BUTTERFLIES, Centro HIstorico. Another longtime favorite of the Mexico City gay community ( also known as BUTTERGOLD ) and one of the best. This huge warehouse complex can accommodate hundreds of people comfortably, and the club plays the best dance music ( English and Spanish pop ) and features some of the most professional drag and strip shows in all of Mexico. Everyone welcome. Always a cover.

LIVING, Col. Juarez. A large, chic, ultra-modern disco palace popular with upper-class Mexicans and Circuit Boy wannabes. The same high-energy techno music you find in the gay discos of most US big cities. Men and women. Always a cover.

VIENA, Centro Historico -- Once a plain, generic Mexican cerveceria, which means they started out serving only beer, this longstanding D.F. gay bar has since transformed into a more contemporary, stylish lounge with a much expanded liquor menu. It's one of the few gay bars open all day, but the crowds start gathering nightly at about 7 p.m. A nice place to stop for a drink after sightseeing at the Zocalo. Mostly men. Never a cover.

OASIS, Centro Historico -- A lively, working man's cantina and dance bar that is popular with the cowboys, leathermen and the bears crowd. It gets packed nightly between 8 and 10 p.m. Mostly men. Very friendly. Never a cover.

THE NEW VAQUERO, Zona Rosa -- An open air cowboy saloon in the heart of the Zona Rosa -- a man's bar if ever there was one. With sawdust and hay bales, this levi and leather scene reigns in a two-story space in the middle of an open courtyard of shops and restaurants. Homo hunk heaven is out and proud for all the world to see and envy. Never a cover.

NICHO, Zona Rosa -- The new Bears Bar in D.F. is a stylish, colorful video cantina where all the furry men and their admirers hang out. No tables here, just lots of standing and cruising. A attractive, attentive wait staff makes sure you never go thirsty for a drink or eye candy. Sometimes a cover. 

BLACK OUT, Zona Rosa -- A stylish, romantically lit bar-disco with some of the hottest, hunkiest waiters in town. Three levels of fun, including dancing and strippers, all with patio and terrace views facing the street action. Part of what some call the Gayest City Block in the World, BLACK OUT is one of several rainbow bars, discos, restaurants and shops all lined up on one street near the Angel Monument. The block includes out-and-proud establishments like BOY BAR, B-SIDE, LOLLIPOP, GAYTA and PAPI FUN BAR. Most of these bars do not have a cover.

MACHO DANCE BAR, Zona Rosa -- The oxymoron name says it all -- machismo glam at its best. A little two-room bar-disco decorated with posters of Erik Estrada and Lee Majors and featuring dance music by Donna Summer, Madonna and The Village People. The boys and men crowd in for the nostalgia every night, and it usually is standing room only. Part of what some call the Gayest City Block in the World on one street near the Angel Monument. Never a cover.

HIBRIDO, Zona Rosa -- A glitzy, hi-tech disco palace with a diverse mix of party-goers ( men, women, young, old, rich, poor ) crowding in for all the mirror-balled, black-lit action. High energy house music rules the night. Cover on weekends. 

EL ANSIA, Col. Insurgentes Mixcoac / Zona Sur -- A nice-sized dance hall with hot music and a happy, mixed men-and-women crowd of all ages. Nightly themes and shows with strippers and transvestites. Everyone welcome. Cover on weekends.