Reko (JOSEFA Tower)

What Rekō is

Rekō is a restaurant and bar on the second floor of Paseo de la Reforma 390 in Colonia Juárez, Mexico City. The address is the JOSEFA tower, a 1970s office block by Juan José Díaz Infante that Urbanista converted into apartments in 2022. Its ground floor is Alma 390, a food hall of chef-run kitchens, and Rekō sits one level up with a terrace over Reforma, between the Ángel de la Independencia and the Diana fountain.

It opened at the end of 2025 and is the newest project of Grupo Santō, the group behind Santō Hand Roll Bar in Roma Norte. The menu mixes Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes with Mexican ingredients, most plates are built for sharing, and the room is designed around sound: a hi-fi system, vinyl DJ sessions on Thursdays and live acts on Fridays. Time Out México reviewed it in March 2026, gave it four stars out of five and described it as a homage to 1980s Japanese bars.

Who is behind it

Grupo Santō started with Santō Hand Roll Bar at Colima 161 in Roma Norte, a counter where the menu is the work of Japanese chef Hiroshi Kawahito, working with Mexican chef Daniel Villanueva. That restaurant has since opened a branch on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The group also runs San-Tō Records, a music side project, which is why Rekō puts as much effort into speakers and vinyl as into fish. Rekō itself has not named its head chef in any of the coverage I read, so treat it as a group kitchen rather than a chef’s restaurant.

How the menu works

Rekō is à la carte and built for the middle of the table. The menu runs from raw fish through hot dishes, with a Mexican twist somewhere in most plates.

• Raw: sashimi, chu-toro tostadas, Santō tiradito, and nigiri that go up to sea urchin, ikura and Wagyu A5. Reviews single out a hamachi nigiri finished with grated Oaxacan chocolate.
• Hand rolls and makis: a spicy tuna hand roll with cucumber, and the salmon and “El Santo” makis carried over from the group’s Roma Norte counter.
• Hot plates: Wagyu gyozas with huitlacoche, rock shrimp tempura, dan dan noodles, a spicy udon carbonara, tonkatsu sando, yakimeshi (Japanese fried rice) with rib-eye, and a sea bass in hoja santa marinated in sake for twelve hours and served with huitlacoche rice.
• Large cuts: a New York strip with mushroom sauce and a Wagyu cross tomahawk for groups.
• Dessert: taro brûlée, mochi ice cream sets, pear strudel and a chocolate cake with red fruit jam.

The bar is a reason to come on its own. Signature cocktails are the lychee martini, the shiitake martini, a spicy mezcalita, the Negroni Kioto and a drink called Tigre. There is also an omakase-style selection if you want the kitchen to pick.

What I ate

I did not film a scripted review here, so I will keep this short. When I visited in May 2026 the food was sushi and share plates from the sections above with cocktails, and the point that stuck was the bill: for the standard of fish and the room, it came in well under what the upscale Asian restaurants in Polanco charge. The DJ was playing during dinner.

What it costs

Item	Price
Average spend per person with a drink	About 800 MXN, roughly 45 USD (Verest Magazine, February 2026)
Lighter meal, shared plates without premium nigiri	310 to 500 MXN per person, about 17 to 28 USD (Reservandonos listing)
Premium nigiri (sea urchin, ikura, Wagyu A5) and large cuts	Priced individually, push the bill up
Cocktails	Charged separately

Rekō does not print prices online, so the figures above come from the two listings that give a number. Ordering the tomahawk or the top nigiri will take a table well past 800 pesos a head; sticking to noodles, gyozas and a couple of hand rolls keeps it near the lower band. Prices move, so ask for the current menu when you sit down.

How to book

Reservations are recommended, and for Thursday to Saturday nights they are close to essential.

• OpenTable: search for Rekō Reforma. The restaurant’s own site and Instagram link to it.
• Instagram: @rekomx_ for hours changes and event nights.
• Hours published in July 2026: 13:00 to 23:00 Monday to Wednesday, 13:00 to 01:00 Thursday, 13:00 to 02:00 Friday and Saturday, 13:00 to 19:00 Sunday. Earlier listings show shorter hours, so confirm before a late arrival.

If you want the terrace over Reforma, ask for it when you book. It is also the only area where dogs are allowed.

Getting there

• Address: Av. Paseo de la Reforma 390, second floor, Colonia Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Mexico City. Enter through Alma 390 on the ground floor and take the stairs or lift up.
• Metro: Sevilla (Line 1) is the closest, about five minutes on foot. Insurgentes (Line 1) is a ten-minute walk.
• Metrobús: the Reforma line stops at La Diana and El Ángel, both a few minutes away.
• From the Ángel de la Independencia: five minutes on foot west along Reforma.
• Parking: the building has paid parking, and there are valet services along this stretch of Reforma. Ride apps are the easiest option at night.

Before you go

• Sound is part of the concept. The hi-fi system is loud enough that conversation at big tables takes effort on DJ nights. Go Monday to Wednesday for a quieter dinner, Thursday to Saturday for the vinyl sessions and live acts.
• Order for the table. Portions are designed to share; three or four plates per pair plus rice or noodles is a reasonable start.
• Dress smart casual. No formal code, but it is a Reforma room and people dress for it.
• Dogs on the terrace only.
• Sunday closes early, with last service at 19:00.
• Combine it with Alma 390. The food hall downstairs has nine independent kitchens, useful if you are with someone who wants something other than Asian food.
• Compare with the group’s original. If you like Rekō, Santō Hand Roll Bar on Colima in Roma Norte is the smaller, cheaper counter it grew out of.
• Check the hours before you go. The hours on this page come from the venue’s public listings, which drift, so confirm on Google Maps or the venue’s own channels before a special trip.

Watch the visit

The reel above is my short look at the room, the DJ booth and the plates from that May evening. For the full list, open my Mexico City map or browse the rest of the Mexico City recommendations.