History

Argentina's Oldest Café Has Outlasted Authoritarians, Bureaucrats, and Lockdowns

Café Tortoni has been a cultural hub in Buenos Aires for more than 160 years.

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Several images from Cafe Tortoni | Photos: Agustina Vergara Cid; Illustration: Joanna Andreasson, iStock
(Photos: Agustina Vergara Cid; Illustration: Joanna Andreasson, iStock)

The December 2026 issue of Reason explores Argentine President Javier Milei's accomplishments and what is yet to be done.

Reason

On Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, a line forms each day outside a café with a green awning, gold lettering on its glass, and wooden doors. In its main hall, three wax figures sit at a marble-topped oak table: Jorge Luis Borges, Alfonsina Storni, and Carlos Gardel. In a separate room, a weekly tango show gives visitors a taste of the Buenos Aires musical experience. The Gran Café Tortoni has been in business since 1858—older than the Argentine air force, Peronism, and the Argentine peso.

Historically, Tortoni was a hub for the exchange of art and ideas and helped develop the city's artistic and literary life. It hosted many of the protagonists of Argentina's rich history, and endured the worst of its upheavals, outlasting every government that promised to save the country but brought it to its knees instead. … [Subscribe to continue reading]

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