Cheap beer, friendly waitresses, free snacks, roving roosters & blaring banda – all the elements of male comraderie, cantina-style

Cantinas, the classic Mexican establishments for drink and conversation, arrived in Mexico during the middle of the 19th century. The halcyon days of the cantina were under President Porfirio Diaz (1876- 1911), then patronized by men from the higher classes while women were not allowed access. For decades now, cantinas have been part of everyday life for residents of Mazatlán, but it is still rare to find a respectable woman in some of them.

At first, a cantina may be seen as simply an establishment solely dedicated to dispensing adult beverages to its mainly Mexican male clientele. However, a deeper look reveals something more along the lines of a men’s social club, a “refuge from both the wife and life.” Cantinas are a world apart from the conventional bar, where both men and women can congregate without social stigma. On a Saturday night, when all is awash in a sea of cerveza and banda is blasting, the cantina is a multifarious cultural experience that strikes a primal cord within the soul of the Mexican male. The writer Carlos Monsivais describes cantinas as “variable sanctuaries in which pathetic, comic, tragic and melodramatic situations are frequent.”

Numerous cantinas are scattered across Mazatlan, so to say I have staggered around them all would be a slight stretch of the truth. In researching this article, my friends and I visited many cantinas in Centro, most within easy crawling distance of each other.

I have purposely not supplied addresses or directions to any of these drinking establishments to encourage readers to go out and explore the places where you could be the only gringo. Locating these cantinas will require foot-time on the streets of Centro along with the asking of directions, both of which I consider part of one’s cultural adventure. Who knows, you may find new places and make new friends.

Edgar’s Bar is a cross between an upper-end cantina and a Mexican bar; unescorted women can enter without drawing leering stares or lurid whistles. The walls are adorned with many old pictures of Mazatlan along with the largest collection of worthless Mexican currency I have ever seen. Botana (free snack food) is served every afternoon, so this is a popular place with both Mexicans and gringos between about 1-3 pm. Since Edgar’s has been in the same location since the 1940s it still retains a few of the classic cantina characteristics, one of which is the door to the men’s bathroom. This door only covers about a third of the opening, so that the men at the urinal are partially visible to the patrons, but most importantly to the management. Of course, you can only see their lower legs and their upper body, but the view is a bit unusual. It was explained to me the door was this way to prevent hookers from plying their trade in the privacy of a closed bathroom. So, if you’re a guy with a shy bladder, make a pit stop before you get to Edgar’s.

The Pau Pau is a true cantina, but unaccompanied women can enjoy the quaint atmosphere here without feeling too out of place. There is a very limited menu, botana is served every afternoon and the beers are only $11 pesos each. The central courtyard is quite nice with a huge mango tree that provides both shade and an abundant crop of fruit in the summer. Sometime in July, when the mangos ripen and the patrons are no longer entertained by dodging falling produce, they stretch a net above the courtyard to catch the harvest. The Pau Pau has mostly a Mexican clientèle with a few gringo regulars.

The Ancora de Oro is a large, clean cantina that’s proud of its selection of both types of botana: in the machismo atmosphere of this popular hangout the bar girls are also considered a type of botana. After observing the interaction of customers and bar girls, I think some, or most, of them may provide “personal services” on the side. The other botana, the plates of free food they serve every afternoon, are both generous and varied. Beers are only $10 pesos each, but since they only serve cuartitos, the little bottles of Pacifico, normally one orders an iced bucket of 6 or more. This is a man’s cantina, not a place to take a first date – or any date at all.

Mi Oficina offers a glimpse into the world of the working man’s cantina with full-sized bottles of Pacifico going for $8 pesos. The décor is a bit shabby; however the middle-aged male bartender makes up for it by wearing dark eye makeup and a bit of lipstick. When we visited the jukebox was the brightest thing in the place and the tables were sparsely populated. The one brave woman that accompanied us into this well-used cantina reported the woman’s bathroom to be in a rather un-hygienic state. This is the perfect location to call home from the office.

The Olympia is a solid step up, but still very much a man’s cantina. The two attractive blonde women in our research group drew hoots and whistles from a dozen male patrons when we came through the door; they were a rare sight indeed. This is a relatively clean cantina with a high quality jukebox, a decent pool table and $10 peso Pacificos. The Olimpia has a good atmosphere and the regulars openly accepted the boisterous gringos in their midst. As the Pacificos flowed and the banda reverberated throughout this packed establishment, I felt I’d found the epitome of the Centro cantina.

The Gallito has a rustic character I haven’t found in a cantina since I first wandered the streets of Ensenada in the ‘60s. This is not the cleanest place in town, nor would I recommend it to unescorted women or for that matter, timid men. However, El Gallito is beyond doubt a very classic cantina. True to its name, it has live roosters that perch above the bathrooms when the tables are full and then wander the floors when the crowd thins. The walls are covered with colorful murals depicting the macho life of the ranchero. The jukebox is loud and when the place is teeming with locals, it can tend towards drunk and rowdy. To experience this place for the first time, I would recommend a mid-week visit, during daylight hours.

Bodie Kellogg is missing and feared lost somewhere in centro. There is a small reward offered for his safe return to M! magazine, so if you spot him, let us know.