bookstore-cafes
January 3, 2008
these are my favorite place to spend afternoons on the weekend, the bookstore-cafes .. if you or anyone else knows of any others, please let me know!
el ateneo – pretty well known, but deservedly, it is a gorgeously restored 1920s theater that’s been turned into a very large bookstore and cafe. the cafe, sadly, isn’t quite as good now since having changed ownership, but it’s still ok. there are two, but the really impressive one is on santa fe near callao.
clasica y moderna – on callao. the coffee is completely blah, but there is a very cute little bookstore in the back (yes, little) and the ambience is great during the days. there’s also a great buffet breakfast. avoid in the evenings, they have some sort of tango singing/music thing going there usually at night.
boutique del libro – in palermo viejo on thames. I love this place! I used to go there a lot. they have a great book selection, a little cd shop, a couch, wifi that sometimes works, a cafe, and those oldfashioned wheeled ladders you can use attached to the shelves. the music and ambience of the cafe reminds me of the northwest .. lots of indie folkrock. muy tranqui.
e. c. – this is my new favorite, but you’ll have to ask me personally to get the full name and address, i don’t want to stick it on the public blog, it’s already getting busy lately. also in palermo, with a lovely roof terrace, good coffee, bookstore that has some spanish editions I haven’t seen elsewhere, and friendly attentive waitstaff. I think they probably have wifi too. a really cool little back area with couches too, though it is occasionally reserved.
other cafes I like for reading books:
the establacemiento general de cafe on pueyrredon
terreneo across from la farmacia in san telmo
origen in san telmo
la biela in recoleta (mostly for the people-watching in between pages)
