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The Best Gay Bars in Zona Rosa

OUTsider Fest celebrates the bold originality and creative nonconformity of the LGBTQ community
OUTsider Fest celebrates the bold originality and creative nonconformity of the LGBTQ community | @ PJ Raval

While the over-the-top wild gay nightlife of the 80s and 90s may be slowing down a bit in the Zona Rosa in favor of house parties and more intimate gatherings, you can still find a healthy selection of gay bars to visit on your next trip to CDMX. There’s something for everyone, and everyone is looking for something. Take a gander at our list and put on those dancing shoes.

Almacen

Two floors of neon laser lights, dance music and crowds of singles all looking for the one, Almacen is one of the area’s most established bars and a favorite weekend hang out for the local crowd. Each floor has its own musical vibe, pop, electronic and other dance music slams through the speakers to your ears, making it impossible to not want to dance. Late in the evening, as bodies and the room heats up, you suddenly find strippers dancing above you on the bar, flashing their perfectly sculpted pecks and soccer-player thighs. Stay till the end of the night, only then will you get to feel the full brunt of the chaos of the Almacen.

Nicho Bears & Bar

A bar for bears, Nicho is like an underground cave where two osos can cuddle up for the night and barely notice the time passing. Their Friday night karaoke sessions are legendary (imagine Paul Bunyan types singing Madonna covers) and their beers are cheap and plentiful. Nicho also hosts meet-up nights and 80s night on Saturdays, but this is strictly for boys, so ladies, don’t even think about trying to get in.

Boy Bar

A popular nighttime hangout for the Mexico City gay community, Boy Bar is three levels of masculine energy, each with their own musical concept and vibe to offer – electronica, pop, and karaoke. Strippers appear throughout the night, and according to the word on the street, get hotter as the night goes on. The crowd is young no girls are allowed. There’s a cover charge, and they’re strict about going in and out, so once you join in the fun, stick around till the night’s over to avoid being double charged.

Kinky

A small cover fee gets you into this gay bar near the Angel de la Independencia on Mexico City’s Reforma Avenue. Friendly enough for both women and straight men as well as the gay crowd, Kinky is known as a fun spot to dance, admire, or just hang out and drink a few beers. The first floor is intended to recreate the ambiance of a traditional cantina, with walls covered in kitschy replicas of Mexican lottery cards, each a “type” in the gay community, for example el chichifo, a male escort. There’s a glassed-in karaoke bar, and tiny smoking patios here and there that look out over the city. The top terrace level has the most dancing, and various corners for getting into trouble in, or perhaps simply for singing classic pop tunes into the top of your beer bottle.

Cabaretito Fusión

Made for the young crowd, Caberetito Fusion is not a place for a relaxed cocktail with friends. Wild and fun, Cabaretetito is part of a group of bars in the area and has different events on different nights of the weekend, for example their well-known cabaret. Just like several of the bars above, Cabaretito has several different areas with different musical vibes, and Thursday night is lesbian night with a go-go dancing show. The bar is hetero-friendly as well, so bring all your friends and enjoy the show!

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About the author

Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City. She has worked as an editor and writer for various publications including Mexico's English–language newspaper The News, Afar, The New Worlder, International Living and The Latin Kitchen among others. Lydia has been blogging and writing in Mexico for over a decade and lives a double life as a local tour guide in her adoptive hometown. You can find her on the street eating tacos or at her blog www.mexicocitystreets.com.

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