Bars & Pubs in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a city of bars. There is no other way to say it. The porteño bar is where friendships are forged, politics are debated, victories celebrated and the team’s defeat lamented. It is the place where hours pass without anyone counting them and where one drink becomes three without anyone quite knowing how. To know the bars of Buenos Aires is to know the soul of the city.

The bares notables are a special category that the Buenos Aires City Government protects and preserves as cultural heritage. Bar Británico in San Telmo, El Federal in the same neighbourhood, Café Margot in Boedo and Bar Seddon in San Telmo are examples of these storied bars that have seen generations of porteños and visitors come and go. Their dark wooden counters, original tiled floors and walls laden with photographs and posters tell decades of porteño life.

San Telmo is perhaps the neighbourhood richest in authentic, characterful bars. Its cobblestone streets fill up at night with a mix of tourists and locals moving from bar to bar in search of live music, cheese and cold-cuts platters, and that conversation that never quite starts but never quite ends either. Calle Balcarce, Calle Defensa and the surroundings of Plaza Dorrego are the epicentre.

Palermo is the neighbourhood where the porteño bar reinvented itself for the 21st century. Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood concentrate an enormous number of design bars, craft beer bars, vermouterías and signature cocktail bars. The standard of porteño mixology has risen enormously in recent years, and bars such as Florería Atlántico — repeatedly named among the world’s 50 best bars — Tres Monos, Leandro and Las Flores are world-class venues.

Irish pubs have a significant presence in Buenos Aires, a reflection of the Irish community that arrived in Argentina in the 19th century. The Shamrock, Kilkenny and Murphy’s are the best known and offer that warm, lively atmosphere of the European pub with the added enthusiasm of porteño energy. At weekends, with rugby or football matches on screen, they become places of absolute celebration.

Vermouth culture is experiencing a spectacular renaissance in Buenos Aires. Saturday or Sunday midday vermouth — with olives, crisps and bread and cheese — is a ritual practised in neighbourhood bars across the entire city and has been considerably refined at specialist bars in Palermo and San Telmo. Amaro, fernet with Coke and aperol spritz are its natural companions.

One must not forget the themed and specialist bars that make Buenos Aires a city of interesting propositions: craft beer bars with dozens of taps, natural wine bars, whisky and spirits bars with impressive collections, and even vinyl music bars where analogue sound takes centre stage.

In Buenos Aires, bars don’t close early. In fact, many close when the sun comes up. And that too is part of their charm.