Unmapped Gems
Café TortoniCafé Tortoni, Buenos Aires
CaféBuenos AiresArgentina

Café Tortoni

Best time
Mid-afternoon, for coffee and churros; a tango show in the evening
Getting there
On Avenida de Mayo, a few blocks from Plaza de Mayo; Perú or Piedras on line A

Why it’s in the log

Café Tortoni opened in 1858, named after a celebrated Parisian café, and moved to its present home in 1880; the Avenida de Mayo entrance and façade followed in 1898. In 1926 a group of artists and writers opened La Peña in the basement, which ran concerts, readings and debates until 1943 — its visitors included Jorge Luis Borges, Alfonsina Storni and Roberto Arlt. Carlos Gardel was a regular upstairs, and Federico García Lorca was among the café's visitors.

It is still open daily and firmly on the visitors' route, so expect a short queue at the door.

Tango shows run in the evening. Come in the afternoon for coffee and churros, when it is easier to sit.

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