Most great sports rooms ask you to lower your standards on the food and the drink. Cantina La No. 20 in Polanco quietly refuses, and serves a proper Mexican cantina with the match on the wall.
Published June 11, 2026 · By Daniel Okafor
Cantina La No. 20 sits at Andrés Bello 10 in Polanco, the polished business district north of Chapultepec. It is a modern take on the classic Mexican cantina, and a Tripadvisor reviewer summed up the appeal in a line, calling it a great sports bar that is well located, with multiple large screens for watching your favourite event. That is the balance the room strikes: a serious cantina that still wants you to catch the game.
The space is handsome rather than rowdy. Tiled floors, a long polished bar and warm lighting, with screens set high enough to follow the football without turning the place into a stadium. The crowd reflects the address, drawing Polanco professionals after work and a dressed-up weekend table, so the energy stays lively without ever tipping into a shouting match. The room sits a short walk from the Polanco metro and the offices along Presidente Masaryk, which keeps the weekday after-work tables full long before any kickoff.
Drink the agave. The range of tequilas and mezcals is the headline here, poured neat for those who know what they want and built into a sharp paloma or a margarita for those who do not. The kitchen runs regional Mexican cooking a clear cut above standard bar food, which makes it as much an after-work dinner as a match-day stop. Order a board of antojitos for the table and let the round of palomas keep pace with the half.
As a Mexico City sports bar, La No. 20 occupies the upper, more grown-up end of the spectrum. You come here for a Liga MX evening or a midweek Champions League tie when you also want the drink and the food to be worth the trip, not just the screen. For where the city's different crowds gather to watch, our guide to the best bars for watching the game in Mexico City lays out the map.
It complements the city's louder rooms rather than competing with them. For a rowdier night, McCarthy's Irish Pub in La Roma brings the bands and the big-match noise, The Dog House Pub keeps the rugby and early English game on, and Pinche Gringo BBQ runs the American football watch parties. For the broader scene, see our roundup of the best bars in Mexico City.
Reserve for a marquee fixture. Polanco fills with after-work tables, and a big football night plus the dinner crowd can leave the best screen-side seats gone by kickoff. Book ahead, arrive in good time, and the room rewards you with a clear view and a long agave list to work through.
The crowd is the tell. This is where Polanco watches the match when it also wants a real meal and a serious pour, and the mix of suits, couples and groups keeps the mood warm and adult. The service matches the setting, attentive and unhurried even when the room is full.
What makes Cantina La No. 20 worth the trip is its refusal to compromise. A genuine cantina with regional cooking and a deep agave list that also puts the game on big screens is a rare, generous combination in a city that usually makes you choose. Judged on Polanco's own terms, it is the district's most polished room for the match.
Sources: Tripadvisor review, Cantina 20 Polanco; Cantina La No. 20 official site (cantinala20.com); OpenTable and Foursquare listings, Cantina La No. 20 Polanco (2026).