Drinks & Mezcalerías
Mezcal, agave spirits, and cocktail rooms.
Which CDMX restaurants allow BYOB, and what wine should I bring?
True BYOB is rare in CDMX; corkage-with-fee is more common. Rosetta, Máximo Bistrot, and Sartoria will open your bottle for 400–800 MXN. For Mexican tasting menus, bring a Mexican pét-nat (Bichi, Cava Maciel) or a Baja Nebbiolo — imported Bordeaux fights the mole. For seafood, an Oaxacan mezcal-and-tepache pairing at Contramar beats any wine you'd bring.
Why do Roma bars pour smokier mezcal than Condesa?
Roma's mezcal-forward crowd (La Clandestina, Bósforo, Expendio) skews toward Oaxacan tobalá and tepeztate — smokier, wilder agaves. Condesa's cocktail rooms (Baltra, Xaman, Licorería Limantour) lean espadín and cuishe: cleaner, more mixable. Same city, two palates.
What's the etiquette for ordering tequila in a Mexico City mezcalería?
Ordering tequila in a mezcalería is fine — every serious room stocks 3–5 good ones. Ordering it 'with lime and salt' is not. Ask for a reposado or añejo neat, in a copita, with a sangrita back. The salt-and-lime ritual is a taquería thing, not a spirits-bar thing.