They shout from the balconies above: “Friend, friend, do you want to go to the terrace? Hey restaurant service? The historic center of Mexico City is packed, the screams mixed with the organ grinders and the confetti. It’s the time of the Day of the Dead, one of the country’s biggest festivals, and the crowd advancing along Francisco I. Madero Street sees only hundreds of other necks heading for the Zócalo and its catrinas. The largest square in Latin America seems small these days. In Monte de Piedad, one of the streets closing the esplanade, gold is sold downstairs and there are restaurants upstairs. Waiters fight for elbows to catch customers: here, whoever takes the tourist wins. And your tip.
There, an order of three tacos costs 350 pesos – about $18 – and a pint of beer costs 280 – $14. In a country where the monthly minimum wage rarely exceeds 5,200 pesos, 380 pesos are paid for guacamole on the terraces overlooking the National Palace, the highest seat of government. Numbers 11 and 13 of Calle Monte de Piedad are the protagonists of the complaints received by Profeco (Federal Consumer Protection Agency) for price fraud. “Administrative procedures are currently being carried out to sanction four establishments for not displaying prices or not respecting them and for unreasonably debiting the account,” the agency confirms to EL PAÍS.
The account of a restaurant overlooking the Zócalo Square, where a guacamole cost 280 Mexican pesos and three tacos 350. Beatriz Guillen
The abuses investigated in these terraces range from inflating the prices displayed on the menu — for example, omitting 16% VAT from the menu — forcing people to tip 20%, or charging a cover, just because they are on the terrace . All this, which has been going on for a long time, exploded a few weeks ago with journalist Betzabé Zumaya’s tweet: “You saw my touristy face in my own country, what a disappointment… I took some Chilean friends to a terrace in front of the National Palace And that was the bill, some flank steak tacos for almost 500 pesos, I still can’t believe it.”
The publication caused a wave of outrage, the intervention of Claudia Sheinbaum’s government and Profeco’s visit to these facilities. After several meetings, some basic points were made public, such as non-discrimination within the premises and the obligation to “purchase the products at the stated prices and quantities” or “receive a purchase invoice”. During the tour of several of these places conducted by this newspaper, some practices have been changed, others seem incurable.
A group of tourists walk along Madero Street in the historic center Aurea Del Rosario (El País)
“Rats from Downtown”
The terraces in the building of Monte de Piedad 11 and 13 are entered through a narrow corridor surrounded by jewelry shops and exchange offices. At the entrance, a black-clad security announces the options: up to six restaurants per terrace, all are checked, the service is the same. Don’t search Google for their real name, users have changed the name of these places to “Las ratas del centro”. The score -1.3 stars out of five – is accompanied by horror stories.
On the first, second, fifth, and sixth floors, the restaurants share small tables and uncomfortable chairs. Despite the variety of options, the customer ultimately decides on his goal. Because before entering, someone has decided their fate. Businesses hire people dedicated to scooping people off the streets and bringing them to a table. These advertisers earn a commission for each advertiser they bring in.
At the end of the corridor there is an elevator where a man works as an elevator operator, or rather a porter. Another person rushes down and says, “Go with me.” The waiter shuffles some cards, chooses one, hands it over and says, “Here we will serve you.” A waiter is waiting for him upstairs. If there is space on the balcony, the customer sits down. If not, take another seat and stand in line. When they get him a seat outside, the person who yelled at him jokes, “I already earned a tip!”
The accounts of two restaurants where a lemonade with mineral water cost 190 and 130 Mexican pesos, respectively.Zedryk Raziel
In these terraces, they used to charge about 50 pesos ($2.5) for “balcony rights” and 60 for entry, according to complaints on social networks. After the scandal, new warning signs were put up on every floor with a terrace: “There is no place setting and no terrace rights in this establishment. Report any anomaly to Profeco”.
Lucky’s, one of the restaurants the unit has opened administrative proceedings against, does not have a printed menu. In order to see the menu, the customer has to call up a website with a QR code. The drinks menu is only stored on the waiter’s cell phone, which he lends to the customer so that he can scroll through it quickly. From nachos with flank steak for 310 pesos ($16) to 90 for American Coffee ($5). Card payments are not accepted here. If the customer does not bring cash, they will be asked to go to an ATM to withdraw money or make an electronic transfer. They also don’t give out a copy of the account: “We have to keep it to keep track,” they reason.
Terrace of the Mercado Centro seen from the Zócalo Aurea Del Rosario (El País)
Four floors up, Ivonne gets nervous when the customer takes a picture of the note with the restaurant’s name cut out. May I ask why you are taking a photo of it?” says the waitress, “the prices are those on the menu, you can look them up”. The young woman nervously explains that “many colleagues were fired” as a result of the scandal. The layoffs occurred when customers called the police patrol because they disagreed with the prices. “They’re a bit high, but because this is a tourist spot,” he says. Just a few numbers away, in La Terraza, from the Majestic Hotel, with the same view of the Zocalo and the National Palace, prices are halved. A piece of flank steak with nopales is more expensive in Monte de Piedad than in Roma’s fresh restaurants and the beer exceeds the price of Qatar, said to be the most expensive place in the world to drink it.
In the Sabores de México restaurant, another place studied by Profeco, the complaints made themselves felt and had an impact. The waitress politely asks if you want to tip. It is illegal to collect an amount in Mexico. Look around and show, “Look how empty we are.” He assures that by this time, three o’clock in the afternoon, and the celebrations of the dead had already ended, at another time they were crowded with guests. “Social networks destroy everything,” he says. He says his employers don’t pay him a salary, that his earnings depend solely on tips and that the complaints have threatened his livelihood. This circumstance would explain why the waiters went out of their way to write large tips on the bills. “Unfortunately, the bad things that some have done have affected us all,” he laments.
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