Mezcal Spotlight: BEKEB

By Jonathan Lockwood

Six years ago I received an email from a mezcal maniac friend here in San Miguel de Allende. I had to go check out BEKEB. A young Mexican woman was in charge and had some impressive experience as a mezcal-savvy bartender in New York City. Cecilia and I went there 3 or 4 times, but Fabiola Padilla wasn’t there.

Maybe two years ago another mezcal maniac friend, in town for a while, wanted us to meet him at BEKEB. As a knowledgeable mixologist, he was blown away by the cocktails offered there. You may get the sense I’m not really a cocktail guy. And I’m not. But I’ll be damned if I wasn’t flabbergasted by the one I had. I can only remember it featured smoke, was positively beautiful and perfectly balanced. But Fabiola wasn’t in then either.

For the past year I’ve been writing Mezcal Spotlight articles about every mezcal-focused establishment in town. So I knew at some point I’d need to write one about BEKEB. And after a couple of months of Instagram messaging, I finally managed to get an appointment with Fabiola in her newer location inside Hotel Live Aqua.

First impression? I thought she was upset about something. When I asked if everything was okay, she replied, “Yes. This is just my resting bitch face.”

“Oh, I like her,” I thought immediately.

And as our time together moved forward, it struck me… This is what it takes to own a spot that’s been named among the Top 50 Bars in North America in both 2024 and 2025. Fabiola Padilla does not project warmth first. She projects the certainty of a general. She is a demanding perfectionist. And she owns that face. Born and raised in the highlands of Jalisco, at 17 she studied law in Guanajuato, graduating with honors. An internship at the United Nations didn’t go as planned, so Fabiola took a job as a barback in New York, lying about having any experience but totally nailing it. She’d work at other bars too, such as the renowned Cosme in the Flatiron district, for nine years.

Along about that time mezcal was coming on strong, and Fabiola embraced it not just as a trend, but as an exciting addition to her craft. She first fell for the Karwinskii distillations like Madrecuixe, and before long actually gave up the tequilas she used to drink. Now she exclusively sips mezcal and other agave spirits.

BEKEB comes from the word for “seeds,” as in roots or origins, in a Mayan language. It not only signifies returning to her own roots in Mexico, but also to the botanical herbalism that’s part of her country’s heritage. She always features 10 cocktails on the menu and these creations always start with Mexican herbs and plants ranging from light to strong. Then they move on to the exact spirit called for.

Imagine a cocktail of lemongrass, yuzu, tequila, Italian bergamot liqueur and an agar-agar clarification. The Tepache is made with fermented pineapple and raicilla. The Copal comes with mezcal, vermouth, tonka bean and mole bitters.

The Milk Punch Dragones is clarified with coconut milk, and the Guayaba features xoconostle, gin and coconut milk.

For these articles, I always ask, “What place does ___ occupy in this market?” Fabiola’s reply:

“Simply the best cocktail bar in San Miguel de Allende.”

If that seems cocky, just remember: BEKEB is actually among the best cocktail bars in North America. And after sampling them myself, I’m starting to get the sense that I’ve not been a cocktail guy because I may never have had a proper one. The gap between competent and masterful is apparently wider than I realized. The bar has two spaces—a small indoor lounge and a terrace overlooking the dam. Fabiola calls the design aesthetic "Baroque Cowboy," which designer Maye Ruíz translated into rustic materials, organic textures and handcrafted details that nod to traditional Mexican architecture.

Her mezcal menu is on point, with an especially broad selection of Real Minero, that storied brand of ancestral agave distillations from Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca, among several others. It took six years of hearing about this place before I finally sat down with the woman behind it. Now I understand why people kept insisting I go.

Fabiola Padilla’s standards are merciless. She has zero tolerance for shortcuts, and you can taste it. I’d say that fierce precision is exactly what San Miguel needed.

Jonathan Lockwood is a Mezcal lover, explorer, and collector and writes the Mezcal Maniac Substack. mezcalmaniac.substack.com