Welcome to our ultimate list of the best nightlife and places to drink in Puebla, Mexico. During our time in Puebla we drank our way around a variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs to give you the best guide on where the nightlife is happening when travelling to Puebla.
Please note: Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, some of these bars in these areas were not operating to their fullest capacity. To get the downlow on everything COVID related in Mexico – check out our handy COVID in Mexico guide for further details.
Escala Sonata – Best for a budget
The furthest out from the Historic Centre is Escala Sonata which is probably best described as an open(ish) air shopping mall which is absolutely full to the brim with shops, bars and restaurants. This place has a really cool vibe and you could probably spend a few hours just walking around it – however, being the true British drinkers that we are – we found a place we liked and we stuck to it.
The bar we managed to find was called Bear Pong and, believe it or not, it has beer pong tables! But guess what? this sodding virus is highly efficient at murderising you when taking part in fun activities – so no beer pong for us – boo! However, what actually kept us here was the prices – and my oh my are the prices are cheap! Bottles of beer (Sol, Indio, Heineken) go for MEX$20 which is essentially a dollar or a mere 70p to us Brits. It doesn’t stop there, bottles of spirits are also insanely cheap for drinking out as the cheapest came in at around MEX$900 (£30/$40) for not just 1 bottle, but 2! Plus free mixers.
Getting here is probably the least convenient as it is just off of the 438D Highway heading towards Atlixco so the best way to get here would be in a car. However, we are aware that not everyone is going to have a car at their disposal – or make some Mexican friends to drive you – so the other two options are either grabbing an Uber which will cost you approximately MEX$80-100 (£4/$5) or a couple of buses totaling MEX$20 – around a quid or a dollar.
A few other bars located here that you could check out are: McCarthy’s Irish Pub, Cerveceria Chapultepec, and Wild Dogs.
Therefore, this is a bit of a catch 22 – do you spend the money getting there but save on the drinks? I don’t know, the choice is yours. But remember, as the old saying goes, you gotta spend money to save money… definitely not a saying.
La Paz – Best for the party
Located about a 15 minute drive to the north west of the city centre is an upmarket area filled with trendy bars and restaurants known as La Paz. We ended up having our only big night out in Puebla here at a bar called La Cantina de Don Chingón. We were lucky enough to be here for Mexican Independence Day so there was a massive party to celebrate. Don Chingón reminded us of many of the bars/clubs you see in most European party towns, with a high ceiling, big glass front and an impressive, well-stocked bar. The drinks were reasonably priced here, plus they had a delicious spicy mango cocktail that Emily loved! We think it’s well worth visiting this bar for that drink alone!
As well as Don Chingón, there are a number of nightclubs, live music venues, and a rock bar in La Paz where you can party the night away. Of course, stupid Covid means that many of these venues are currently closed or subject to the 9pm curfew, so having a good ol’ knees up isn’t quite as easy at the moment. Mexican Independence Day relaxed the curfew to 1am while we were there so we were able to get a glimpse of what the usual party atmosphere is like without it!
Another amazing place located in La Paz is El Ciego, a speakeasy bar specialising in creative and tasty cocktails! Entry to this magical place is through a fake refrigerator in the back of a – also fake – barbershop. To get the secret code to enter the bar, you need to get onto their facebook and book in advance. If you are after great cocktails and an overall fantastic experience, then El Ciego should be high on your list when visiting Puebla!
Zocalo – Best for location and people watching
If you are either up to scratch on your Spanish, or have read a couple of our articles – you should be familiar with what we mean by Zocalo. For those of you who are not, this basically translates to the Central Square and near enough every Mexican city or town you visit will have one. Similar to many Countries around the world, the main square is usually where you will find a lot of hotels, bars and restaurants, and it is no exception here in Puebla.
The Zocalo – and very close surrounding area – in Puebla has an insane amount of bars, ranging from high-end to dive bars, so coming here should satisfy any budget. We enjoyed sitting outside at one of the many bars on the square and watching people as they went by. Often there are people playing music too which really adds to the relaxed and quaint Mexican vibe. An ideal place for sitting and whiling away the time with a nice cold beer or sangria. The centre of Puebla is also home to the famous La Pasita bar, which we have given an honourable mention to below.
As well as the more laid back central square of Puebla, the city is also home to a number of nightclubs and busy bars. Currently anywhere that doesn’t serve food, or usually opens late, is closed due to Covid restrictions. You can still have a bit of a day session though if you’re so inclined with bars such as McCarthy’s Irish Bar still opening (and selling litres of beer for MEX $60).
Near Estrella de Puebla – Best for luxury
Another city, another luxury area that we can’t really afford to go to but have to because of this blog. This area is a relatively new, trendy and pretty expensive area for both eating and drinking located South West of the Historic Centre of Puebla.
This new area of Puebla is home to some of the fanciest bars and restaurants in the surrounding area including: Porfirio’s, Piacevole and Panic Botanical – why does every place here need to start with a P? We don’t know either!
Something that our wallets regret is actually visiting Porfirio’s! Now don’t get us wrong, this place was absolutely stunning – they really pull out all the stops to make your experience here amazing with a lot of cooking happening right at your table including steaks being flame grilled and ice cream literally being made right there and then at your table. Pretty damn cool!
We, on the other hand, did not get to experience this first hand. It was a blessing we even got in as Alex was only wearing chinos because it was a bit nippy and we probably wouldn’t have otherwise. We just went for a staple couple of beers and a shared queso fundido (a load of melted cheese and wraps – healthy!) and before you say that isn’t fancy… they somehow made this fancy too.
All in all, this sets us back a whopping MEX$450 (£16/$20) yikes! So to cut a long story short, we scampered away from this area straight after this to ensure we could eat for the next week.
San Andres Cholula – Best for a day trip
Whilst technically not in Puebla, Cholula is a great spot to go for at least a day. As well as tonnes of sights to see, Cholula also has a vibrant bar scene. Near Cholula’s famous pyramid is a square with a number of street food vans and some that specialise in beer or tequila where you can grab a drink and sit outside and enjoy the view.
The main zocalo also has a number of bars and restaurants surrounding it and is a really cool place to sit and people watch, especially from one of the rooftop bars.
Cholula also has a couple of famous drinking spots worth visiting. One of the must see spots is The Living Museum of the Barrica Cider. This place reminded us of some of the breweries in England where you can tour the brewery as well as enjoy a beer or two in a bar area within the brewery. As well as offering tours of the “museum” you can also enjoy the cider in the quirky bar area where memorabilia adorns the walls. The cider itself is very different to UK cider, it is more like a cross between cider and sparkling wine. Served in bottles resembling champagne bottles the cider is sparkling and sweet. Emily tried the blue peach one, which was kind of WKD blue for grown ups. Whilst Alex had the super strong 7% viking cider – no surprises there.
Jazzatlan is also a famous bar in the area which, you guessed it, has live jazz music and a bustling atmosphere. Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit as it is currently closed, but, we did accidentally crash a private party at the bar next door, Ardens, which is super cool and worth a visit. It had a huge double height glazed back onto a terrace and loads of tiny rooms hidden all over the place, as well as a super cool rooftop terrace area, it almost felt like a massive house more than a bar.
La Pasita – Special mention
We had heard so many good things about La Pasita, basically anyone who’s ever been to Puebla says this is a place you have to go. Named after its own unique sweet liqueur made from raisins, La Pasita is arguably the most famous bar in Puebla.
So we were absolutely gutted to find that stupid Covid had struck again and La Pasita was temporarily closed. Damn you Covid, why do you want to ruin all our fun?!
From what we know from our local friends, La Pasita is a super fun drinking place with a great vibe. The drink is supposedly delicious too. Served in a shot glass with a chunk of cheese and a raisin, this sweet and innocent tasting drink is deceptively strong.
In fact, we have been told that the bar used to do a drinking challenge whereby you would have to place a bet on how far you would walk and then the barman would line up a row of shots for you to do (without stopping) and you would then have to walk the distance you said you would. If you could walk the whole way your drinks would be free. Apparently, no one ever managed it! Alex is firm in his belief that if only it had been open he would have beaten the record and the people of Puebla would have carried him, as a triumphant victor, cheering through the streets.