Gay guys who fantasize about 1970s New York—with its reportedly uninhibited embrace of gay sexual liberation, combined with an artsy underground sensibility—should immediately hop on a plane to 2020s Mexico City. Mexico’s capital, which has a metro population of about 22 million, has got both hedonism and novelty turned up high. It’s a very cruisy city—in the streets, in the malls and in the metro—and has lots of dedicated places for it.
There are a few things that night prowlers need to know about cruising gay Mexico City: what’s where and how it all works.
Any smart visitor to Mexico City will usually find themselves staying in trendy upscale neighbourhoods like Juárez (where the very gay district of Zona Rosa is located), Roma Norte, Condesa, Palermo and, to a lesser extent, the historic centre around the Zócalo. But those are not always where the raciest venues for gay men are located. The rents in these zones are probably too high for such businesses.
And whatever zoning laws Mexico City might have, they do not seem to be strongly enforced when it comes to big events, bathhouses and cruising clubs. You might be looking for an address in a lower-middle-class residential neighbourhood or traffic-filled industrial-seeming zone, wondering, “Has Google Maps or Uber brought me to the wrong place?” No. Even as you head up the narrow stairs to ring the buzzer of what seems to be a private residence, you are probably in the right place.
Another reason why some of the best parties are in ever-shifting locations is because criminal gangs reputedly charge many bars and clubs a “protection fee.” If the venues are always changing, or otherwise off the radar, it’s supposedly harder for criminals to get their claws in.
Which leads us to personal security. Mexico City’s touristy neighbourhoods are well policed and generally quite safe. And in less-touristy middle-class neighbourhoods, close to the city centre, there are probably not enough foreign tourists around to merit a criminal’s attention. But when out in public, it’s always a good idea to avoid carrying large sums of money, waving your phone around and walking down empty streets. Instead, tuck a credit card, an evening’s worth of cash and your phone in your front pockets and leave them there until you’re inside a venue.
Using Uber or another ridesharing service to get to a venue can be a good idea, but remember that Mexico City has “ghost Ubers” that will pick up unsuspecting (and especially intoxicated) passengers in order to rob them. To avoid this, always check the plates of the car against the app before you get in the car; perhaps even take a photo that’s instantly uploaded to the cloud. Always tell your travelling companions where you’re going and how long you’ll be.
Clubs that require nudity, have a kinky dress code or otherwise allow patrons to prowl in various states of undress will usually provide lockers or a clothes-check service. It’s usually included in the entrance price. The latter means putting your checked items in a bag or some sort of container that’s guarded by an attendant, which you claim at the end of your visit with a numbered ticket—or perhaps a number written on your body so you can’t lose it. Though bagged clothes checks can seem fishy to North Americans, they are usually safe and definitely much safer than bringing your phone and other valuables into a dark room. It’s usually permissible to add or remove things from your bag over the course of a visit, provided the attendant has the time to help you.
Many of Mexico City’s cruisy gay experiences are hard to put a label on. Some are club nights or bars—places where dancing and socializing is the main attraction—that happen to have dark rooms. Others are conventional gay bathhouses, with rentable rooms with doors that lock, and steam rooms, whirlpools and other sauna-like amenities. Some are almost like bathhouses except without the wet areas. Or maybe they have a wet area but no rentable rooms—you and your partner(s) just hop in one that’s available.
We’ll start with bars and dance clubs, then go to a few places that are primarily about hooking up.
New venues are opening and old ones are closing all the time—and weekly schedules can be erratic. None on this list are 24/7. If it’s a party, it might be happening monthly or even less frequently. If it’s a club, opening hours may be just afternoons to midnight-ish, later on the weekends. Checking out the most recent social media post is a good way to make sure there will be fun happening when you arrive.
Party first
Tom’s Leather Bar (Av. Insurgentes Sur 357, Hipódromo, Mexico City). The “leather bar” is in the name just to scare away the straights and sexually shy people—Tom’s is not particularly fetishy. But bad boys are welcome. Men gossip and flirt in the main room, which has a ceiling like a church, while porn plays on screens around the bar and pumped-up strippers strut their stuff on the long main bar. If you continue past the dark washrooms at the back of the bar, you’ll find even more dark spaces. Some have been lost there for hours. It’s packed most nights, but Tuesdays, when patrons get a large number of drinks included in the cover, are extremely popular.
Boy’s Club at El Taller (Florencia 37a, Juárez, Mexico City). Founded as a dark and cruisy basement bar, El Taller changed hands a few years ago and is now operated by Cabaré-Tito, a chain of cheerful drag-infused bars around Mexico City’s Zona Rosa. But never fear: They’ve launched their “Boy’s Club” on weekends, giving the basement space a sexier vibe, and it’s men-only on Sundays—and that includes the strippers.
Pervert (changing venues; location provided only to ticket holders). This famous hipster-driven party attracts a creative young LGBTQ+ crowd who love to genderbend—or maybe go all leather biker—while at the same time wearing as little clothing as possible. It’s all about consent and inclusion and style and music—but there’s always a dark room.
TechnoMen Mexico (changing venues; often at an unnumbered address on Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, Hipódromo, Mexico City). The venue is dark and usually smaller than Pervert. Its patrons are demographically more narrow: horny men who show up in singlets and sports gear, dance shirtless to pounding techno and then, when the energy is right, whip out their junk on the dancefloor or in a dark corner of the venue and follow their instincts.
Cruising first
So.Do.Me. (Calz. Gral. Mariano Escobedo 716, Anzures, Mexico City). Another play on words: sodome=sodomy, but also “So, do me!” This long-running and well-run establishment is a classic gay bathhouse, with steam rooms, jacuzzis and private rooms for foolin’ around in, as well as lots of dark rooms and maze-like spaces. Located close to the posh neighbourhood of Palermo, it attracts an upscale crowd, many of whom take very good care of their bodies. Which is to say: the guys are hot.
Chikro 77 (Gutiérrez Nájera 145-B, Obrera, Mexico City). The numbers after “Chikro” can change from time to time—the owners seem to be eccentric and the club certainly is. Coming in feels like arriving at a 1960s men’s club, with the wooden counter and retro fixtures. Then you enter a sumptuously furnished lounge with antique photos and tchotchkes everywhere—and a piano and a chandelier. Here you can doff your clothes or chill and chat. But this is not just someone’s house—it’s quite big. At the back there’s a 1980s-style dancefloor. And upstairs—well, upstairs! It’s a very well-equipped and thought-out sexual playground with benches and nooks and crannies and holes and the like.
Sexto Piso (6th floor, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas 123, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City). In a bustling downmarket shopping area south of Palacio de Bellas Artes is probably the biggest and busiest of Mexico City’s cruising clubs. Patrons have to walk up six storeys (there’s a Spanish play on words with the “sexto,” sixth, and “sex”), past boutiques selling cellphone cases, to reach the club. Among its play structures is a replica of a Mexico City subway car, complete with sound effects and lights that zip past the windows, and a well-lit mirrored geodesic dome, where influencers and other exhibitionists can make, uh…content. Sexto Piso regularly hosts the Cerdo parties, where patrons are encouraged to wear Mexican wrestling masks or latex masks, among other parties and theme nights.
Dallas Club (C. Génova 34, Zona Rosa, Juárez, Mexico City). Sexto Piso has become such an institution, it spawned this spinoff right in the middle of the gaybourhood. What patrons gain in convenience, they lose in amenities—no geodesic dome here. It’s not huge, but it gets the job done.
Milk CDMX (Av. Baja California 36A, Roma Sur, Mexico City). Among the five or so sex clubs operated by impresario Mau Treviño, this is the easiest to reach for visitors staying in Roma Norte, Condesa or Juárez. It’s not big—just a bar, a rooftop patio and three apartment-sized rooms in varying degrees of darkness—but it attracts a hot crowd that knows what it wants and doesn’t hesitate to act on it. The themes are what you’d expect: naked, twinks versus daddies, well-endowed, etc.
