The Best Bars in Recoleta & Retiro

A refrigerator door in the back of a flower shop swings open after 8pm, and suddenly you're in a large underground cocktail bar. The speakeasy conceit is well-worn by now, but the gin program gives it something real to say: a co-founder helped create Príncipe de los Apóstoles, the Argentine gin built on yerba mate and eucalyptus. It ranked on the World's 50 Best Bars list, which tracks for a room this committed to the bit.

1. The 50 #90 · The World's 50 Best Bars
2. Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide

The unmarked entrance and exposed brick suggest a place that has been setting the template long enough to stop explaining itself. Gran Bar Danzón is a cocktail bar near the business district, which means the afterwork crowd fills the long, backlit bar early and the well-traveled hotel guests follow. The room tries slightly harder than it needs to, but the ambiance lands anyway, which is probably the truest sign of an old-school institution.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery

Chandeliers hang over the long bar, and a private room done up like a library handles overflow for anyone who takes their Negroni seriously. Presidente is a cocktail bar operating at the polished end of Buenos Aires nightlife, where the classics share menu space with signature drinks served inside miniature hot-air balloons. The crowd dresses for it, and the room rewards the effort.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery
2. Difford's Guide Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide