Papa Bill's

It’s not always easy to follow my beloved Dallas Cowboys football team while living in South America. But in Mexico City they are adopting many North American ways and American football has become increasingly popular there.

While walking the main drag in Polanco (Av Presidente Masaryk) I noticed a sports theme restaurant that had big screen TVs and lots of flat screen TVs hanging on the walls in two large dining rooms. A few days later I found myself at the bar, drinking a few beers, eating a few tacos, and watching a professional football game on the big-screen TV.

Regrettably, this location in Polanco for Papa Bill’s closed in 2017. But, take heart. There’s still a location open in Cuauhtémoc close to the many hotels along Paseo de la Reforma, and they have lots of big screen televisions and do show a variety of both American and Latin American sporting events.

Although the restaurant on Rio Lerma isn’t quite as big as the Polanco location was, it’s still much larger than most restaurants and has a menu identical to what was offered at the Polanco location. It’s a fusion of American-style bar food and Mexican cuisine. There are nachos, chips and dips, burgers, salads and sandwiches. On the Mexican side of the menu, there are tacos, fajitas and molcahetes full of goodies for piling onto tortillas.

They were recently showing a Sunday afternoon football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. So, it was the perfect opportunity to check out the bar in Cuauhtémoc, which just happened to be a block from hotel on Rio Lerma.

I elected to sit at the bar to watch the game and munch on some game day food. The décor in this restaurant falls slightly short of the more elaborate décor in Polanco, but it’s still pleasant. It’s a sports bar. Not much different than the Hooters that just happens to be across the street.

Papa Bill’s has a decent assortment of beers. I ordered a XX Amber to get things rolling and tortilla chips and salsa. The chips are served with a pureed bean dip, a mild green tomatillo sauce, a spicier red sauce and some pickled carrots and jalapenos.

By half time, the Cowboys were winning 3 to 0. I decided to switch to a lighter Sol beer (similar to a Corona) which I felt would likely bring them luck in the 2nd half.

I then ordered the beef tongue tacos. The tacos were good, but not great. The meat could have been seasoned a little more and some of the small strips of beef tongue were overcooked. But despite these shortcomings these tacos were about as good as you’d expect in sports bar.

The best news of all (unless you’re an Eagles fan) is that the Cowboys won the game.

For anyone looking for a place to have a few drinks and some decent food while watching your favorite sporting event, Papa Bill’s is a great choice.

As for me … I’m not superstitious. But next time I’m in Mexico City on a Sunday when the Cowboys are playing you’ll be sure to see me at “Lucky” Papa Bill’s.