Dive bar ease with cocktail bar standards on Colima, where the kitchen runs as late as the playlist.
Ladina holds the corner at Colima 333 in Roma Norte. The Infatuation describes it as a step up from your standard dive: dark and easy, but the floors are not sticky and the stools are not on their last legs.
The trick is the gap between setting and execution. The room runs loose and loud, while the bar quietly turns out classics that out drink half the neighbourhood's dressier rooms.
Who would hate it? Anyone who wants mixology as performance. For tasting menu cocktails, the city's award rooms are a short walk away; Ladina is where you actually relax.
A dim corner room with a long bar, worn wood, and a playlist that Yelp reviewers consistently rate as half the draw. The Infatuation's reviewer calls the vibe dive bar chic, with none of the genre's usual neglect.
The Infatuation says Ladina makes a great Manhattan and an even better Naked and Famous, and reviewers single out the fancy margarita and the Purple Daisy. Cocktails land around MX$200, a fair cut below the destination bars nearby.
Order the Naked and Famous and the arrachera con papas, the steak and homemade fries plate The Infatuation flags as the value order. Skip nothing on the food menu out of caution; the late kitchen is the point.
Locals at the bar early, then a fuller, louder room as Roma Norte's dinner crowd rolls in after ten. Google Maps holds it at 4.6 stars across 733 reviews, with bartenders described as fast, friendly, and skilled.