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The high-speed development of the tequila category has turbocharged the on-premise in Mexico’s second-largest city. Cocktail, dive and even natural wine bars are now nestled among traditional cantinas.
Long stuck in Mexico City’s shadow, Guadalajara has emerged in recent years to boast an on-premise profile all of its own, thanks in no small part to the city’s proximity to the country’s tequila industry.
Indeed, so intertwined is the development of both the city and the category that the capital of Jalisco state’s bar scene has benefited from the recent growth of tequila in more ways than one.
The city itself, which is about 550km west of Mexico City, is the country’s second-largest, hosting a population in the metropolitan area of about 7m. Development is rife, with a swathe of construction projects that are outpacing any updating moves for the current infrastructure.
Guadalajara’s ‘second city’ status may be well-established, but the current pace of change makes for a younger, more progressive populace that is open to outside influence and keen to distance itself from (most of) the previous generation’s traditions.
When considering the evolution of the on-premise channel in developing markets, the rule of thumb is that the capital city is always the main centre of attention. Until recently, Mexico has been no exception, with Mexico City leading the country’s bar scene in both quantity and quality.
The high-speed velocity of performance for tequila, however, has turbocharged Guadalajara, most notably in post-Covid times. Jalisco is home to the overwhelming majority of tequila producers (the category’s Denomination of Origin allows only five states to produce tequila and Jalisco accounts for around 90% of total volumes).
Put it this way: in the past few years, agave owners in and around Guadalajara have made a lot of money.
The scene
Steffin Oghene hails from Scotland but settled in Guadalajara three years ago after his bartending took him around much of the US. “I’ve been coming to Guadalajara for more than 15 years and back then, the bar scene wasn’t really a focus,” he says. “There were traditional cantinas – and they’re still all around. They’re very much for drinking tequila and beer and listening to mariachi music. It’s a fun environment.”
Stelios Papadopoulos, the global brand ambassador for Proximo Spirit’s Casa Cuervo division & co-owner of Barro Negro in Athens, paints a yet starker picture of the city’s recent on-premise past. “The options 15 years ago were either a cantina or clubbing – really bad music with really bad drinks,” he says.
It’s only been in the past six or seven years that the bar culture has really started to accelerate. “Now,” says Oghene, “we’re seeing a lot more bars opening up – cocktail bars as well as dive bars. There’s even a natural wine bar in Guadalajara now, which is something we’d never have expected a few years ago.
“The scene’s evolving really positively – the youth of today are interested in cocktail culture and it’s something new for them in this region of Mexico. It’s starting to blow up and do well.”
This acceleration, Oghene and Papadopoulos both concur, is all down to the tequila industry. “Literally every top bartender in the world has visited Guadalajara in the past ten years, because they’ve come for tequila,” says Oghene. “That’s had such an influence. Every week there are hundreds of bartenders descending on Guadalajara.
“Everybody knows how tequila’s growth has changed the industry, but it’s also changing the city. It’s attracting people not just from the trade, but also normal consumers, normal travellers.”
The main bar areas in the city are Colonia Americana – home to Oghene’s Barra Matilde Mi Amor – Chapultepec and Andares. “Americana is a really vibrant, edgy, upcoming neighbourhood with lots of beautiful houses that are being converted into restaurants, bars and clubs,” he says. “The area is definitely younger generation-led – it’s where the hipsters go. It’s less expensive as well; you’ll find a lot of value places, because your average hipster isn’t paying US$15 for a cocktail.”
So ‘happening’ is Americana that late last year, the area was voted ‘The World’s Coolest Neighbourhood’ by Time Out.
Similarly, Chapultepec – located, like Americana, near the city centre – has a younger-drinker vibe with a dose of internationalism. Papadopoulos describes the area as “hipstery – but not in a bad way”.
Andares, meanwhile, is considerably more upmarket and hosts a raft of restaurants with bars. Mainly situated in a shopping mall, the on-premise here attracts the more affluent, brand-savvy drinker.
“There’s certainly a divide in Guadalajara between where the higher class go and where the hipsters go,” Oghene says. “The thing is, the higher-class drinkers like to go to Americana but it’s not reciprocated. For the rich kids in Guadalajara, it’s aspirational for them to be seen in the hipster neighbourhood. We end up with a real mix of people coming into the bars, which gives things a different energy.”
The trends
Two ‘Ts’ are shaping the city’s drinking trends, and they’ve both been around for quite some time. “Guadalajara’s more traditional compared to somewhere like Mexico City, which is very diverse because of the multinational companies based there and the people who move there for work,” says Oghene.
A ‘lunch culture’ has long dominated, with the evenings given over more to tacos and relaxing. “When they go out,” Papadopoulos adds, “they don’t go to places where it’s only drinks.”
Then there’s tequila, which is the dominant base for the emerging appetite for cocktails. Perversely, the influence of outsiders has served as a boost to the local spirit. “There are many European on-premise professionals working in Guadalajara who are dedicated to tequila,” notes Papadopoulos. “They love this category.”
At the same time, the city has not been immune to the wider on-premise success of the Spritz. “What we’re seeing more and more of here is the aperitivo Spritz serve,” Oghene says. “Aperol Spritz has become the new cool thing. In my bar, we sell so much Aperol, it’s insane. Every bar you go to nowadays has a Spritz on the menu.
“It does kind of make sense here in Guadalajara: on a hot day, an aperitivo spritz is a long, refreshing drink. It’s also completely random, going from a sweet tequila to a bitter Italian aperitif.”
The local players
The cantina influence remains strong in Guadalajara, with some outlets retaining the taco aspect, but also involving cocktails. For both food and drinks, Mexico benefits from the bountiful amounts of fresh ingredients on its own doorstep. Subsequently, Oghene says, “I’ve seen a complete change in Guadalajara in what bars are offering in terms of quality over the past five years.”
Where the local scene lets itself down currently, however, is in its reluctance to leverage the country’s exuberant personality behind the bar.
“Mexicans, by their nature, have a dynamic culture,” says Papadopoulos. “When they go out, they go loud and go hard. But, I don’t see that in the local bartenders – I don’t see the personalities that a scene needs to create that kind of atmosphere.
“Social media and bar shows are helping, but Mexican bartenders need to show a bit more creativity – they have the resources and they have the ingredients. They need to have the cojones to go big. They have the power and they have the attitude, but they shouldn’t be so humble. I actually think the most dynamic role is on the service side rather than with the bartender.”
The international players
Suffice to say, those multinational brand owners with a tequila in their portfolios are making the most hay in Guadalajara, but the gin resurgence has – finally – arrived.
“Mexico City is very gin-led,” notes Oghene. “They like a lot of gin there. Guadalajara, not so much, but it’s starting to move a bit. While there are some local gins, [Pernod Ricard’s] Beefeater does well.”
The only other international brand making waves in Oghene’s bar is Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch. That said, the rising interest in cocktails, coupled with the swathe of on-premise professionals visiting Guadalajara from abroad, bodes well for established brown brands.
Challenges & opportunities
Looking forward, Oghene and Papadopoulos’ “super-optimistic” vibes for Guadalajara need to be kept in check by, of all things, Mexicans’ preference for chairs. “Since Covid, consumers in bars worldwide still don’t know how to behave,” observes Papadopoulos. “It’s well known that Mexicans – especially in this region – prefer to sit down. They want their own space. Will this continue to be the case, or will they prefer to stand at the bar, which is where the action is? We need a couple of years until we see what’s going to happen.”
Is the Mexico City shadow fading? Oghene certainly believes so. “I know I’m biased because one of them is mine,” he says, “but El Gallo Altanero, Barra Matilde Mi Amor and De La O Cantina are three bars in Guadalajara that in terms of the quality of their cocktails, can challenge any bar in Mexico City – as well as some of the biggest bars in the world.
“They’re setting the foundation and making a difference in Guadalajara.”
This article has been available to Global Drinks Intel subscribers since August. For details on how to join them, please click here.
