Cafeography
Argentina

Cafés in Buenos Aires a cortado and medialunas

A cortado with medialunas on Avenida de Mayo, chocolate con churros on Corrientes, the terrace of La Biela in Recoleta and roasters on the side streets of Palermo and Chacarita.

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1040Cafés listed
1Open by 6am
30Open past 10pm
19Specialty & roasters

Buenos Aires protects its old cafés by law. Ley 35, passed by the city legislature on 4 June 1998, set up a commission for the cafés, bars, billiard halls and confiterías (tearooms with their own pastry kitchens) it calls notables: places tied to significant cultural events, or valued for their age, architecture or local relevance.1 The catalog the culture ministry validated in March 2026 names 90 of them, from Café Tortoni on Avenida de Mayo to Watson's in Belgrano and Café de García in Villa Devoto.23

Tortoni is the oldest.17 It opened on 26 October 1858, and the city keeps that date as the Día de los Cafés.45 Its entrance on Avenida de Mayo, built after the avenue was cut through, was finished in 1898 to a design by the Norwegian architect Alejandro Christophersen.4 From 1926 to 1943 the painter Benito Quinquela Martín led La Peña there, a circle that drew Alfonsina Storni, Jorge Luis Borges and Carlos Gardel.4

The coffee in those rooms was rarely the point. Older cafés poured the same low-grade Brazilian coffee, and porteños (people of Buenos Aires) took their cortados very hot, bitter and heavily sugared.67 The specialty wave arrived almost two decades ago, by the Buenos Aires Herald's count in September 2026; Daniel Cifuentes of Lattente in Palermo was among the first, with a sign explaining why his coffee would not come scalding.6 Sprudge's 2025 guide sends coffee drinkers to Palermo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita and Colegiales.7

Start with a barrio

Buenos Aires by area

Buenos Aires has 48 official barrios, but many cafés are placed by informal names: Palermo, the only barrio in Comuna 14, splits into unofficial districts such as Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood.1516 The old bares notables cluster on Avenida de Mayo and Corrientes, the specialty bars on the side streets of Palermo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita and Colegiales.37

San Telmo & La Boca

Defensa from Plaza Dorrego to Parque Lezama, with the Británico, El Hipopótamo and La Poesía.

40 cafés

Microcentro & Monserrat

Avenida de Mayo, Corrientes and the blocks around Plaza de Mayo, where the oldest bares notables are.

117 cafés

Villa Crespo

Around Corrientes and Malabia: an old shoe-factory barrio of outlets, tango and corner cafés.

46 cafés

Palermo Soho

Plaza Serrano and the streets around it: Honduras, Gurruchaga, Armenia, Thames and Malabia.

89 cafés

Palermo Hollywood

Across Juan B. Justo: Humboldt, Fitz Roy, Costa Rica and Bonpland, with roasters and a 1922 corner bar.

50 cafés

Recoleta

Barrio Norte's grid of Arenales, Juncal and Pueyrredón, plus La Biela by the cemetery.

135 cafés

Colegiales & Chacarita

Low houses around Federico Lacroze and Jorge Newbery, roasters on Teodoro García and Fraga.

62 cafés

Belgrano

Leafy northern barrio of Cabildo, Juramento and Montañeses, from Chinatown to the Barrancas.

89 cafés
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Mesas afuera

Outdoor seating

Mesas en la vereda from Boedo and Caballito to Holmberg in Núñez and the riverside Costanera.

148 cafés
Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi from Café Tortoni to La Noire's patio in Colegiales, with early counters in Núñez and all-night Santa Fe.

93 cafés
Abierto hasta tarde

Open late

All-night Avenida Santa Fe, Café Tabac until 02:00 and San Telmo until 03:00.

30 cafés
Brunch

Brunch

Weekend plates in Palermo Soho, French bakery sets on Congreso and croissants on Arroyo.

16 cafés
Panaderías

Bakery cafés

Facturas, medialunas and sourdough, from Salvaje on Dorrego to Gorrión on Amenábar.

18 cafés

New in Buenos Aires

Recently opened and recently added

Puerto Madero 10 cafés

San Telmo & La Boca 40 cafés

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Microcentro & Monserrat 117 cafés

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Villa Crespo 46 cafés

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Palermo Soho 89 cafés

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Palermo Hollywood 50 cafés

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Barracas, Constitución & the south 25 cafés

Alto Palermo & Botánico 77 cafés

Retiro 58 cafés

Recoleta 135 cafés

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Colegiales & Chacarita 62 cafés

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Belgrano 89 cafés

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Núñez, Saavedra & Villa Urquiza 61 cafés

Congreso, Once & Abasto 24 cafés

Las Cañitas 33 cafés

Almagro, Caballito & Flores 124 cafés

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Coffee chains in Buenos Aires

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Before you sit down

How a Buenos Aires café works

The everyday order is a cortado, an espresso cut with a little milk; for a larger one, ask for it en jarrito, in a slightly bigger cup.8 A lágrima (literally a tear) turns the proportions around: an espresso-size cup of milk with a drop of coffee.8 Café con leche is half coffee and half milk, and a submarino is a glass of warm milk with a chunk of chocolate melting at the bottom.8 Torrado, beans roasted hot with added sugar, is a Spanish-born style the Herald calls technically not coffee.6

Medialunas, small sweet croissants, sit at the center of the merienda, the afternoon snack, and café con leche with three of them is a common set on café menus.9 Choose de manteca, made with butter, for a softer and more delicate pastry, or de grasa, made with fat, for a crisper one.910 The cup often arrives with a small glass of water or soda water, depending on the café, meant to clear the palate before the first sip.11

Tipping is not required by law, but around 10% of the bill is usual in bars, restaurants and cafés.12 Informal cafés often keep a jar by the till, and if you have no cash, a waiter may give you an alias, the short name of a bank account, for a transfer.12 Free Wi-Fi is common in cafés.13

What coffee costs in Buenos Aires

DrinkTypical price
Café
Average cup of coffee, city of Buenos Aires		AR$3,800
Average across bars and cafés, July 2026
Cortado
Espresso cut with milk		AR$3,400
A San Telmo terrace café, January 2026
Café con leche y tres medialunas
Milky coffee with three croissants		AR$4,600
Las Medialunas del Abuelo cafés, January 2026
Medialuna
One croissant		AR$2,100–2,500
Cafés in Colegiales, Belgrano and Villa Urquiza, January 2026
Espresso / latte
Specialty espresso / latte		AR$3,500–4,100 / AR$4,600–5,500
Specialty cafés in Colegiales and Recoleta, January 2026

Prices in Argentine pesos, which change quickly. The average comes from Fudo, a sales platform for bars and restaurants, which surveyed about 13,400 venues with prices as of 2 July 2026: a coffee averaged AR$3,800 in the city, about 19% above the national AR$3,200.14 The other rows are menu prices from OHLALÁ!'s January 2026 roundup of meriendas under AR$15,000, at La Terraza de La Carbonera in San Telmo, Las Medialunas del Abuelo, Biasatti in Colegiales, Muyè in Recoleta, Bonario in Villa Urquiza and La Parolaccia Dolce in Belgrano.9

Sources

  1. Ley 35/1998: Comisión de Protección y Promoción de los Cafés, Bares, Billares y Confiterías Notables, Boletín Oficial de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, accessed October 2026
  2. Resolución 1225/MCGC/26: convalida el Catálogo de Cafés, Bares, Billares y Confiterías Notables, consolidado 2025, Boletín Oficial de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (March 19, 2026), accessed October 2026
  3. Bares Notables de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, consolidado 2025 (anexo IF-2026-10314379-GCABA-DGPMYCH), Ministerio de Cultura, Ciudad de Buenos Aires (February 26, 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. Café Tortoni, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  5. Celebramos el Día del Café Notable, Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (October 9, 2018), accessed October 2026
  6. The evolving ritual of Buenos Aires coffee, Buenos Aires Herald (September 11, 2026), accessed October 2026
  7. The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Buenos Aires, Sprudge (November 17, 2025), accessed October 2026
  8. Cultural Tidbit: Coffee in Argentina, ECELA Spanish, accessed October 2026
  9. Bueno, bonito y barato: dónde merendar en Buenos Aires por menos de $15.000, OHLALÁ! (January 14, 2026), accessed October 2026
  10. Casero y práctico: prepará unas ricas medialunas para disfrutar con toda la familia, Canal 26 (April 22, 2026), accessed October 2026
  11. Muy importante cuando pedís un café, El Ancasti (June 22, 2025), accessed October 2026
  12. ¿Cuánta propina hay que dejar en un bar o restaurante en Argentina?, Argentina.travel, Ministerio de Turismo (October 5, 2026), accessed October 2026
  13. Buenos Aires, Wikivoyage, accessed October 2026
  14. El café más barato del país está en el norte argentino: cuesta menos de 2.600 pesos en estas tres provincias, Canal 26 (July 24, 2026, citing Fudo), accessed October 2026
  15. Palermo Hollywood, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  16. Palermo, Buenos Aires, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  17. Café Tortoni, Café Tortoni, accessed October 2026
FAQ

Cafés in Buenos Aires: common questions

How much does a coffee cost in Buenos Aires in 2026?

A coffee averaged AR$3,800 in the city of Buenos Aires in July 2026, according to a survey of bars and restaurants by the sales platform Fudo, about 19% above the national average of AR$3,200. In January 2026 a cortado cost AR$3,400 at a San Telmo terrace café, and café con leche with three medialunas cost AR$4,600 at Las Medialunas del Abuelo.

Which neighborhood of Buenos Aires has the most cafés?

Recoleta and Almagro, Caballito & Flores have the most cafés, followed by Microcentro & Monserrat. Recoleta's cafés run along Arenales, Juncal, Agüero and Avenida Pueyrredón, in the grid also known as Barrio Norte. In Almagro, the confitería Las Violetas, a bar notable, is at Avenida Rivadavia 3899.

What is a bar notable in Buenos Aires?

A bar notable is a café, bar, billiard hall or confitería on the city's official catalog, kept by a commission created under Ley 35 of 1998. A place qualifies through links to significant cultural events, or through its age, architecture or local relevance. The catalog validated in March 2026 names 90, among them Café Tortoni, La Biela and Watson's in Belgrano.

What is the difference between a cortado and a lágrima in Buenos Aires?

A cortado is an espresso cut with a little milk, the everyday order in Buenos Aires; ask for it en jarrito for a slightly bigger cup. A lágrima is the reverse: an espresso-size cup of milk with a drop of coffee. Café con leche is half coffee and half milk, and a submarino is warm milk with chocolate melting at the bottom.

How much should you tip in a Buenos Aires café?

Tipping is not required by law in Argentina, but around 10% of the bill is usual in bars, restaurants and cafés. Informal cafés often keep a tip jar by the till. If you have no cash, a waiter may give you an alias, the short name of a bank account, so you can send the tip by transfer.

When is the Día de los Cafés in Buenos Aires?

Buenos Aires marks the Día de los Cafés on 26 October, the date Café Tortoni opened on Avenida de Mayo in 1858. Tortoni is the oldest café in the city, and its entrance on the avenue was finished in 1898 to a design by the architect Alejandro Christophersen.

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