Covadonga

No one quite remembers when the hipsters started flooding into what is still a rather Kiwanis-like clubhouse for Mexico’s Spanish community, but they’re here to stay. Arts and media types, often in large, vociferous groups, favor the downstairs cantina—a wide open, too-brightly-lit space featuring a fabulous mid-century bar—where they rub elbows with domino-slamming old-timers. Yes, drinking is the big idea, but the menu of old-school Spanish fare (tortilla-style omelets, croquetas, seafood and steaks) is entirely serviceable, particularly after midnight when attendance peaks (it’s said they only close after everyone clears out, almost always in the wee hours). Everyone who’s anyone claims to be “over” Covadonga, yet there they are, nightly, cutting up with beloved friends; keep your eyes peeled for genius writers you wouldn’t recognize anyway.