Plaza Garibaldi

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Plaza Garibaldi is a plaza in Mexico City famous for its gatherings of itinerant mariachi and jarocho bands (buskers). The plaza is surrounded by numerous restaurants and bars catering to aficionados of mariachi music, the most famous of which is Salon Tenampa. It is served by the Mexico City Metro station Metro Garibaldi.

Plaza Garibaldi is named for Giuseppe Garibaldi Jr., who was a lieutenant colonel (teniente coronel) in the army of Pancho Villa during the initial victories of the 1910 Mexican Revolution [1], in honor of his actions in the battle of Nuevo Casas Grandes. Garibaldi was the son of the Italian hero of the Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Lt Col Garibaldi was ignominiously sacked by Villa after the first battle of Juarez in 1911, but the name of the plaza (formerly Pila de la Habana) stuck nonetheless, despite the way he exited the Army of the Revolution.

Plaza Garibaldi is also the name of several restaurants (in Anaheim, California, San Jose, California, Toronto and Boston) north of the border that specialize in mariachi music, a park in Chicago, and the subject of a large mural in Richmond, California. [2]

The plaza was a noted hangout of Mexican movie legend Pedro Infante, a painting of whom graces the interior of Salon Tenampa, charro star Jorge Negrete, and the "queen of ranchera music", Lola Beltrán. Many Mexican movies have been made with Plaza Garibaldi as a backdrop or central point of the action.