The verb “guisar” means “to prepare food” implying more elaboration than the literal “cocinar.” Guisados are stews i.e. meats or vegetables in sauce. They can consist of anything at all, from chicharrón en salsa verde--pork skin in green sauce--to eggs with nopales, to picadillo de carne. Any prepared or stewed dish heaped onto a taco is a ‘guisado’. While guisados venues traditionally offer their wares  out of clay cazuelas, modern stainless steel is becoming more common.

This cool cervecería--beer hall--is one of the few left in Mexico City. It has been offering brew on tap (de barril) as well as a wide variety of tacos, since 1928. A mixed crowd (in class and age) has re-discovered the back room as a hang out, and it bustles with energy day and night. I like the bar, to the left as you enter from the street, for a quick stand-up taco stop. My favorites are bacalao, pulpo en su tinto and a particularly aromatic pollo en mole verde.

While there are now branches, the original, on Bolívar, has, by far, the best, old-time ambience.

Salón Corona
Bolivar 24, between 5 de Mayo and 16 de Septiembre, Centro
Tel: 5512-5725
Open daily 8 a.m. to  2 a.m.
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