The cantina on Plaza Garibaldi
Salón Tenampa has stood on the north side of Plaza Garibaldi since 1925. It is the cantina the mariachis built their reputation around - the singers and their bands have been making the plaza their open-air auditorium since the 1920s, and Tenampa is the room they walk into between sets. The right way to understand the bar is to spend a single night moving through its different hours.
7.30pm — first drink
The plaza is quiet. A handful of mariachis are tuning. The bar's interior is bright by Mexico City standards - long wooden bar, faded murals of revolution-era musicians, tile floor. Order a tequila reposado from a Jalisco producer; the bar has a respectable list of small distilleries that get overshadowed by the more famous brands. A bottled lager (Bohemia) is the local pairing.
9.00pm — second drink
The mariachis are working. Three or four bands are taking turns in the plaza outside; pay one to come into the bar and play your table a song (the going rate is around 200 pesos per song). The room has filled in. Locals on dates, family parties, the occasional foreign couple who arrived terrified and have now relaxed. Order a Paloma - tequila, grapefruit soda, lime - or the bar's house Margarita.
10.30pm — the room as theatre
The mariachis come and go. A small stage at the back of the bar hosts an occasional accordion player, a norteño trio, a soloist. Tenampa is now operating at full volume. Most groups have ordered a bottle of tequila and are working through it slowly with botanas - small plates of cured meat, queso fundido, guacamole. This is the bar at its most itself.
12.30am — the slowdown
The plaza outside is still loud but the bar is settling. Some groups have left to follow their mariachis to private parties; others have ordered one more round. A mezcal joven - young, unaged, around 45% ABV - is the right closing drink. The bar shuts around 2am on weekends.
Tenampa is not a hidden bar in any literal sense - it is one of the most visited rooms in the city and has been for decades - but the experience of an unhurried mariachi night here is one most visitors miss because they are intimidated by Plaza Garibaldi's reputation. The plaza is fine. Take a taxi door-to-door. Stay until 11pm.
Address
Plaza Garibaldi 12, Centro
Hours
1pm-2am daily
Best to order
Tequila reposado, then mezcal joven
Mariachi
~200 pesos per song