When it comes to vacation time, too many people overlook Mexico City for more heavily advertised exotica, or they spend just a day or two there before jumping off to other places. One of the five largest cities in the world deserves a closer examination. A four-day excursion is delightful, and not as expensive as many far less exciting domestic cities. There are hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and cultural events for every taste and budget.
Hotels in the $25 to $40 a day range include the luxurious Maria Isabel-Sheraton (our headquarters with all of the conveniences of home plus some), the rambling El Camino Real (this self-contained unit has 11 bars, a nightclub, several swimming pools, etc., but it is just a little out of action central), the elegant old Bamer (the favorite of many seasoned travellers), and the gringo-infested Del Prado (where you are just as likely to run into a convention of Indiana tractor salesmen as a real Mexican). The first two are uptown (toward Chapultapec) and the other two are at the Alameda, a large park near the center of town. There are, of course, many other hotels in this price range offering comparable surroundings and services. Any good travel agent can help you find accommodations. There are also many hotels which offer just a little less sumptious surroundings for $15 to $25 a day. The Geneve and the Montejo, for example, are two Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) standbys which are pleasant.
Once settled in your hotel room, take it easy. The altitude (7,200 feet) has a way of taking the wind out of your sails, leaving you tired. Don’t hurry-the natives don’t, and they live here-until your system catches up.
Unpack leisurely, make plans for the evening, and locate the nearest Sanborn’s. On your way to Sanborn’s, stop at a bank to exchange your money. The hotels will do it, but the exchange rate is less favorable. When you get to Sanborn’s, buy a copy of Guide to the Best of Everything in Mexico City. It is the best pocket reference available and it gives enough information about each place recommended for you to make up your mind whether you and author Rudi Robins will agree. While still at Sanborn’s, go to the drug counter and buy a bottle of Lomotil con Neomicina. This is the best medicine if you begin to feel tourista illness coming on. Hopefully, you won’t need it. But if you do, you will be glad you don’t have to go get it.
GETTING AROUND
Your main problem now will be in getting around the city. There are, of course, plenty of taxis available around all of the major hotels but they are laying for tourists and aren’t particularly cheap. Always agree on a price before entering the cab or they can (and will) charge what they feel the limits of reason allow (plenty).
These cabs are orange and you also see them on the street. If you hail one, again set the price and don’t be afraid to haggle. The best taxis to hail are the yellow cabs (usually Volkswagens) with LIBRE on the meter. You pay exactly what’s on the meter and they are a bargain. Since your hotel and most of your activities are quite likely to be downtown, on the Avenida de la Reforma (Mexico City’s beautiful wide premier street), or in the Zona Rosa (the chic shopping, restaurant, and night club area), the most fun and cheapest way to get from place to place is to learn the pesero system. These cabs run from Chapultapec Park down the Reforma and Juarez Street to the Zocalo. They stop anywhere along that route and pick up and let off passengers. They are white with green markings and they will take you anywhere along that route for two pesos (16 cents). The only trick is to get into good position and hold up two fingers. When a pesaro comes along also holding up two fingers and stops, ask him if he is going to the Zocalo (most of them do, but some go to La Villa which is another direction.) If he says si, get in. When he gets where you want to be, tell him to stop. It seems like a hassle but it isn’t, and you get to laugh a lot with the sometimes flamboyant and always friendly drivers. Tipping is optional and I usually tip the metered taxis and pesaros a little and rarely tip the drivers of the orange tourista cabs.
Mexicans are also justly proud of their subways system. It is modern, clean, and easy to ride. The only trouble is that it doesn’t always go where you want to. Even if you’re not going to ride, you should be at the Insurgentes station on Friday night. There is more action there at 7 p.m. than anywhere in the city.
EATING AND DRINKING
Now that you can get around the city, there are a few culinary excursions you must make, and if you are limited in time (which everyone seems to be when visiting the capitol of Mexico), you should try to include as many as your constitution will allow. For many reasons, I prefer to take my largest meal at midday, if possible. It seems especially proper in Mexico. It is pleasant to linger in a restaurant full of happy native diners, rather than rush through a prodigious amount of food that you haven’t the time to digest before bedtime. At any rate, prepare yourself to withstand the pangs of hunger until half past one or two. To have lunch earlier means you may eat alone.
There are a few things to keep in mind during your gastronomic tramp-ings here. Remember that Mexican beef is raised and sometimes butchered differently than at home. The beef may not be as tender, and the texture is sometimes a little stringy, but the flavor is delightful, and I recommend it highly. Also, you will find that chickens, ducks, partridges, and turkeys are much more tasty than domestic counterparts because they are not fattened artificially nor are they frozen. Pork is offered everywhere, and is very good. Lamb and veal are rarely available, but usually good when they are. Seafood, on the other hand, is seldom very fresh or good unless ordered at the best restaurants which specialize in it.
If you don’t order Mexican wine or beer with your meals, you will be missing a treat. The cerveza is famous, of course, but you shouldn’t overlook the wines. The fledgling industry is producing some creditable wines that stand up comfortably with the international cuisine of Mexico. My favorites are Urbinon and Pedro Domeeg’s Los Reyes in both tinto (red) and bianco (white), but you should experiment. Ask the wine waiters for suggestions about vintages and other brands. Most people are familiar with many Mexican beers and some even have their favorites., but there are a few which aren’t imported which deserve attention. XXX Obscura (dark) is delicious. The same company also makes a dark draught beer (Montezuma) and a special beer for November and December called Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) which is available in Dallas this year.
Tops on the list of mandatories is the San Angel Inn, a converted convent in a delightful residential section. After dinner and a walk about the grounds, it is a pleasant 15 minute walk straight out the front door, down a thoroughfare past magnificent haciendas to Avenida de la Revolucion where you can take a two peso pesaro ride to Chapultapec Park. (The park offers plenty of room for a second stroll which you will need after a proper San Angel lunch.) The restaurant itself is as pleasant as any I’ve ever encountered and the service is delightful. Cocktails should be taken on the open courtyard, which is filled with colorful parrots and other exotic birds. Lunch should also be taken there as the temperature in Mexico City is always pleasant for al fresco dining. The hors d’oeuvre buffet is a treat for the eye as well as the palate. Of the a la carte appetizers, I especially enjoyed the crabmeat crepes in a sauce of saffron, curry, and cream glazed under the broiler with fresh grated coconut. The food is termed international and the chefs artfully borrow world-wide techniques of preparing local goods. The fish are to be avoided here, and that is the only ding in this superb eaterie. Even when you realize that you have been two hours at table, you must grit your teeth and graciously accept dessert from the cart when it is offered. It will do no good to request a small portion, the waiter has his own unswerving ideas of how much you need, but it somehow always disappears. Un poco Kahlua con crema y cafe later, you are ready to tour the grounds, and coast down the hill for a small adventure or cross the street for a taxi to your hotel step. You leave knowing that you have spent at least one halcyon afternoon which holidays are planned for and remembered by.
Usually mentioned with the San Angel Inn is the Hacienda de los Morales. The Morales family used to own all of the land that you can see from the hacienda. The interesting house and grounds are worth a visit. The house has been tastefully converted to several dining rooms. Cocktails are also served on the patio here, and are especially potent. The food, again international, but with more Mexican specialties, is excellent. The beef dishes take top honors.
When eating as the Mexicans, you must also siesta like them. Thirty minutes’ rest will do wonders to revitalize you (again considering the altitude factor, you will need revitalization). While on the subject of eating like Mexicans, I am compelled to mention El Refugio Fonda. It is held in the highest esteem by citizens because of its insistence on traditional methods of preparation of regional dishes. It is an unpretentious place on the edge of the pretentious Pink Zone. If you came to Mexico to eat Mexican food, this is the place. Chiles rellenos lovers will be treated to one meat and one cheese relleno, the peer to which is yet to be cooked. The guacamole is spicy, warm and chock full of cilantro (a curious herb that looks like parsley found in almost all foods in Mexico). The mole preparations are delicious, and all washed down with superb cerveza ob-scura, the meal makes a pleasant repast to nap or sleep on.
If you’re in the mood for true Mexican food, go to the Cafe de Tacuba. There are rarely any gringos to be seen. If you are interested in mole, you can do no better than here. The service varies greatly from waitress to waitress, but it is generally good. If you happen to be in a hurry to eat and go to the nearby Bellas Artes (as we once were), they are pleased to accommodate.
If you are in a mood for sheer elegance, there are several places which can easily accommodate you. There are three Delmonico’s, but the most convenient (on Londres, Zona Rosa) is the only one that I’ve tried. It is strictly posh from the bar to the hors d’oeuvres served from an ornate domed roast cart to the strip sirloin steak imported from Chicago. If pheasant pate is available, do not pass it by; it is extraordinary. The entrees, save the seafood, are well prepared and beautifully served in luxurious surroundings. It’s a little too unnerving to experience Del-monico’s and walk into the light of day, so I recommend it for an evening meal.
Another spot for evening fare (don’t go before 9 p.m.) is Ambassadeurs, the only restaurant in Mexico listed in the prestigious French Passeport Gastronomique. It is handsomely furnished, and attractively lighted by huge chandeliers. The menu and service are classic French as might be expected. The food, although good, does not equal the surroundings. The wine list is extensive, but as you might expect, all imported wines are very expensive in Mexico.
For excellent French cuisine, try La Lorraine. It is a short cab ride from the Zona Rosa nestled in an unpretentious building in a small uninspiring neighborhood. Its clientele is mostly European and native gourmands. The only way to start is with the assortment of patés. There is one of beef, chicken, pork, and rabbit. They are all delicious, but the rabbit was sublime. They serve excellent veal (one of the few places in Mexico City) and duck, and their beef is flavorful and tender.
Behind an interesting storefront with swinging doors in the heart of the Zona Rosa is the most enjoyable restaurant, Bellinghausen. As soon as you walk into the large white room with a display case of the day’s fare at one end and a host of waiters scurrying about, you know you are in for a luscious lunch (lunch is more fun than dinner). There are tablesful of Mexican businessmen transacting business, laughing and enjoying un comida con gusto.
You feel good even before you scan the large menu of mostly European cuisine, heavily influenced by Mexican cookery. Everything that I have eaten here has been excellent, including the seafood. The service is such that you want to bundle up the whole staff, take them home and open your own restaurant. I’ve rarely had better anywhere. The dark draught beer is cold and refreshing and one of the highlights of Mexico.
Very good for a drink and view (they serve food but it isn’t that good) are the Muralto on top of the Latin-oamericano Tower and Del Lago in Chapultapec Park. These are tourist places and the prices are a bit higher than most places. Highly recommended by the natives are Prendes, a long standing downtown tradition, Lancer’s Steak House, a not too expensive place for good beef, and Chalet Suizo, a reasonably priced Zona Rosa haunt.
Here are a few other eating places you will want to visit if you can find the time and the appetite:
Lincoln Grill-Best place for sea food. Reasonable.
El Paeso – Expansive menu. Moderately expensive.
El Estroil-Very fine sauces; house specialty, Hitlacoche Crepes. Expensive.
La Fonda del Recuerdo-Fun and frolic. Vera Cruz style dishes a speciality. Reasonable.
La Charra-Inexpensive Mexican food served in native pottery you may take home with you.
La Opera Bar – Incredible Victorian bar, carved and Roccoco. Good food at reasonable prices.
ENTERTAINMENT
Since everyone seeks his own level for nighttime entertainment, I can only make a few broad suggestions. All of the major hotels have very elegant nightclubs with floor shows featuring the top names in Mexico and sometimes the U.S. (Tom Jones was at the Del Prado during my recent stay). Jacaranda in the Pink Zone is a long time favorite of the locals as well as the tourists. All of these places have combos and dancing.
Throughout the Pink Zone are bars catering to young, smartly dressed people looking for other young, smartly dressed people. The most popular of these is Anderson’s which is always packed with a mostly American crowd. A newcomer, Tandem, seems to draw all of the local beautiful people and Chipp’s still swings even though it has been around for a long time.
A couple of other swinging discos worth dropping in on are Cero Cero at the Hotel Camino Real, La Lechuga at the Hotel Aristos and Joie de Vivre, the center for wild Mexican music and noisy celebration.
If you want to really get down, then the area around Garibaldi Plaza is where to go. This is where border towns got their city planning ideas. There are about a hundred ma-riachis roaming around the square and plenty more inside the numerous bars there. Tenampa is always full of natives and fun. Catacumbas is another place that everyone seems to go to sooner or later.
SIGHTSEEING
In between all of this eating and drinking, you must work in a visit to the Ballet Folklorico (shows on Wednesday and Sunday only) at the Bellas Artes, the Jai Lai matches at the Fronton (where inscrutable Basques scream odds on the game in progress) every night except Monday, the bullfights on Sunday, numerous shoeshines along the Reforma or in the Zocalo, the Anthropological Museum, Chapultapec Park and the castle and museum of the history of Mexico, the recently discovered ruins of Santa Teresa (o.k., 1913 isn’t that recent but its right off the Zocalo and it’s hard to figure out how they got lost), the floating gardens of Xochi-milco (go on Sunday), the pyramids, Cuernavaca, the National Pawnshop, the Museum of Modern Art . . .
Among the many, many other things worth seeing are the National Palace containing the powerful Diego Rivera murals, the National Cathedral, the Museo de las Culturas and Casa de la Moneda (mint), the murals at. the Education Ministry building, Danto Domingo Plaza, the Supreme Court with its Orozco murals, the Museum of Mexico City, Madero Street (reconstructed 19th Century Mexico).
There’s more, much more: The Palace of Fine Arts, the Vice-Regal Museum of Colonial Art, San Juan market (take a cab),El Palacio de Hi-erro (Mexico City’s answer to Nei-man-Marcus), Calle Durango and its excellent silversmith shops, Bazaar Sabado in San Angel (take a cab), Thieves’ Market (be there at 8 a.m. Sunday).
These are but a few suggestions; there’s certainly no need for you to become bored. Additionally, you will find the Zona Rosa packed with neat shops, boutiques and art galleries, all anxious to be of service.
Suffice it to say that you will haveplenty to do, and that you will have agreat time doing all that you havetime for. You can’t do it all and thatgives you an excuse to return often tothis wonderful city.
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