Cafeography
Mesas afuera · Buenos Aires

Outdoor seating cafés in Buenos Aires

Mesas en la vereda from Boedo and Caballito to Holmberg in Núñez and the riverside Costanera.

Photo: Matias, Pexels License

An outdoor table in Buenos Aires usually means mesas en la vereda, tables on the sidewalk, and each set needs a permit from the city. The rules guard the pavement: the sidewalk must be wider than 2.5 meters, a clear path of 1.5 meters (2 meters where the sidewalk is over 4 meters wide) has to stay open, and tables must keep 3 meters from bus stops and subte entrances and 10 meters from churches, schools, hospitals and banks.1

The pandemic moved many cafés outdoors. Before 2020 the city had granted 1,998 sidewalk permits to food businesses; between late August 2020 and May 2021 it added 1,077, a rise of about 54%, and permit holders could add planters, Canadian-style awnings and heaters.2 The widest choice of sidewalk tables is away from the center, on residential corners in Caballito, Belgrano, Núñez and Las Cañitas.

Local tip: In January, take a sidewalk table in the morning, before highs near 30 °C; from May to August, the cafés with fully enclosed clear screens around their tables are using the only months the city allows them.

Where these cafés are: Almagro, Caballito & Flores (26), Belgrano (18), Las Cañitas (15), Núñez, Saavedra & Villa Urquiza (15), Recoleta (15), Alto Palermo & Botánico (12), Microcentro & Monserrat (8), Palermo Hollywood (8), Colegiales & Chacarita (7), Palermo Soho (7), Retiro (6), Villa Crespo (5), San Telmo & La Boca (2), Puerto Madero (2), Congreso, Once & Abasto (2).

At a glance

148Cafés listed
65With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
03:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Café Altares, from 07:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–18:00 · Sat–Sun Closed).
  • Closes latest: Café del Arbol, until 03:00 (Daily 09:00–03:00).
  • Most common features: takeaway (36%), wi-fi (28%), card payment (25%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Buenos Aires.

Awnings, heaters and winter screens

The same permit covers decks built out over the roadway, awnings and side screens. Canadian-style awnings must clear 2.5 meters, or 3 meters where heaters hang beneath them, and side screens may rise to 1.5 meters. Fully enclosed transparent screens are allowed only from May to August; partial ones all year. Permits run for five years and can be revoked, and the ochava, the cut corner of a block, must stay clear.1

That calendar follows the weather. Buenos Aires has a humid subtropical climate: January averages 24.9 °C with highs around 30 °C, July averages 11.0 °C with highs near 15.5 °C, and summer is the rainiest season.3 Spring and autumn are changeable, with average highs of about 23 °C.3

Boedo and Almagro: Café Margot and El Banderín

Café Margot, at Avenida Boedo 857 on the corner of San Ignacio, fills the ground floor of a building put up in 1904 for the Genoese-born Lorenzo Berisso. Its pavita en escabeche, a pickled turkey sandwich, is the house legend, alongside medialunas, homemade apple strudel and draft cider.4

El Banderín, at Guardia Vieja 3601 in Almagro, began as a neighborhood grocery, El Asturiano Provisiones y Fiambrería, and became a café once supermarkets arrived. Its owner, Don Mario, started its collection of more than 500 football pennants as a tribute to River Plate.5 Both are on the city's 2025 catalog of bares notables.6

Caballito, Núñez and Las Cañitas

In Caballito, Avenida Doctor Honorio Pueyrredón has a run of cafés with tables outside: La blonde at 724, Martinelli Café at 874 and Olinda at 1057, open Tuesday to Sunday 08:00–20:00. Amelia has two branches with sidewalk seating, at Rojas 702 and Campichuelo 599, both open daily 08:00–20:00, and Féca, at Fragata Presidente Sarmiento 801, opens Tuesday to Sunday.

In Núñez, Holmberg has Cigaló at 2004, Candela at 2410, open daily 07:00–21:00, and Ninina at 2464. In Belgrano, Bandol, at Olazábal 2210, opens daily 08:00–21:00, and Bee Coffee, at Echeverría 2923, Monday to Saturday 09:00–20:00. In Las Cañitas, Antaño, at Vuelta de Obligado 1101, keeps its tables out until midnight every day.

By the museums and the river

Ninina Malba is at Avenida Presidente Figueroa Alcorta 3415, the address of the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, which opened in September 2001; the museum's later expansion was designed to run beneath Plaza Perú and keep the square public.7 The café opens 08:00–21:00 on weekdays and 09:00–21:00 at weekends.

Espacio García has a branch on Avenida Costanera Rafael Obligado, the only avenue in the city that runs right along the Río de la Plata, built on land reclaimed from the river from 1923 onward.8 It opens Tuesday to Sunday 09:00–20:30. Back toward Palermo, Fulgor Café, at Avenida del Libertador 3598, has tables outside daily 08:00–20:00.

Sources

  1. Solicitud de permiso de área gastronómica, Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, accessed October 2026
  2. La oferta gastronómica en las veredas porteñas aumentó un 54% en los últimos ocho meses, Infobae (May 13, 2021), accessed October 2026
  3. Climate of Buenos Aires, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Café Margot, Turismo Buenos Aires, Gobierno de la Ciudad, accessed October 2026
  5. Café El Banderín, Turismo Buenos Aires, Gobierno de la Ciudad, accessed October 2026
  6. Bares Notables de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, consolidado 2025 (anexo IF-2026-10314379-GCABA-DGPMYCH, Resolución 1225/MCGC/26), Ministerio de Cultura, Ciudad de Buenos Aires (February 26, 2026), accessed October 2026
  7. Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  8. Avenida Costanera Rafael Obligado, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Outdoor seating in Buenos Aires: questions

What are the rules for sidewalk café tables in Buenos Aires?

Cafés need a city permit for mesas en la vereda. The sidewalk must be wider than 2.5 meters, a clear path of 1.5 meters (2 meters on sidewalks over 4 meters) must stay open, and tables keep 3 meters from bus stops and subte entrances and 10 meters from churches, schools, hospitals and banks. Permits last five years, and fully enclosed clear screens are allowed only from May to August.

Which Buenos Aires neighborhoods have the most cafés with outdoor seating?

The widest choice of sidewalk tables is on residential streets away from the center, in Caballito, Belgrano, Núñez and Las Cañitas. Avenida Doctor Honorio Pueyrredón in Caballito has La blonde, Martinelli Café and Olinda; Holmberg in Núñez has Cigaló, Candela and Ninina; and Antaño, on Vuelta de Obligado in Las Cañitas, keeps its tables out until midnight.

When is the weather best for sitting outside at a Buenos Aires café?

Spring and autumn in Buenos Aires have average highs of about 23 °C, though the weather is changeable. January averages 24.9 °C with highs around 30 °C, and summer is the rainiest season. July averages 11.0 °C, and from May to August cafés may enclose sidewalk tables with clear screens.

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