Street almost on the corner with López, very close to the Alameda, next to the Marlowe Hotel, Colonia Centro) was an iconic cantina, as it was the first to openly serve homosexual clientele in a purely masculine environment. It was mainly attended by men in their thirties and forties, gays and discreet or closet bisexuals. Also known as El Villaterror, it was a traditional cantina for bureaucrats in a very large room decorated with paintings of bullfighting scenes. There were mariachis, beer, rotisserie chicken and snacks.
Cantina Paris ( Eje Central and Donceles, Centro Histórico) An emblematic cantina. Frequented by gay and bisexual men, very manly and discreet, office. Little by little it changed its turn, they played live music and people started to dance. It was closed to build Sanborn's and moved to the sidewalk across the street. In the nineties, it became a mixed night club with live tropical music.
El Topo (near the monument to the Revolution, Colonia Tabacalera) was a basement with clandestine airs. It had a reputation for being very permissive and suffered from constant police raids.
El Famoso 41 (Hamburgo 41 in Colonia Juárez, disappeared in the eighties) This joint occupied a slender Porfirian building in Colonia Juárez. It had a sign on the facade that read "Le Fameux 41" with an Eiffel Tower. The large house with several rooms and stairs was used as a nightclub. People danced to the rhythm of disco and high energy. Before the 9, it had a mixed and tasty atmosphere: gay men and very pretty taiboleras who went to have a drink after working at the Atzimba, rich and poor, celebrities and not so famous, handsome and ugly... It had a sotanito that was an antecedent of the dark rooms; a micro sex club.
Piccolo Mondo (Atenas and Bucareli, Colonia Juárez, 1974) The first gay place owned by businessman Oscar Catalayud.
Mío Mondo (2 locations: Abraham González corner with Morelos and Plaza Giordano Bruno, 1974) By Alfonso Gómez-Evans. A small joint for young professionals of the middle class. With "neon decoration and lots of mirrors". It had a disco dance floor. There was a show and the big star was Terry Holiday.
El Salamanca (Cerrada de Salamanca, Colonia Roma) Bar owned by Alfonso Gómez-Evans that opened after Mío Mundo. Small and very intimate place to have a drink. Quiet music. It had a jukebox. Its clientele were mainly mature men over 40.
El Penthouse (Manzanillo 100 Piso 15, Colonia Roma, 1975-1977) Oscar Calatayud's classy and elegant rooftop bar. The profile of the people who went there was upper middle and upper class. Some "nice" men were transvestites and had a reputation for being very beautiful and luxurious dresses. The place was clandestine (it had no license) and suffered from many raids; it was even closed because of one of them.
El Deval or D'Val (Baja California almost corner with Insurgentes, Colonia Roma, 1976-1979) Also owned by Oscar Calatayud. A nice, well appointed and very successful place. Animated by Samantha Flores and directed by Martha Valdespino (Deval was an apocope of Valdespino). It had a transvestite show where Miss Tabatha did the dance of the seven veils. Frequented by actress Isela Vega.
El Don ( Av. Álvaro Obregón and Córdoba, early 70's to late 90's) It started out as a cantina-restaurant for a mixed public where customers could drink, talk and flirt discreetly, but not dance. Later it became a bar with a transvestite show and a disco dance floor. It ended up being a place exclusively for lesbians.
El Paseo Piano Bar ( Av. De la Reforma 146, next to the University Club, Col. Juárez) This piano bar had a distinguished atmosphere. It was a dimly lit lounge that survived until the nineties. There was no cover charge. It was frequented by men over 60 who were very discreet in their attire and behavior.
El Reno's (Copenhagen between Reforma and Oslo, Zona Rosa) restaurant-cantina, for drinking, chatting and discreetly flirting, not for dancing.
El Viena ( Two locations: Calle de Trujano, next to the Blanquita Theater and República de Cuba 23, Centro Histórico) It was originally next to the Blanquita Theater, but in the mid-eighties it moved to Calle de Cuba. It was a traditional cantina, simple and correct for men from 30 to 50 years old, mostly male, who went there to drink beer, chat and flirt. They could not enter dressed. It had little swinging doors and a jukebox. You couldn't dance and if you tried to do so the waiters would scold you. It was so crowded that it was like a "rush hour subway car". It closed at 11pm and from there they would go to Los Rosales or El Tahúr. In the nineties, they remodeled it, enlarged it and added a dance floor. It became like a Vips and lost part of its charm. Many of the original customers died of HIV and now it is frequented by the 20-something crowd.
La Flor del Norte ( Donceles near the Chamber of Deputies) The lobby of a union building was transformed at night into a gay bar. The clientele included notaries, secretaries of deputies, other union workers and gay men. It had a jukebox, trios played and you could dance. It was permissive, relaxed and they didn't close it because it was in a union building. It existed from the sixties until the nineties.
El Tahúr de Quiroga(Belisario Domínguez 11-B, Centro Histórico) A cantina with more than 70 years of history that fortunately is still open. It is frequented by mature men with little money and some merchants of the area who go looking for jackals, chichifos or thieves in disguise. There are chelas, snacks and jukebox music and you can dance among the tables. Jesús Valdez Ramos describes it as "the place where the best of society goes", while Armando Cristeto affirms that "it was the counterpart of the cantina Paris, its dark side".
El Sótano Inglés ( Turín 35) Alexandra R De Ruiz describes it as follows: "It was a symbolic place for me because several of us debuted there, giving a show. During the day it was a restaurant upstairs and at night the basement was an atmospheric bar. Those were wonderful and glamorous times".
Camelia la Texana (in Pedregal de San Angel, next to the Mauna Loa restaurant) Bar owned by Guillermo Ocaña, a handsome northern man who dressed in a suit. It was for "nice" people and there was a fancy transvestite show, with the stars Terry Holiday and Antonella Rubens.
Los Chuchos (Plaza Garibaldi) fonda that functioned as a gay afterhours. The buga chavos who were busting at Garibaldi knew that if they ran out of money, there were gay men waiting for them to buy them a drink.
Others worth mentioning are Bar La Campana ( Av. Yucatán, next to the former Silvia Pinal theater), El Chaplin and Charada (Mariano Escobedo), Stein & Toklas, Las Canastas and the Belvedere Bar at the Hotel Continental Reforma.
80's
In the mid-seventies a change began to occur: there was a transition from the more traditional restaurant-canteen establishments, where you could drink and talk (but hardly dance as a couple), to the American concept of a discotheque. Places like El 9 or Le Baron emerged, a new model of disco-bar where dancing was the main thing. In the early eighties and after a long struggle, gays were ready to live their liberation to the fullest. Unfortunately, conservative airs began to blow in politics, society and economy, reinforced by the appearance of HIV/AIDS in 1983. The epidemic, a devastating experience for the gay community, reinforced stigmas against homosexuals and drove many back into the closet.
Alejandro Brito, Monsivais and Consuelo Saizar at the inauguration of Metal, 1989. Photo: Armando Cristeto
Le Barón (Insurgentes Sur, one block from Parque Hundido, Colonia Insurgentes Mixcoac, from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s). A very famous disco-bar that was always full, attended by men of a very wide age range and of middle and high socioeconomic levels. Dancing, drinking alcohol and flirting were the main activities of the place. As a joke it was called "El embarrón", because it was very easy to flirt. As one regular said, "you grab a bastard there because you grab him". It was a very large and dark gallery "with a chicken coop roof", it had a velvet curtain and was decorated with Christmas lights. It had a sunken dance floor which they called "snake pit" because you had to go down two steps to get to it. It was open all night. It lasted for many years and curiously did not suffer raids, nor was it closed. However, some customers say that they were mistreated by the judicial police who ran it. In the words of Luis González de Alba: "In Le Barón (which they wrote in a frightening way as L'Baron), mistreatment reigned from the entrance to the time of leaving, almost always in the sunlight, even on presidential election days. Only being the property of some very, very high politician, it could have committed such offenses with impunity".
El Nueve. Photo by Pedro Meyer
El Nueve (Londres 156, Zona Rosa, 1977-1989) The iconic disco-bar of the eighties. A project of Henri Donnadieu, El Nueve opened its doors in 1977 as a super-expensive French restaurant with a 100% gay clientele in the heart of Zona Rosa and soon after was transformed into a bar and disco. They removed the tables and put on dance music. It became famous and was always full. There was a line to get in, they had a waiter and did not charge cover. In the words of the writer José Joaquín Blanco:
"The rise of the 9, from a small bar, almost a coffee shop, modest and peaceful, to the elegant joint that would come to amaze and scandalize half the world, was due to the intensive increase in police corruption during the government of "General" Arturo Durazo; that is, of President López Portillo. It turned out that, suddenly, the bar was open until three, five, seven, nine! in the morning; that disco music arrived and men could dance, hug, kiss, fuck; that never, not even on Mondays, could a pin fit, and there was even a long, slow queue at the entrance, on London Street. Pale with envy, the old jotos attended the privileges of the new generation [...]".
Actor Armando Martinez "El Pecas" and on the left Pacho, drummer of Maldita Vecindad and current director of the Chopo Museum on the 9th. 1988. Photo: Armando Cristeto Patiño
Performance La Dulce Asesinada, directed by Juan Carlos Jaurena at El 9. / Photo: Armando Cristeto Patiño.
Performance La Dulce Asesinada, directed by Juan Carlos Jaurena at El 9. / Photo: Armando Cristeto Patiño.
Performance La Dulce Asesinada, directed by Juan Carlos Jaurena at El 9. / Photo: Armando Cristeto Patiño.
Invitation Bar 9
It was a mixed place for "beautiful people who did not discriminate", where gays and their friends, lesbians, transvestites, curious bugas, urban tribes of that time such as the new wave, artists and intellectuals, television and theater celebrities went. It was animated by dressed and trans women, being the main hostess La Vite, the occasional hostess Alejandra Bogue and the great guest Xochitl. El 9 ended up becoming a multifaceted space where one could drink, dance and flirt, listen to lectures, watch film screenings, organize private parties, attend shows, performances and concerts of new bands. Thanks to cultural promoters Rogelio Villareal and Mongo, the following bands played there: Café Tacuba, Las Insólitas imágenes de Aurora (who later became known as Los Caifanes), the house favorite Maldita Vecindad, Pijamas A Go-Go-Go, Matrimonio Gay, Santa Sabina, Real de 14, Casino Shanghai, among others. As it was not a cheap place, it was frequented mainly by the middle and upper classes. While for some the 9 was an avant-garde and countercultural space, for others it was somewhat superficial, elitist and pretentious. Photographer Armando Cristeto, one of the sons of the 9, affirms that "far from being a wannabe, frivolous and snobbish place, it was a mixed, inclusive space with a thriving creative energy". On the other hand, Luis Gonzáles de Alba said: "In the Zona Rosa there was Bar 9, with too many aromas of expensive lotion in the boys and good perfumes in the abundant heterosexual women who attended because they had gay friends, the joteras or fruit flies". El Nueve is immortalized in the book I have to die every night by journalist and writer Guillermo Osorno.
Jaime Vite as Marilyn at the tribute to Warhol on his passing. El 9, 1987 / Photo Armando Cristeto Patiño.
Spartacus (Av. Cuauhtémoc 8, Colonia Maravillas, Ciudad Neza, 1984-today) Legendary nightclub that has survived until today with an electrifying, extravagant and heterogeneous atmosphere. A project of Jorge Cruz, who describes it as "cantina, discotheque, slum and bohemian place". Shortly after its inauguration in 1984 it became a place for trans women (who then called themselves "dressed or gay") and jackals or translovers. However, over the years the place expanded and became more diverse and mixed. It is frequented by lower middle class and eastern gays, alternative music stars (such as Alaska) and "urban anthropologists". At Spartacus, "clients have everything: entertainment, flirting, attractive staff, a place to walk and talk, new friendships, a romantic terrace, a dark room, gogos, strippers, a transvestite show and lots of eyeball tacos". People go to see the great exponents of transvestism in their show. It is also famous for its handsome waiters who are said to be casting to work there and who do stripper shows. They currently play reggaeton, cumbia, salsa, circuit and pop.
Rogelio Villareal with Jorge Cruz (the owner of Spartacus) and Agustin Martinez Castro, 1988, at Spartacus / Photo: Armando Cristeto Patiño
Miss ALEX in the dressing room of SPARTACUS, 1988 / Photo Armando Cristeto Patiño
Kagba (Carlos Arellano 4, next to Plaza Satélite, from the second half of the 80's) Located in Satélite, the Kagba operated as one of the main and most successful gay and lesbian nightclubs, especially for gays in the northern area. It was for middle and high socioeconomic levels, with a high price of access and drinks. It had an arabesque-inspired décor. Roberto Silva remembers it like this: "It was a serious disco with Baby O type decoration. All the TV girls went there, like the cachunes, models, actors... super cool and the music was pop".
Cyprus Bar (Florencia 67 between Londres and Liverpool, Zona Rosa) or the Chichifrus. On a second floor, the Cyprus was originally a straight brothel. Then it became a place for "older" middle class gays who went to look for young boys, young boys who went to look for their sugar daddy or boys who just went to dance and have fun, especially on Sundays. It had a dance floor, they played pop music and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. The space was small, there were mirrors on the walls and red carpets. It was inside a modern building with three levels interconnected by a staircase, so they called it the snakes and ladders. It was closed by the delegation.
Luis González de Alba Photo: Twitter/Photo: @LuisGonzlezdeA
La Cantina del Vaquero ( Algeciras 26, Plaza Armand, Insurgentes Mixcoac, 1985-2005) El Vaquero was owned by journalist and writer Luis González de Alba. It was an exclusive place for the male public who liked to wear jeans and boots, chest hair and no lotion. The bar generally attracted men over 30 years of age, but some younger men also attended. It had a dark room where pornographic films were shown. In the beginning it had sawdust on the floor, a second-hand bar, an old bathtub for urinating, a jukebox and a wagon surrounded by high benches. It also served as an HIV/AIDS care and information center.
El Taller (Florencia 37, Zona Rosa, 1986-today) Legendary bar in the city also founded by Luis González de Alba. Originally, El Taller was intended to be a space inspired by the American bars of the seventies and eighties, especially those in San Francisco. The aspiration was for tough, manly men, who fulfilled the cliché of the cowboy, mechanic or policeman and the Tom of Finland stereotype, far from the effeminate homosexual. Neither women nor transvestites were allowed to enter. Only men were allowed, and preferably those wearing jeans, white tank tops and/or leather accessories. Several clients confirm that the owner's aspiration never materialized and that men who complied with the hypermasculinity stereotype were always in the minority. José Antonio Hernández Reyes says that "well into the nineties, the type of clientele changed even more and became more diverse and inclusive. There were all kinds of gays who also went out to the nightclubs of the time, with lotion and who liked to fuck a lot. The tough guys without lotion were in the minority." El Taller was in a dark basement decorated with industrial machinery. It had a bar, a dance floor, a DJ booth and a dark room. You could drink, flirt, dance, socialize and watch shows. It also served as a venue for HIV outreach meetings and support for HIV carriers. There was no cover and drinks were affordable, so there was a wide clientele of all ages and socioeconomic levels. Tuesday was the busiest day. It is said that the owner, through his contacts, registered the Taller as a civil association and that it did not have a nightclub license. To justify the category, he had to hold cultural and political events and not charge cover. They said that the sale of drinks at modest prices was to be able to pay for the civil association. Today, El Taller is no longer owned by González de Alba and is part of the Cabaretitos emporium.
El Oasis ( República de Cuba 2, 1986) They say that in the eighties this cantina was half empty and that when the Viena was full, people went to the Oasis. Initially it was like a cowboy cantina, with men in sombrerudos, cowboy decorations, and quebradita, regional and band music. It was famous for a stripper show performed by the employees of the place with normal bodies. Nowadays there is karaoke and a transvestite show. They play salsa, cumbia and pop.
El Men or Los Rosales (next to the Blanquita, Colonia Guerrero), a classic of the Centro Histórico, was inside a house with high ceilings in an old neighborhood. The space was divided with a mezzanine. There was a good transvestite and stripper show.
Dandy's Le Club (a few blocks from iztaccihuatl avenue, colonia Moctezuma) Small bar, very neighborhood, to which many people came. One regular described it as "a jackal place. It was a bar as if it were a fondita. The first floor was half-lit. It was a place where transsexuals like Karla and her stars would come to fill the bar". There was a transvestite show. It was literally a family place, because the whole business was run by the Flores family. The owner was the father, the cashier was the mother, the older sister was the head waiter, the son was the lawyer of the place and the other son was the accountant. They lasted there for 10 to 15 years and then they opened Hysteria, a beautiful gallery built by an architect and urban planner on Oceania Avenue in the Moctezuma neighborhood.
Marrakesh, Marrascuash, Valentinos or Tecatas (adjacent to the Hidalgo theater and behind Bellas Artes 1985-1992) In the words of Armando Cristeto: "It was one of the most amazing, democratic, fun and transgressive places that ever existed". It was a parking lot that was roofed, a gallery strictly speaking, decorated with five-peso posters of Menudo, Chayanne and Luis Miguel. Enrique Vizcaino describes it as "a huge, popular place with 3 dance floors" and "three rockolas distributed throughout the place". Always full and very mixed: jackals, dresses, bureaucrats, people of all social classes, handsome, ugly, manly men and fem people. Everybody dancing to the rhythm of the music. The anthem of the place was the Gran Varón by Willie Colón. People were singing and dancing to that song. There was a show of good tropical dancers. On the weekend it just didn't close. Sometimes there were bottle wars or selective transvestite raids. There was no cover and the booze was very cheap. The Marakesh was the counterpart of the Casablanca on Televisa's Calle de Florencia.
Gina's Place (Av. Oaxaca, near Cibeles, colonia Roma) A bar with a bar that you climbed up a staircase, with a young gay and mixed clientele. First they had a lesbian day and then it became a lesbian-only place.
Apolo (Catacombs) Operated for about two years. Described as a night club of vedettes for a "straight" public that later became "ambient". There was a transvestite show and the star was the Leonarda, a short, chubby dresser. There was a famous Michael Jackson's Thriller-like number with mummies, chimpanzees, ghosts and very pretty dancers.
El 33 (República del Perú 19, on the corner of Eje Central, near Garibaldi, Colonia Centro) was one of the quintessential afters. Known as a cantina for dressed up, drunks and all kinds of hard-core party people. Quite decadent and very cool.
El Butterflies (Izazaga 9 almost corner with Eje Central, from the mid eighties until 2011) A huge bodega-discotheque crowded with a mixed audience, mainly older middle class gays. Famous for its legendary transvestite show and because Laura León and Yuri were present on stage. With a huge dance floor for dancing to salsa and other tropical music, and lots of pop in Spanish and English.
Some other bars and nightclubs of the time were Infinity (Niza) which was jokingly called Infamity, middle class, without much personality and famous for its stripper show; Copa de Champagne (Toledo and Reforma) night club owned by Carlos and Meche to sit with your partner or friends at a table with a bottle while watching the transvestite and stripper show; Bagoas (Monterrey corner with Chiapas); El Happinness (Berna almost with Reforma), which was called the fuchiness, of the same owner as Cyprus, very nice and very elegant, with a transvestite show, but it didn't work; El 42 (Calle de Cuba 42) on Camacho street; El Clandestine (Colon 1, cafeteria Trevi) bar/disco managed by Victor Palacios, which had "the best stripper show in the whole country" with the best looking, hottest guys and the best dicks, the upstairs was a dark room and, finally, El Metal, a black legend, which opened in September 1989 only four times and lasted a total of two weeks. They say it was an extraordinary discotheque. A project of Henri Donnadieu and Manolo Fernandez.
90's
In the late eighties and early nineties, the Federal District Department closed several bars and discotheques under the pretext of drugs, including Bar 9. Raves became fashionable and nightclubs took a back seat. At the same time, in this decade, the gay community became more socially accepted and became a very attractive (and lucrative) market. By the middle of the decade, nightclubs proliferated again and gays went out en masse to them. With the arrival of a more progressive city government in 1997, gays began to gain rights, including legal rights. This decade also represents the end of the years of face-to-face interaction, before the internet changed the ways of socializing (and flirting) within our community.
Sax (Cda. Salamanca, Colonia Roma, half a block from Palacio de Hierro, early nineties) A gallery bar owned by Roberto, Hentri Donnadieu's son, with several rooms on the first floor of a building. Nice, tasteful, quiet, and a little cool. Dj Chrysler managed the exhibitions and was a Dj.
Mayday (Calzada San Agustín 200, Echegaray, early nineties) A cool dance club in the Emerald Zone. Originally Andy Bridges was there. It had a sculpture of an airplane on the wall above the dance floor.
El Caztzi (Carlos Arellano 4, next to Plaza Satélite) Disco-Bar. The Kagba of the eighties was transformed into El Caztzi of the nineties. It breathed the TV vibe, with the band from Satélite, Echagaray, and the whole Esmeralda area.
El 14 or Las Adelitas (First it was at Bolivar 14, then at República del Ecuador 10 (baños Ecuador) in the Centro Histórico and ended up in Tacuba 1989-1998) by Carlos Prado. A few steps from Garibaldi, this joint was famous because soldiers frequented it. Erotic symbols for some gays, the soldiers, once drunk, used to show off. There were raids by the military police looking for their elements to arrest them. There were also live sex shows (sex workers and soldiers), strippers and transvestites. Quite a mix. As one client said: "You can see everything there and you might have fun if you don't pose as a divinity".
Anyway (Monterrey 47, Colonia Roma, mid-nineties to 2005) The "Any" was a three-story, three-track club with diverse music. It had one floor where they played Spanish and tropical pop, another one with English pop and another one with electronic music where circuit was predominant. It was ideal for dancing, dark, with loud music, with a mixed atmosphere: one part of the space was for women and the other for men. It was of mixed socioeconomic levels and diverse ages, although the main profile was of young people from the middle and working classes. The entrance fee was not very high and the drinks were affordable. You could stay until 6am.
El Ansia (Algeciras 26 Colonia San José Insurgentes, next to Cantina del Vaquero, from the late 90's until 2008) A small place to drink and dance, quite quiet. Men between 25 and 40 years old from the middle class of the south-west of Mexico City went there. The cover was moderate. Their contact nights were famous.
El Blush ( very close to the Monumento a la Revolución) The Blush (very close to the Monumento a la Revolución), the predecessor of the Living, the Blush had 3 areas: the lower part was pop and had an isolated part with a lounge. Upstairs they played electronic music. The owners and staff went to work at the Living.
Living (Orizaba 146, Colonia Roma, late nineties) By Monica Signoret. Inside an old Porfirian mansion, this joint was a favorite of those who liked to party: drinking, dancing, flirting and/or getting into candy. It had a cosmopolitan gay nineties feel to it. They played live DJ's. It was divided into several "atmospheres": one for electronic music, one for pop and one for lounge type. Upstairs there were some small rooms known as "the privates", which although they did not reach dark rooms, intense frolics took place in them. In the back, in the garden area, was where most of the dancing took place. Muscular men without shirts danced in a tribe, as well as circuiteras, lenchas and bugas. It was quite exclusive, because the price of access was high and the drinks were expensive. Later it moved to another old house on Paseo de la Reforma and then to another house in Bucareli, where its success declined until it closed its doors.
El Box (Versalles 64, Col. Juárez and later moved to Nueva Granada) A famous nightclub full of cosmopolitan aspirations. Ideal for dancing. It had two venues, one in Colonia Juárez and the other in Colonia Granada (north of Polanco). Both were very large halls. The Granada was originally a warehouse. It had a separation of spaces by type of music: electronic and pop. There were live DJ's. The clients were mostly men, but women also attended. It was a space that mixed social classes and age groups, in good measure, because at certain times, the entrance was free. However, it was quite cool and elitist; especially because the price of admission and drinks was generally expensive. One comadre describes it as "with a very nice air, this place is so over the top that you can't help but get excited".
La Planta Baja ( Alvarez de Icaza and Av. 20 de Noviembre in La Obrera, mid 90's). In a blade in the Obrera neighborhood was the Planta Baja, a large, well-decorated and well-lit space that invited to socialize and dance. It was open only on Sundays. It had a cool and sophisticated atmosphere. It was one of the places opened by the promoters known as Las Truchas: Tico, Woller, Emmanuel and Roberto.
Penélope Mix Club (Antonio Caso, Col. San Rafael, late 90's early 2000's) The same place where La Bola de Las Truchas used to be became Penélope, a place with a cool atmosphere, live DJ'S, Mexican and foreign commercial music, dance floor and disco lights. It was inaugurated with a concert by the Village People and later Gloria Gaynor and Paulina Rubio were there. El Box and Penelope were the nightclubs where the "nice" lesbians went.
El Celo (Londres, Zona Rosa, late 1990s) owned by Jordi Lorenzana. "It was a small place at the end of a commercial passage that gradually expanded in size. There was a drag show. The fame of the vampire sisters and the divas was born there. The music was pop and the atmosphere was very youthful. One of the most beloved PRs there was Raymundo Mijangos, who later went to Box," says Javier Espinosa. There was a lot of chamacada, somewhat feminine. Antecedent of Cabaretito.
El Antro (Londres 77, Zona Rosa) Very large and spacious disco bar. The concept of the place was as if you were entering a mine or cave. A regular customer describes it as follows: "it has something for everyone, piano bar, dance floor, strippers room, video room and dark room. The decoration of the place is lousy, and some of the waiters are lined with sweaty taco plastic; otherwise everything is fine". There was a great variety of shows with very luxurious productions, Sunday afternoons and avant-garde contests, such as the Mr. Plátano Macho contest. Gogo dancers and strippers wore space attire made of transparent plastic and gave private shows, and waiters wore only thongs with booties and a miner's helmet. It was not expensive.
Tom's Leather Bar (Insurgentes Sur 357, Condesa, early 90's until today) By Miguel Pujana. An all-male bar that is the closest thing we have to a leather's bar. Its decoration pretends to be medieval and it has a stripper show and screens that constantly show porn movies. It is usually frequented by men over 30 and up to 55 years old. To get to the bathroom you have to go through the dark room, which works very well after the beers, porn and strippers have taken effect. There is a charge for access which includes a couple of beers.
El Almacén ( Florencia 37-B, Zona Rosa) El Taller (downstairs in the basement) and El Almacén (upstairs at street level) were seen as one place, interconnected by the bathroom. El Almacén was more of a bar. It became very popular in the nineties and because it was small it was always packed. Men of all ages went there, but mainly from 35 and up. They did let women in here. It had a good atmosphere. They played softer music than in the Taller and had screens. There were also shows on certain days of the week. On the first Saturday of each month there was a very famous leather night.
Cabaretito (Londres 161 Piso 2, Plaza del Angel, Zona Rosa, 1998 to present) By Tito Vasconcelos and David Rangel. Disco bar particularly appropriate for young people from 18 to 25 years old. The main thing is to dance, there are even dynamics and even group choreography competitions on different pop hits. There are cabaret shows, drag shows and other theatrical events or even conferences. There are many young fem, lower middle class or popular sectors since there is no entrance fee and the drinks are usually the cheapest in the Zona Rosa. It was the first of many.
La Casita (Av. Insurgentes Sur 228, Colonia Roma, early 90's until today) The first Casita was in Viaducto by Colonia Asturias. Later it moved to two interconnected porfirian houses in Insurgentes Sur. It was and still is a place for chance sexual encounters. In short, it is a sex club. The place only provides music and condoms and they sell beer. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
La Chaqueta, La Metralleta and La Víbora (Fray Servando in La Merced) These bars changed location very often. They were very popular, improvised, precarious and simple. They were attended by working kids from La Merced, sex workers and gay men. As a regular says "where there are jackals there are madwomen".
Other bars and clubs of that decade were Henri Donnadieu and La Vite's El Numerito (Plaza de la República), El Zigzag (Gante), El Amsterdam, El Enigma (a lower and middle class lesbian club where Manoella Torres sometimes sang), La Bola, Dreams, El 5, High Society Club, El Privatta, El Ángel Azul, El Túnel, El Arcanos, Colibrí, Cosmos, La Estación (Londres almost corner with Biarritz) bar leather, El Internet (Luis Moya in front of the Alameda at the end of the 90's), La Cita and Alquimia.
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