If you saw the award-winning movie "Roma" (the title refers not to the capital of Italy, but to a Mexico City neighborhood), you might remember the scene where the protagonist, Cleo, goes with her friend to a downtown restaurant called "La Casa del Pavo" (the Turkey House).
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| (image taken from the internet) |
"La Casa del Pavo" is a real restaurant that is located on Motolinia Street in the Historic Center. I have passed by the little hole in the wall place a number of times, and last week, after visiting the exhibits at Iturbide's Palace, I decided to eat there.
A sign at the entrance says that "Roma" was filmed here and that the restaurant was founded in 1901.
It's one of the oldest restaurants in the city, and it is still owned by the same family. It is currently operated by the great grandchildren of the founders. Fidel Castro and Che Guevara were customers here when they were in exile in Mexico City. The Oscar winning director of "Roma", Alfonso Cuarón, said that he used to eat here as a child and decided to film a scene from his movie here.
The restaurant is definitely not fancy. It feels like a place frozen in time. Even the music was from the 70s, the era in which the movie takes place.
As the name would imply, the menu features a lot of turkey... turkey soup, turkey tacos, turkey "tortas" (sandwiches). However, not everything on the menu is turkey.
I ordered garlic soup, a Cuban "torta" (turkey breast, turkey ham and Chihuahua cheese), and a pork "torta".
The food was nothing special. I have had much better "tortas" in other places. But it was a cool experience to eat in this historic restaurant.
