hollisandbeyond2015: Cafe Tortoni

There are many delightful cafes in Buenos Aires, but the cafe with the most atmosphere must be the Cafe Tortoni. I am not saying this on any study of cafe culture in Buenos Aires that we have undertaken, but rather on the authority of many writers of travel guides who tell us that the Cafe Tortoni is one of the top ten coffee houses in the world. I am sure that it is not really the coffee which draws folk to this cafe - we found it rather ordinary- but the ambience is memorable. The feeling that you are stepping back in time when you walk through the doors did it for me: the formerly dressed waiters, the 19th century decor, the historical references scattered throughout all made for a very pleasant environment which we enjoyed immensely. The cafe was founded in 1858 by a French immigrant who wanted to create a cafe in Buenos Aires similar to the Parisian cafe called Tortoni which was the gathering place for the elite of Paris in the nineteenth century. You can see the results below.

Sign over entrance