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Cafe Tortoni
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
What it is
A French-style cafe on Avenida de Mayo in central Buenos Aires, opened in 1858 and the oldest in Argentina, with a preserved interior and an evening tango programme.
Why travelers eat here
For the room. Nineteenth-century Buenos Aires survives here more completely than almost anywhere else in the city, and it is open from eight in the morning.
What is genuinely good
An intact 1858 interior, daily opening from 08:00, tango in the back room, and coffee with churros that suits the setting.
Downsides
Long queues most afternoons. Stretched service. Expensive for the city and the food is unremarkable.
Best for
Any first visit to Buenos Aires, and anyone who would rather see the city's nineteenth century than read about it.
Consider eating elsewhere if
Queueing for a coffee is not how you want to spend an hour. Plenty of notable cafes nearby have no queue at all.
Practical advice
Go at opening, around eight, which is the only reliable way to avoid the queue. Order coffee and churros with chocolate. The tango show is ticketed separately and books ahead.
Prices and reservations
A la carte cafe prices, above the city average. The evening tango show in the back room is ticketed separately.
Getting there
Subte line A to Piedras or Avenida de Mayo, both a couple of minutes away. It is a ten-minute walk from Plaza de Mayo.
Where it sits
Avenida de Mayo between the Casa Rosada and Congreso, a grand boulevard of Beaux-Arts buildings in the administrative centre.
How long to allow
An hour.
The RuinMyTrip verdict
Go at eight in the morning and skip the queue entirely. You are there for the room, not the menu, and the room is worth it.
Sources
Every figure above was checked against these before publication. If one has since changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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It opens Monday to Sunday, 08:00 to 21:00. source
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It was inaugurated in 1858 and is at Avenida de Mayo 825. source
From the RuinMyTrip team
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Cafe Tortoni is at Avenida de Mayo 825 and opens Monday to Sunday from 08:00 to 21:00. It was inaugurated in 1858, which makes it the oldest cafe in Argentina. The interior is the point: French-style, with marble tables, stained glass, mirrored panels and busts of the writers and musicians who used it. Borges and Carlos Gardel both drank here, and the cafe has never been shy about saying so. It is unquestionably a…
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