The Plazuela Machado is the heart of evening Mazatlan. Cafes and bars spill out under the arcades and the trees, and a couple of nights a week there is live music in the square itself. Olas Altas — the south end of the Malecon — is the other reliable axis: it is where the original 1950s tourist hotels sat, and the bar terraces still face directly onto the Pacific.
Mazatlan brews its own beer. The Pacifico brewery has been here since 1900, and a tall green bottle of Pacifico Clara is the local lager. The brewery itself is in the Centro Historico, a couple of blocks from the cathedral.