El Campanario - Monterrey

Monday is the the day to go to El Campanario. That's when the local rock group Cactus plays at night there.This is a cantina, a mexican cantina. Although it may seem like a shady place, it is not, really.The place holds a select group of people of all venues of life, so let me share our experience so you can understand the concept and decide wether to go.I'm going to start with the reason we went into this adventure. Cactus is a rock group that play covers of oldies songs, from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Creedence, Doors, etc. They are so good that we love them, and over the time we have followed the group to the various places they perform at.They usually play at Bars and Restaurants during the week, but on Mondays, El Campanario is the hall they feel more comfortable at.So when we told them we would like to see them play there, there was a warning about the area not being so nice as the other places they play.We did some investigation, and found that although the area is kind of harsh, being near the city market (Mercado de Abastos), with enough care there shouldn't be any trouble, so there we went my wife and I.El Campanario is located at a corner of Espinosa y Jimenez, in an old building (around 1870's), and the place is called a Fish Food Bar. We parked about a block away, and with some aprehension walked through some motorcycles parked at the front, and entered the place.Immediatly we felt we traveled 40 years back. Bikers, Punks, Long Haired Hippies, Flower Girls, etc. don't expect the Ritz here, the place itself doesn't have much decor, assorted old concert posters, some long-play covers, and a jukebox complement the wood tables and chairs. There's a long counter in an "L" shape, with all kind of people seated. We were assigned to the last empty table, about ten meters from the group. The bar itself is not too big, there's seating for about 100 persons, and many more standing all over.The music started to play (superb!) and we were asked if we wanted drinks. Take note they don't have Diet Coke here, only regular ones, mineral water, beers and spirits. My wife ordered a regular Coke, and a beer for me. Well, the beers are the one-liter ones, no small bottles! The we were presented with the menu, a single sheet of paper with sea-food, burgers and other things.We were a little bit wary of the food, so we went for something "safe" like onion rings and chips. But when we noticed other tables were ordering shrimp tostadas (big tortillas fried flat), breaded fish fillets, frog legs, fish tacos, etc. we couldn't resist and ask for some tostadas and breaded fish fillets. All was DELICIOUS. Over the night we ordered more tostadas and sea-food coctails, the kitchen closes at 9:30, and we stayed until 12 pm when the place closes.During the night, we saw entering the place an parade of interesting people, extreme punks, leather-vested bikers, EMOs, intellectuals, even a whole biking team (8) complete with bicycles, helments and polyesther uniforms. We never felt threatened, this is a community that takes care of everybody else. As the ambiance warmed-up, people started talking with other ones, even strangers, or singing the songs or dancing between tables, etc.At 12 sharp they close, and everybody goes home or wherever they want.One of the most bizarre experiences we have had. Since this first time, we have been there with friends or alone, but the food is always delicious, and inexpensive.

Monday is the day to go to El Campanario. This is when the local rock group plays Cactus at night. This is a cantina, a Mexican cantina. Although it seems like a shady place, it is not really. The place holds a selected group of people of all places of life, so let me share our experience so that you understand the concept and decide to go wether. I'll start with the reason we went into this adventure. Cactus is a rock group playing covers of old songs, from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Creedence, Doors, etc. They are so good that we love them, and in time we followed the group to the different places where they occur. They usually play in bars and restaurants during the week, but on Monday El Campanario is the hall where they feel more comfortable. When we told them we wanted to play them there, there was a warning that the area is not as beautiful as the other places they play. We have done some investigations and found that, although the area is hard, near the city market (Mercado de Abastos, with sufficient care should there be no problems so that we went my wife and I. El Campanario is located on a corner of Espinosa y Jimenez, in an old building (about 1870 's, and the place is called Fish Food Bar. We parked about a block away, and with an incident went through some motorcycles parked at the front and entered the square. We immediately felt 40 years back. Bikers, Punks, Long Haired Hippies, Flower Girl, etc. do not expect the Ritz here, the place itself 't have a lot of decor, sorted old concert posters, some long game covers, and a jukebox supplement the wooden tables and chairs. There is a long counter in an L-shape, sitting with any kind of person. We were assigned to the last empty table, about ten meters from the group. The bar itself is not too large, there are seats for about 100 people, and many more stand everywhere. The music began to play (superb!) and we were asked if we wanted drinks. Note that they do not have diet coke here, only regular, mineral water, beers and spirits. My wife ordered a regular cola and a beer for me. The beers are the ones, not small bottles! We were presented with the menu, a single sheet of paper with seafood, burgers and other things. We were a bit careful with the food, so we went for something safe like onion rings and chips. But when we noticed that other table shrimps ordered tostadas (big tortillas fried apartment, baked fish fillets, frog legs, fish tacos etc. we could not resist and ask for some tostadas and baked fish fillets. Everything was DELICIOUS. Over the night we ordered more Tostadas and seafood cocktails, the kitchen closes at 9:30, and we stayed until 12 o'clock when the place closes. In the night we saw a parade of interesting people, extreme punks, leather-occupied bikers, EMOs, intellectuals, even a whole bike team (8 complete with bicycles, hedges and polyestheruniforms). We never felt threatened, this is a community that takes care of everyone. When the ambience was warmed, people began to talk to others, even strangers, or sing the songs or dance between tables, etc. At 12 sharply they close, and everyone goes home or where they want. One of the bizarre experiences we had. Since this first time we have been with friends or alone, but the food is always delicious and cheap.