I arrive at Las Violetas and connect to the wifi. Carlos, the friendly waiter who has guided me to my table, asks if I want an outlet when he sees me pulling the laptop from my bag. I tell him no, thank you, that it’s charged. Las Violetas opened its doors for the first time in 1884, a moment when there was certainly no internet, remote work, or social media that would announce that Rosalía, who didn’t exist yet, stopped by to buy her famous miga sandwiches while on her LUX presentation tour. It would be impossible to explain to the early owners what this thing called viral meant.
More than 100 years ago there was nothing of what we now consider normal but there was already asphalt in some areas, street lighting in others, there were trams, cafés and pastry shops, and there was a tremendous desire to have places where things would happen.
Las Violetas is only one of the many notable and centuries-old bars in Buenos Aires. Not all notable bars are centuries old, but many centuries-old ones are indeed notable. They are called notable because “they were the meeting point for great musicians, the debate space for important writers, or gathering places for actors and politicians. Many of them, by virtue of their age, architecture, or local significance, (…) form part of the city’s official cultural heritage, according to the City Government.
And these bars are one of the most unique and genuine things that Buenos Aires has, which is why I am utterly determined to visit them all, little by little but without stopping. There are more touristy ones, like Bar Federal that always waits to be packed in San Telmo on Sundays and whose bar and modernist storefront preside over the space and take us to another place and another era. When I’m in Buenos Aires on Mondays I go to Roma, I go with my friends to eat fugazzeta stuffed with blue cheese, empanadas and red vermouth and in Roma, which overlooks a large corner with glass storefronts, there is always a diverse crowd, of all ages; there are photos of when Maradona scored a goal with his hand, many glass vermouth bottles and a television showing football matches.
