Rayo

Ranked No. 5 on North America’s 50 Best Bars 2024, Rayo is not shy about precision, but its best move is wonderfully simple: before you order, the cocktail menu arrives as a wooden box of sample bottles. You smell the components first, then choose what you want to drink.

That fragrance-led approach was developed with a local perfumer, and it gives the bar’s mezcal- and tequila-forward programme a clear point of view rather than a gimmick. The drinks draw on the Aztec legend of Mayahuel and Mexican distillates, with signatures including Tejate Llevar, Tequilana Pet Nat and Gallito.

The room keeps the idea sharp without overworking it: a large marble-topped bar, neon lightning-bolt lighting and the rayo motif running through the design. If you can, take your drink to the rooftop terrace, where the indoor–outdoor setting gives the whole sensory exercise a little more air.