Forum Buenavista

The Forum Buenavista is one of the newest and biggest shopping centers in the center of Mexico City. Built directly over the Buenavista suburban rail station, it’s also very convenient to the Santa Maria la Ribera neighborhood and to the Buenavista Metro Station. It’s actually directly adjacent to the Vasconcelos Library.

With always about 200 retailers, the shopping center leaves little to the imagination. At about 400 meters in length, the shopping center occupies three floors above the train station which takes up the entire ground floor.

The main anchor is Sears, but there is also, at least for now, a Fabricas de Francia. (That chain is to be folded into the larger Liverpool/Suburbia brand family, so we’ll see what happens.)

If you’ve never been to a Mexican shopping mall, this is a good one to start with. As it’s very large, the Forum Buenavista offers a very large variety of chain eateries, as well as your better retailers. Included are those for clothing, sportswear, and entertainment. The Cinépolis is among the biggest movie cinemas in the city with normally a good variety of movies in English.

Of course, one can also combine a trip to the mall with a walking trip through the nearby neighborhoods of Santa Maria la Ribera, or to the El Chopo museum. The rather better variety of independent restaurants and cafes around the Santa Maria alameda make a trip to the mall not too hard on the stomach.