LA IDEAL: A CLASSIC CAFE

The coffee house “La Ideal” is one of the most notable cafes of our city and one of the main houses of tango. Opened in 1912, just 2 years after the city celebrated the centenary of its independence, the place worked as tea room. It became famous as the place where women of those days used to gather to chat after its labors.

Close to Corrientes Avenue, on 380 Suipacha Street, La Ideal has become through the years one of the most traditional and visited cafes of Buenos Aires City. During the 70’s and 80’s, it worked as a café concert receiving classic tango and Latin singers of those years (as “Los 5 Latinos” and greatest singers of the last decades). The café is a place which keeps a large part of the history of our city.



It is also a house for tango. Its dance floor receives every week local tango dancers. Many celebrities have tried La Ideal’s dance floor: Maurice Chavalier, Maria Felix, Dolores del Río, Vittorio Gassman and Robert Duvall, among others. The movies “Tango” (by Spanish director Saura) and “Evita” (starred by Madonna) used the place a classic Porteño set. Artists, writers, painters, politicians and musicians of all times have visited La Ideal.

The place preserves icons from its original art deco decoration: the vitreaux and lamps, the old imported wood on the walls and the fabulous marble stairs, along with the famous pergola remind us of the city of Paris, model city for Buenos Aires in the beginnings of the XX Century. The café is a true “Ideal” place to visit if you’re staying in our city, just 4 blocks away from our Hostel Colonial.

For an English version, click here.