Travel Deals – Until recently, there was one sound you could count on hearing every night at sundown in Centro, Mexico City’s historic district: the grind of metal gates descending, as stores and restaurants closed. Anyone brave enough to stroll the area at night would have a hard time distinguishing a taquería from a cantina, let alone finding one open for business.
One street, however, is luring visitors after dark. Calle Regina, which the Mexican government designated as a “cultural corridor” in 2007, was sealed off from traffic, and storefronts were repainted in bright pastels — part of a sweeping revitalization project that is a joint effort of the Mexican billionaire businessman Carlos Slim Helú (who is also a major shareholder and creditor of The New York Times Company) and the city government.
“We’re in the cool phase now,” said Adrián Calera-Grobet, manager at El Hostería La Bota (Regina 48; no phone), a bar that has been packed ever since Regina’s transformation. As bartenders fix you a Chalice, a wine and cranberry cocktail (35 pesos, or $2.80 at 12.50 pesos to the dollar), peruse La Bota’s latest poetry anthology — another specialty.
Head next to Al Andar (No. 27; 52-55-5709-1468), a hip mezcalería on the first floor of a renovated tenement. Shots of potent mezcal come with a piquant chaser: orange slices dusted in ground grasshoppers (55 pesos). For a light appetizer, try the tasty seafood pescadillas (65 pesos). Vegetarians should head to Pitahaya (No. 58-F; 52-55-5709-8426), a Mexican-Moroccan-Andalusian restaurant that opened last spring and serves up creative fusion dishes like tofu tlayuda with acuyo pesto (80 pesos). Read more »
