Top 10 Bars in Buenos Aires

Recently, Buenos Aires municipal blog Pasa en Buenos Aires pointed to an article put out by the city's tourism board listing the BA's top 10 bars. Now, leaving aside the question of who could have paid who to get on a city-published top 10 list, it's a good roundup. These are not the top bars to get plastered at, not the best places to meet a member of the opposite (or same) sex. They are, instead, the best of the classics -- from the uberfamous but still beautiful Café Tortoni to the billiard salon Los 36 Billares to the underground cool of Bar 12 de Octubre. So what makes a Buenos Aires cafe unique?

As Horacio Spinetto, architect and author of the 2000 book Cafés de Buenos Aires, explains here, Buenos Aires cafes and bars are like those of Paris and Madrid: not only places to meet up with friends, but places where you can order one coffee and sit for hours, reading a newspaper or a book, and not be disturbed. Cafes are this city's living room. My favorite classic café? Bar Montecarlo (corner of Paraguay and Ravignani) and waiter extraordinaire Juan Antonio Moyá (pictured). They didn't make it onto the top 10 list, but the Montecarlo did make it into the accompanying photo gallery.

Top 10 Bars in Buenos Aires [City of Buenos Aires]