Finding The Best Coffee And Cafes In Argentina In 2026

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It’s not easy to find the best cafes in Argentina, where the population primarily drinks mate. However, coffee drinkers are on the rise in the country, especially in Buenos Aires. Third-wave coffee is now quite popular, with each cafe competing with the next to craft the perfect cup.

When I first visited Argentina in 2022, it was almost impossible to find a perfect cup of third-wave coffee, let alone a cafe that served healthy omelettes and had high-speed Wi-Fi. When I revisited in 2025 to exchange vows with Vanesa, the scene had changed completely. Here’s how to find the best third-wave coffee cafes in Argentina, along with my favorite cafes across key cities.

Table of Contents

Why Third-Wave Coffee is So Much Better

Even though it’s not strictly Scottish, I have coffee on most of my premium food tours in Edinburgh. That’s because Scotland has a high concentration of cafes serving third-wave coffee, which really sets the standard. Once you try third-wave coffee, it’s extremely hard to appreciate anything else.

First-wave coffee refers to generic coffee brands such as Folgers or Nescafé. Every cup is identical, often with the coffee over-roasted in massive batches and sometimes even chemically-treated to ensure every cup is the same.

Second-wave coffee was popularized by Starbucks in the 1990s and is often known as single-origin coffee, originating from a single country. Each coffee-producing country has a distinct flavor. For example, some of the better roasts come from Brazil, Rwanda, Colombia, and Ethiopia.

Third-wave coffee takes that to the next level. Instead of coming from a single country, third-wave coffee comes from a single plantation or a small cooperative of plantations. After that, it becomes an art and a science to craft the perfect cup of coffee, weighing out the beans for every shot of espresso, getting the grind to the exact right micrometer, the water to the exact right temperature, etc.

While Argentina isn’t known for coffee production, it’s close to several major coffee-growing countries. Nowadays, coffee roasters are popping up all around Argentina, either with their own cafes or supplying other local cafes. This kind of coffee is wildly superior to generic coffee or the old, stale coffee you get at the supermarket. If you don’t believe me, come on one of my food tours to learn the difference.

The Best Cafes in Argentina are Called Cafés de Especialidad

In 2022, it took me a few weeks to discover that if I wanted good coffee, I needed to find a café de especialidad, or specialty café. While not every such cafe included this description in its title, Google Maps would usually designate them as such. These are the cafes that primarily serve third-wave coffee and also have an excellent, what I would call, hipster menu to match.

Argentina has certainly undergone some changes over the past few years. Obviously, nearly everything shut down during the pandemic. Since then, inflation has run rampant, peaking in 2024 at around 250%, the second-highest in the world that year. Milei became president in 2023, and import/export rules changed considerably.

I believe these factors really contributed to several changes in the culture. One of those changes is the availability of a lot more products than the country used to have. Many restaurant and cafe owners told me it was easier to import ingredients, and also to make a living with more diverse menus. I definitely witnessed that in the differences between the 2022 and 2025 menus.

Nowadays, not only do Cafés de Especialidad serve excellent coffee, but they also offer modern menus. You can often find omelettes, avocado toasts, eggs Benedict, acai bowls, and many other great options, most of which were almost impossible to find when I visited in 2022.

Vanesa with Breakfast at Le Dureau Cordoba

Of course, those are the breakfasts I enjoy, and perhaps not everyone is the same. After all, the common breakfast in Argentina is pastries, such as medialunas (mini sweet croissants). Another common breakfast is a tostada (not the Mexican dish) with eggs, ham, cream cheese, and toast. In my opinion, these aren’t always the healthiest breakfasts. But you’d never guess that Argentines don’t always eat healthy, considering how beautiful they are.

My Favorite Cafes in Argentina

Obviously, I was unable to visit every good cafe in Argentina. I passed through many villages and towns that lacked any third-wave coffee shops, let alone anything exceptional. But places like Cordoba, Mendoza, and Ushuaia had quite a few. These are the best I found in each city.

Cafe de Barrio – Cordoba

When I visited Argentina in 2022, Cafe de Barrio was a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe in the center of Cordoba. Despite its size, it was easily the best coffee I had in Argentina on that three-month trip. The smooth flavor of the craft beans, the perfectly frothed milk, and the attention to detail in the cafe were on par with some of the best cafes in Edinburgh. While we also tried several other cafes in the city that had pretty good coffee, we ended up at Cafe de Barrio every day we were in Cordoba after we found it, although I’ll admit we might have had a couple iced coffees to combat the oppressive heat.

Cafe de Barrio has expanded to several locations across the city center but still retains its original small shop along the river. Unsurprisingly, they were named the 22nd-best coffee shop in South America in 2025, and the second-best in Argentina. That’s a very well-deserved award.

Fran Coffee Makers – Mendoza

Like Cordoba, Mendoza’s city center is full of cafes, some of which are exceptional. A few that really stood out were Mokka Coffee, Rama Negra Hogar de Café, and Casa Entre Dos. However, the very best coffee we found was at Fran Coffee Roasters. They had moved into a beautiful, large new cafe the week we found them, and just like Cafe de Barrio, we ended up going back several times for our morning Joe.

While Fran roasts its own coffee, they also make excellent breakfasts and pastries. I was surprised to find canele (the famous pastry from Bordeaux) available. Perhaps what they did best was a standard Argentine tostada—the local breakfast with eggs, bacon, avocado, cream cheese, and toast.

Cafe Xpresso – Ushuaia

At the bottom of Patagonia is Ushuaia, a beautiful tourist town where you can visit Tierra del Fuego, the end of the world, or get a cruise down to Antarctica for several thousand dollars. While Ushuaia has plenty of tourists, there aren’t many cafes. I wanted to try Ana & Juana because it had great reviews, but it was closed while we were in town. However, Cafe Xpresso was open and served excellent third-wave coffee. They also served great food, and the views were wonderful.

Best Bakeries and Cafes in Buenos Aires

From what I understand, most Argentine coffee drinkers are in Buenos Aires, with the rest of the country preferring yerba mate. The Buenos Aires metropolitan area has over 15 million people, representing a third of the country’s population. Some neighborhoods are certainly better than others, but you can find great cafes across most of them. However, many of the best are in Palermo.

Full City Coffee Roasters

If I had to choose one cafe in Buenos Aires that had ultimately the best coffee, I would go with Full City Coffee Roasters. Obviously, they roast their own coffee, and it’s also available for purchase. The cafe is well-designed, with several indoor and outdoor seating areas. The menu includes a full English or American breakfast, plenty of pastries, and some delicious hot chocolate, yet the highlight is their coffee.

Moshu Treehouse

I was amazed when I first stumbled upon the Moshu Treehouse. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Buenos Aires was one of the richest cities in the world, with beautiful homes and palaces to rival Paris. Many of those buildings were torn down or left for ruin. The Moshu Treehouse is built into one of these old buildings, leaving the original facade up and creating a beautiful, hip cafe inside.

While Moshu serves very good coffee, they’re best known for their baked goods, including cakes, Basque cheesecakes, brownies, and more. They also have some of the best breakfasts I found in Buenos Aires. Their second location in the Saavedra neighborhood to the north is just as good. Among the best cafes I visited, Moshu consistently had the longest line waiting for a seat.

Hobby Café de Especialidad

Hobby Cafe is certainly one of the more hip cafes in Palermo. I particularly enjoyed it as it was spacious and comfortable to get some work done for a few hours. Both the coffee and dishes were good quality (not as good as Full City or Moshu, but close), and the prices were very reasonable.

Surry Hills

Before I left Buenos Aires, I had to try Surry Hills. It wasn’t just named the 47th-best cafe in South America in 2026, but also the 94th-best cafe in the world. The quality of both the coffee and the meals was exceptional. My only complaint was that the prices were significantly higher than at other cafes. But in this case, you certainly get what you pay for.

Of all the breakfasts I’ve had around the world, we found some of the most creative at Surry Hills. I chose the Rainbow Toast, perhaps the most colorful item on the menu, topped with creamy feta, red and yellow beets, avocado, tomato, a 6-minute egg, and fresh herbs. Vanesa went with something much simpler—the Avo Toast, topped with hummus, avocado, cranberries, and a huacatay and pumpkin-seed dukkah. The food reminded me of the Nord Coast Coffee Roastery in Hamburg, one of the best brunch cafes I’ve dined at across the planet.

Boûlan Bakery

Considering baked goods are a massive part of the Argentine diet, it would be impossible to name the best bakery in Buenos Aires. However, Boûlan is certainly up there in the ranks. They don’t have great coffee, but the homemade pastries were fantastic. They serve typical Argentine pastries and facturas (croissants) of exceptional quality. I highly recommend the dulce de leche-filled medialunas and the cañoncitos with dulce de leche.

Honorable Mentions

Buenos Aires, and Palermo in particular, has countless more amazing cafes, far too many to list in this article. Plus, establishments close down and new ones open all the time. Here are a few more in Palermo that I found amazing, and would certainly recommend to other travelers:

Kaldi
Portus Specialty Coffee
Barine
Ritus
Rojas
Cuervo (#42 in South America in 2025)

Finding the Best Coffee and Cafes in Argentina in 2026

Why Third-Wave Coffee is So Much Better

The Best Cafes in Argentina are Called Cafés de Especialidad