The Best Nightlife in Guadalajara: Bars, Cantinas, and Concerts

The Guadalajara nightlife scene is as diverse as it is fun. The metropolitan region is home to over 5 million people which includes many who like to have a good time. You can find all sorts of nightlife activities from nightclubs, after-hour clubs, cocktail bars, wine bars, microbreweries, cantinas, and a whole lot more.

When I first moved to Guadalajara in 2009 I was interning with a restaurant group that gave me front-of-the-line access to some very fun nightclubs. My coworkers and I would hit the town for a couple of drinks after closing down the restaurant. Sometimes we went fancy. Sometimes we went local. Sometimes we stayed out all night hopping from one scene to another. 

Guadalajara has a lot of style and the nightlife is a big reason why the metropolitan region is so cool. There are clubs, bars, and coffee shops for all different occasions and all types of people who want to socialize.

The Best Nightlife in Guadalajara

This is going to be a very subjective article. To some people, the best nightlife is dinner and the theater. To others, it is a nightclub that doesn’t even get going until after midnight. This article tries to take into account as many options as possible and relies on the input of service industry professionals that I have worked with over the course of the last decade. People who work in bars know where to find the best nightlife in Guadalajara.

Wine Bars in Guadalajara

There are several types of wine establishments in Guadalajara. There are high-end restaurants selling expensive and boring European classics. Then there are the irreverent kids that want to have fun with wine and make it accessible to a younger generation of enthusiasts. I don’t care about pretentious sommeliers. I want to have some fun.

My favorite wine guys in Guadalajara run an Instagram account called @vinosenlacalle or wines in the street. They head down to Guadalajara’s favorite street food joints with bottles and glasses in hand to pair street food with an astonishing selection of international wines. These are people that you wish you could hang out with because they are having so much fun.

When drinking wine in Mexico it is likely that you will run into wines that you didn’t know. I grew up in California and the area is saturated with Californian wine because it is locally made. Mexico has a very small wine industry so there are lots of imports. Many of those imports are economically focused because the peso doesn’t go as far as the dollar. Nothing against Napa and Bourdeaux but their wines are expensive. There is a lot of good wine out there that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

These wine bars aren’t huge places. Some of them are actually rather small. The crowd could be considered hipster because they are wine nerds. They know how to talk about wine with the correct terminology and make fun recommendations without pretense. I am really happy to see where the Guadalajara wine scene has come over the last ten years. It is less about famous brand names and more about finding something new and exciting at a good price.

Rayuela Bodega de Vino | Av Alemania 1779, Moderna, Guadalajara

Cru Wine & Deli | Av Tepeyac 1030A, Chapalita Oriente, Zapopan

Romea | Calle Emerson 5, Americana, Guadalajara

Roothouse | Av López Mateos Norte 779, Lomas de Guevara, Guadalajara

Shelter | Mar Báltico 2240, Country Club, Guadalajara

Turbio | Calle Pedro Moreno 1103, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara

El Corcho | Calle Argentina 15, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara

Pubs, Microbreweries & Beer Bars in Guadalajara

You can find beers by the big multinationals everywhere. You can buy their beers in just about any country in the world. When you come to Guadalajara, look for microbreweries. They are actually Mexican companies making beer for their friends who don’t have much international distribution. You can only find them here.

Back in 2010, there was Cerveza Minerva and that was it. The multinationals had a stranglehold on the distribution of beer in the city. They offer restaurants and bars all sorts of kickbacks like refrigerators or cash to only sell the brands in their portfolio.

These microbreweries are beer bars are absolutely blowing up right now because people want to try new flavors. They also have some great food. Nico Mejia, one of my favorite chefs from Colima, did the menu for Cerveceria de Colima’s Casa Trapiche. They have all created cool spaces to hang out at.

Cerveceria de Colima’s Casa Trapiche | Calle Gabriel Ramos Millán, Americana, Guadalajara

Cerveza Minerva’s La Taberna Minerva | Calle Lateral Periferico Sur 4250, Los Periodistas, Zapopan

Cervecería Fortuna | Carretera Guadalajara-Nogales 4380, La Primavera, Zapopan

Zorra Bistro Pub | Diagonal Golfo de Cortés 4140, Monraz, Guadalajara

Patan Ale House | Calle Morelos 1281, Americana, Guadalajara

Bunker Brew Club | Calle San Jorge 225, Seattle, Zapopan

Cocktail Bars in Guadalajara

Visiting these cocktail bars would be a great way to get to know the Colonia Americana.

Farmacia Rita Perez | Calle Colonias y Pedro Moreno, Colonia Americana

Oliveria Cocktail Bar | Libertad 1852, Americana, Guadalajara

Fat Charlie | Calle Manuel López Cotilla 1940, Lafayette, Guadalajara

De La O Cantina | Calle Argentina 70, Americana, Guadalajara

Vietnam Bar | Calle Pedro Moreno 1296, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara

Pigalle | Calle Emeterio Robles Gil, Americana, Guadalajara

AGAVES: TEQUILA & MEZCAL

I think that Guadalajara is a great place to learn about the cultural significance of agave-based spirits. The town of tequila is just 45 minutes away and the tequila regulatory body is based out of Guadalajara. You can taste a lot more tequila here than anywhere else in the world. Especially the good stuff.

In addition to tequila, there is an amazing selection of distilled agave spirits. Jalisco makes a spirit from wild agaves called raicilla. There is mezcal being made just about everywhere there are agaves as much as a trade group wants to restrict the name ‘mezcal’ to a specific appellation of origin.

Personally, I think that El Gallo Altanerno is one of the coolest bars in the world. I am always surprised to see who they are working with and who they are showing around Guadalajara

El Gallo Altanero | Calle Marsella 126, Lafayette, Guadalajara

Argublaly the most important tequila bar in the world.

Pare De Sufrir Mezcaleria | Calle Argentina 66, Americana, Guadalajara

A mezcal bar somewhere between hipster and folk. There are a lot of Emiliano Zapata mustaches and country music.

El Rey Mezcaleria | Bernardo de Balbuena 124, Ladrón de Guevara, Guadalajara

More of a nightclub style of mezcal bar with popular music and DJs.

Agüita Agavería | Calle Marsella 167, Lafayette, Guadalajara

Mezonte Destilados Mexicanos de Agave | Calle Argentine 299, Americana, Guadalajara

The school of agave spirits.

Great Nightclubs in Guadalajara

El Chacal | Calle Bernardo de Balbuena 110, Ladrón de Guevara, Guadalajara

Casa Cobra | Av. de las Américas 966, Italia Providencia, Guadalajara

Jamaica GoGo | Calle Bernardo de Balbuena 145, Ladrón de Guevara, Guadalajara

Salon Candela | Calle Javier Mina 183, Centro, Zapopan

Bar Americas | Av Chapultepec Sur 507, Americana, Guadalajara

Strana | Av Pablo Neruda 2715, Providencia, Guadalajara

La Santa | Real de Acueducto 371, Puerta de Hierro, Zapopan

Classic Guadalajara Cantinas

One of the enjoyable parts of living in an old city is visiting historic drinking establishments. Each of these cantinas will teach you something about Mexico.

Cantina La Fuente | Pino Suárez 78, Zona Centro, Guadalajara

One of the oldest cantinas in the historic core of downtown Guadalajara. This is where you come to see what life was like in times long past. The place feels like a time machine taking you back to the revolutionary era.

Cantina De La O | Calle Argentina 70, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara

The place is new (comparatively) but it was conceived by guys who love the classic old-school cantina but wanted a more artisanal menu. De La O doesn’t sell beer made by multinational companies preferring to sell local microbrews. It’s the same thing with the cocktail list. They have an excellent selection of traditional Mexican fermented drinks like pulque, tepache, and aguamiel, that you won’t see almost anywhere. They have some great food specials too like raw scallops and smoked oysters.

Saloon del Bosque | Calle José Guadalupe Zuno 2200, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara

It is a little fancier in a well-maintained old mansion with table cloths and waiters in long-sleeve white shirts and bowties. The food is simple but excellent. Think albondigas, verdolagas, and guacamole with cecina.

La Occidental | Calle Nueva Galicia 911, Centro, Guadalajara

Located in the Plaza de las 9 Esquinas neighborhood right where they sell the pitayas in the spring. They do some great cocktails with fresh pitayas that you won’t see anywhere else.

Los Famosos Equipales | Calle Juan Álvarez 704, Artesanos, Guadalajara

Another time capsle.

El Parian de Tlaquepaque | Calle Juárez 68, Centro, San Pedro Tlaquepaque

Make sure to head over to Tlaquepaque to have a drink in El Parian. It’s a 19th-century building that houses about ten different restaurants and drinking establishments around a tree-lined plaza and bandstand. There are mariachi shows daily but my favorite was getting off work at 1 am and heading to the cantina to get a drink before heading home.

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Concert Venues in Guadalajara

Teatro Degollado | Calle Degollado sin nombre, Zona Centro, Guadalajara

Seeing a concert at the Degollado Theater will be one of the highlights of your things to do in Guadalajara. The theater was built in a classical architectural style in the second half of the 19th century. It is a time capsule. You feel transported back in time as you walk in the door. Growing up in San Diego, I wasn’t familiar with this type of ornate theater before.

It can be difficult to pay attention to the presentation because the theater is so beautiful. Sitting in one of the balconies, I would often look up at the mural on the ceiling and wonder what were the most popular shows that played here in the 1800s.

There are a number of different groups that use the Degollado Theater as their home base. The Philharmonic Orchestra of Jalisco has a season and plans events from classical music to the Beatles. The University of Guadalajara has a folkloric dance group that performs in the summertime. They also offer ballet interpretations of famous productions like Don Quijote de la Mancha.

My absolute favorite date night in Guadalajara is to dine at Restaurante Alcalde before going to the theater.

Auditorio Telmex | Avenida Obreros de Cananea 746, Zapopan

Teatro Diana | Avenida 16 de Septiembre 710, Centro, Guadalajara

El Palenque | Avenida Mariano Barcena s/n, Auditorio, Zapopan

Calle 2 | Calle 2 39, Industrial los Belenes, Zapopan

Parque Trasloma | La Merced 1264, Jardines Plaza del Sol, Guadalajara

Final Thoughts: Best Nightlife In Guadalajara

Guadalajara is a fun town. With more than 5 million residents in the metro region, it is no doubt that there are a lot of nightlife options. The fact that Guadalajara has a lot of style means that those options are pretty world-class.