Historic cafes in Buenos Aires

15 places our drivers recommend.

• Café Tortoni · The cathedral of Buenos Aires cafe culture, open since 1858.
• Las Violetas · Stained glass, marble and pastries in Almagro, since 1884.
• La Biela · The Recoleta cafe of racing drivers and writers, under a giant rubber tree.
• Confitería Ideal · A 1912 tea room and tango hall, restored to its Belle Époque self.
• Café de los Angelitos · A historic cafe and tango house in Balvanera.
• La Puerto Rico · A coffee roaster and cafe near Plaza de Mayo, going since 1887.
• London City · The Avenida de Mayo cafe where Julio Cortázar wrote part of Los Premios, open since 1954.
• El Gato Negro · A spice and coffee house on Corrientes since 1927, where teas and coffees are still roasted and ground in front of you.
• Bar Británico · The corner bar facing Parque Lezama that opened as La Cosechera and was renamed after its English regulars.
• Los 36 Billares · Founded on Avenida de Mayo in 1894, with a billiard hall of fourteen tables in the basement.
• La Poesía · A San Telmo corner cafe opened in 1982 by the poet Rubén Derlis, at Chile and Bolívar.
• Bar Los Galgos · A 1930 grocery and bar on Callao, shut for years and brought back in December 2015 by the people behind bar 878.
• Café Rivas · A corner casona in San Telmo with a double height salon and a mezzanine, named one of the city's Bares Notables in August 2026.
• Petit Colón · A Belle Époque cafe facing Plaza Lavalle, in the courts district a block from the Teatro Colón.
• Bar El Estaño 1880 · A La Boca corner bar built around its original tin counter, three and a half metres of it, said to be the last of that size in the city.