Café Tacuba: un recorrido por la historia de este espectacular restaurante

Open since 1912. Café de Tacuba occupies a seventeenth-century building on calle Tacuba, in the historic centre, and it has been serving continuously for more than a century. It is one of the handful of restaurants in Mexico City that counts as a monument in its own right.

What the room looks like. Vaulted ceilings, walls lined in Puebla talavera tile, oil paintings, brass and dark wood — a dining room that has barely changed since the Porfirian period. The building itself was part of a convent before it was anything else.

What to order. The traditional Mexican repertoire done the old way: tamales, enchiladas, mole, pozole, and the chocolate and churros that most people come for in the afternoon. Breakfast here is the quietest and best moment.

The name, and the confusion. The rock band Café Tacvba took its name from this restaurant, spelling it with a v to avoid trouble. Many visitors arrive expecting a music venue; it is a hundred-year-old dining room.

Where it puts you. Calle Tacuba is the oldest continuously used street in the Americas, running west from the Zócalo. MUNAL, the Palacio de Minería, the Templo Mayor and the cathedral are all within five minutes on foot.

Practical notes. Calle de Tacuba #28, Centro. Metro Allende and Bellas Artes, line 2. Busy at weekends; cards accepted.