Distrito is one of the country’s most interactive restaurants, boasting spectacular design features such as a booth crafted from a green VW bug; seats that swivel, rock and swing; 600 colorful wrestling masks and a karaoke room hidden behind a bar shelf. Named for Mexico’s capital city, Distrito Federal, the restaurant is a celebration of that culture’s lively colors and textures. It was created by the inspiration of the playful, vibrant aesthetic of even the most everyday objects during a research trip to Mexico City.

Entering the dining space through swinging saloon doors, guests are greeted by flamingo pink walls and a bright yellow resin bar top with scorpions cast inside. Neon signs and marquee-style signs above the bar announce a few of the drinks and menu items. A working jukebox provides the soundtrack for the restaurant’s first-floor lounge, and hot pink, sparkling gel bar stools offer ample seating. 

Distrito’s prime table is a booth crafted from a green Volkswagen bug, the common taxicab in Mexico City, seating for up to four guests underneath pink acrylic-rod light fixture. Another prominent design feature is a wall constructed from more than 600 masks of the lucha libre, or free-fight professional wrestlers. Take-away postcards were clipped along the wall for customers to take home.

Comfortable banquettes covered in hand-woven water hyacinth fibers are shaped like enormous sombreros and provide additional lounging space; throughout the restaurant, resin table tops inlaid with the bright prints of Mexican oilcloth and sparkling gold glitter contribute to the carnival atmosphere, while flexible, neon vinyl tubing comprises both chairs and illuminated hanging globes. Seats include: swinging benches; cocoon-style booths that rotate to face away from the main floor; glider style booth seats up to six people; and chairs upholstered in colorful, checkered fabric that is used for shopping bags in Mexico City.

Distrito features an open kitchen, two bars, one upstairs and one down; and a retractable movie screen and stage above the central grand staircase for live mariachi performances or screenings of films.

The karaoke room is concealed behind the host stand, through a door disguised as a shelf for Mexican jarritos, or fruit sodas. Inside, the dark purple room seats up to 24 guests and offers them a flat screen monitor for sing-along lyrics.