Las Violetas

Las Violetas is the city's great confitería, a café and tea room where the decoration is as much of an event as the cakes. It opened on 21 September 1884, and the city tourism board recounts that Carlos Pellegrini, then a minister and later president, arrived at the opening on a special tram with his friends. Writers and personalities such as Alfonsina Storni and Roberto Arlt, and the celebrated jockey Irineo Leguisamo, were among its regulars.

The interior is the result of a remodelling around the 1920s. Look for the curved-glass doors and windows, the French stained glass, the fine wood panelling, the Italian marble floors, the Carrara marble on the bar and tables, the furniture brought from Paris and the original bronze chandeliers. Few cafés in the city have kept so much of their period decoration, and it is easy to spend a while simply looking around.

The café nearly disappeared. It closed in 1998, but the city legislature declared it a historic protection area and it reopened in 2001. It is now one of the city's Bares Notables, and in 2017 it was voted the best of them in an open public vote.

The speciality is the merienda, the Argentine afternoon tea. Las Violetas is known for generous, good-value meriendas, and in the afternoon a queue often forms outside, so arrive before mid-afternoon or be ready to wait. Beyond the merienda there is a broad general menu, which makes it a practical stop for breakfast or a light meal too, and its early opening suits travellers who are up before the rest of the city.

The tourism board lists the café as open every day from 06:00 to midnight, one of the longest days of any café in the city. It suits families, friends meeting for tea and anyone who loves period interiors. Las Violetas is at Avenida Rivadavia 3899, and a visit gives a good sense of a neighbourhood café that locals still use every day. It is easiest to combine with a tango show at Café de los Angelitos, also on Avenida Rivadavia, at number 2100.