Barracas, Buenos Aires: the neighbourhood guide

A new scene is emerging in this crumbling bohemian part of BA. A hop away from thronging, oversold San Telmo, Barracas is reclaiming its title as one of the city’s most refined barrios. Leafy Parque Lezama lies at its northern edge – Buenos Aires was founded on this site in 1536 – and former factories and once-abandoned warehouses are slowly evolving into loft apartments, cultural spaces and government headquarters. East-west axis Avenida Caseros, nicknamed the Boulevard of Dreams, is lined with faded 19th-century private mansions reimagined as places to eat and drink. Artisanal craft-beer joints are opening up, while traditional vermouth bars have been revived. Colourful, pendant-strewn La Popular de San Telmo pays homage to classic Italian spirits and Argentine digestifs, as well as comfort food (veal Milanesa was always more of a national dish than steak).

Caseros has artfully distressed contemporary design and fresh pasta (malfatti, gnocchi) alongside chilled Torrontés from Salta. Club Social Deluxe, all crisp white linen and dark wood, dishes up live music, Negronis and lamb burgers. At Hierbabuena, an all-vegetarian deli, fresh juices are whizzed together, and On Tap is the early-evening meeting point for a BA-brewed pint. Nápoles, a cavernous, candle-lit warehouse filled with collectibles (classical statuary, carousel horses, vintage cars and motorcycles), serves killer cocktails named after mafiosi and proper Neapolitan pizzas. A short walk away, for a tinto with soda and braised bondiola, is La Flor de Barracas; open since 1906, it’s one of the city’s protected bares notables. For sultry tango, avoid San Telmo’s theme bars and hotfoot it to Chau Che Clú, which hosts milonga dance gatherings. Poets and tango lyricists have long sung the praises of the city’s Sur (southside) – the reinvention of Barracas suggests the barrio is back, pushing Palermo and the northern suburbs off the map.

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