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The best gay bars in Buenos Aires

Stefan Arestis
The best gay bars in Buenos Aires

We have put together the most exciting gay bars in Buenos Aires that we loved and think all LGBTQ travelers to Argentina need to check out!

Buenos Aires is home to one of the best gay scenes in South America. Gay Buenos Aires is massive, spread mainly across Palermo and other neighborhoods like San Telmo and Recoleta. There are gay hangouts to suit everyone, whether you're into bears, younger guys, tango, want to watch a drag show, or just a place to chill and jiggy to a bit of Kylie or Madonna.

What constitutes a “gay bar” is a bit blurred in Buenos Aires because here they don't go out till late and most bars/cafes double up as dancing venues.

Remember, Argentinians don't go to dinner before 9pm, so don't even think about heading to a bar until after 11pm and to a club until around 2am!

For our list of the best gay bars in Buenos Aires, we've also included clubs, gay milongas (tango halls), resto bars, and cafes – basically, our favorite gay hangouts that we loved going to each time we visited Buenos Aires.

Heads up: We just wanted to let you know that this post contains affiliate links. That means if you book something through one of those links, we'll get a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep our blog going – so thank you in advance for your support! ♥

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Discover the gay bars of Buenos Aires with an LGBTQ local…

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Where is the gay scene in Buenos Aires?

The main gay area of Buenos Aires is in Palermo, where the majority of the LGBTQ hangouts can be found like Work Bar, and Peuteo.

You can also find pockets of fabulousness in the affluent Recoleta neighborhood where the Contramano bear club is, as well as the more pop Glam disco.

Our personal favorite neighborhood of Buenos Aires is San Telmo, where you can find the famous Sunday market and the excellent Pride gay cafe. San Telmo is also the traditional tango heart of the city, with some of the best milongas, including a few queer ones, which we've included in this list.

Note that the iconic “Flux Bar” did not survive the Pandemic and has since closed its doors for good.


Do you have a place to stay in Buenos Aires?

Check out this guide to the best gay hotels to stay in Buenos Aires.  Find out where the gay neighborhoods are and choose a cool and gay friendly place to stay for your holiday in Buenos Aires.

Learn more

Peuteo Bar

in Palermo

Peuteo is a heterofriendly video gay bar located in the heart of Palermo and the place to come for Ru Paul's Drag Race viewing parties.

The crowd is a mix of locals/foreigners, in their 20s, 30s and older. Most come here for a few cocktails before heading to one of the clubs. Also check out the staff: super friendly and easy on the eyes!

Peuteo is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. On all other days, it's open from 9 pm till around 3/4 am on weekdays and until 5 am on weekends. It is located at Gurruchaga 1867 in Palermo.

Work bar

in Palermo

Work is the place to come if you're into electro music. Although it's a small unassuming, industrial-looking narrow bar in the heart of Palermo, it has quickly become one of the most popular gay bars in Buenos Aires, particularly among locals.

Work is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. On other days it's open from 9 pm till around 5 am. But be warned, although it's open from 9 pm, it doesn't get busy until after midnight. Work is located at Gurruchaga 1832 in Palermo.

Sitges gay bar is the place to see the best drag show in Buenos Aires
You've not lived until an Argentinian drag queen has roasted you in Spanish!

Contramano Club

in Recoleta

Contramano is the main bear bar of Buenos Aires and the place to come to find handsome beefy chongos – Porteño gay slang for butch manly men. We found Contramano to be super friendly and also loved the mix of music they play, which includes the best pop hits as well as Latino anthems.

The crowd tends to be more on the older side here – mainly men in their 30s/40s and older. Contramano is only open on weekends: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights from midnight until 6 am. It is located on Rodriguez Peña 1082 in Recoleta.

Nomadic book gay travel guide to Buenos aires

Gay travel guide to Buenos Aires

Find out more about the best gay hangouts in the city, where to eat, activities to do, travel tips, etc… in our gay guide to Buenos Aires.

Glam

in Recoleta

Glam is a younger crowd than Contramanoa mix of students, guys in their 20s/30s, lovers of pop music, and us! Of all the gay clubs in Buenos Aires, this was our favorite.

Glam is divided into two main sections, one for pop/Latino music, the other more for electro. Look out for the live dancer shows that take place throughout the night.

Glam Disco is only open on Thursday to Sunday nights from midnight until 6.30 am. It is located at Cabrera 3046 in Recoleta.

Tango Queer at Buenos Aires Club

in San Telmo

At its inception in the late 1800s, the tango was a dance between two men. Whilst its queer origins may have been lost over time, there has been a renaissance of gay tango over the last few decades, culminating with a queer tango festival in November.

Tango Queer is one of the best gay milongas (gay tango halls) in Buenos Aires. We came here on a Tuesday evening to try out their lessons, which then turned into freestyle dancing, followed by a show. You cannot come to Buenos Aires and not do a gay tango class. It's romantic as well as an excellent way to meet friends.

Gay tango classes at Tango Queer take place every Tuesday at 8 pm and are for all levels, including outright beginners, which we were when we first went! Tango Queer takes places at the Maldita Milonga at Perú 571 in San Telmo.

La Marshall Milonga

in Villa Crespo

La Marshall is another excellent gay milonga in Buenos Aires worth checking out. If you miss the Tuesday class of Tango Queer, you can come to this one on a Wednesday evening.

Like Tango Queer, La Marshall follows the same format: classes from 8:30 pm followed by free-style dancing from around 10 pm, and then a show later on in the evening.

La Marshall Milonga is located at Yatay 961 in Villa Crespo.

Pride Cafe

in San Telmo

We love hanging out at Pride Cafe. It's not only in our favorite part of Buenos Aires (in San Telmo), the food and cocktails are always a treat – especially their delicious dulce de leche chocolate brownies!

One of the highlights of Buenos Aires is the Sunday San Telmo market, which we highly recommend. Pride is right by the market, which makes it the ideal place to come for a coffee after shopping, or for Sunday brunch.

Pride is open every day from morning until 8 pm and is located at Balcarce 869 in San Telmo.

Famous brownies at the Pride gay cafe in San Telmo
The dulce de leche brownie at Pride Cafe is legendary! 

Gout Cafe

in Recoleta

Gout Cafe is a hetero-friendly cafe in Recoleta, famous for its gluten-free menu. Their coffees and cakes are also really goood, especially their red velvet cakes and macaroons. It's all made fresh every day so you know you're in for a treat here. Celiacs will, of course, particularly love this place.

Gout Cafe is open daily from 11 am to 8 pm. It is located in Montevideo 1480 in Recoleta.

Km Zero

in Recoleta

Located right by the subway station in Recoleta, KM Zero is another gay bar in Buenos Aires to come for drag shows. As a bonus, they also have very handsome exotic dancers.

The music ranges from electro-dance to Latin-house. It's also quite unique in that it was one of the only gay bars in Buenos Aires we found that is open every day of the week!

KM Zero is open daily from midnight until around 6 am and is located at Avenida Santa Fe 2516 in Recoleta.

Amerika Club

in Almagro

Amerika is the largest gay club in Buenos Aires and one of the biggest in South America. After Theatron in Bogota, it was definitely the largest gay club we've been to on the continent!

Amerika is spread out over 3 floors, each with dancing areas. They have themed nights like foam parties, bear nights, and more. When we went it was generally a younger crowd: guys in their 20s, but this will vary depending on the night.

Amerika takes place on weekends – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, from midnight until around 6/7 am. It is located at Gascon 1040 in Almagro.

Amerika gay club in Buenos Aires
Stefan making new friends at Amerika gay club

Feliza Bar

in Palermo

Feliza, or Fel!za, is a fabulous, fun, and super quirky gay bar in playful Palermo. They hold lots of fun events like Queer Teatra (theatre) contests, queer cinema screenings, drag karaoke, urban dance classes and even reading workshops!

The walls are decorated with powerful queer feminist art, which you can purchase. We also love all the retro arcade games they have. Music is a mix of Latino pop hits, usually by a live DJ with a few drag acts to hand to get the crowd warmed up. Upstairs there is a relaxed chillout area where you can also play foosball…definitely a first for us!

The crowd here is a wonderful mix of everyone from our LGBTQ rainbow family, usually in their 20s and 30s.

Located at 3271 Avenue Córdoba, Feliza is open only Thursday to Sunday evenings until around 4/5 am. Make sure you check their Facebook page to see what's on!

Casa Brandon Culture Club

in Villa Crespo

How to explain Casa Brandon? Self-dubbed as a queer cultural club, many locals in Buenos Aires come here for art exhibitions and performances from LGBTQ artists.

There's a monthly party known as BRANDONgayday where diversity is celebrated and partygoers dance to live DJs. If you're looking for something a bit different, a bit cultural, with yummy food and drinks, then you might like to try out Brandon.

You'll need to check out their Facebook page for the most up-to-date info on what's on and when. Casa Brandon is located at Luis Maria Drago 236 in Villa Crespo.

Fiesta Plop

in Palermo

These are some of the best weekend gay parties in Buenos Aires, especially for students, younger guys, and their fans. Fiesta Plop takes place on Friday evenings.

The Fiesta Plop parties have live DJs, exotic dancers, and lots of handsome young Porteño boys. They take place at the Teatro Vorterix (Vorterix Theatre), which is located on the corner of Frederico Lacroze and Alvarez Thomas in Palermo. Also, look out for ad hoc Fiesta Plop parties that take place during big occasions like Pride.

A fun gay night out in Buenos Aires with friends
A gay night out in Buenos Aires!

Maricafe

in Palermo

Maricafe is the latest addition to the gay scene of Buenos Aires. It's a gay cafe/bar and also an LGBTQ bookstore, right in the heart of Palermo. We love the name – a clever play on “maricon” (Spanish slang for a gay guy).

Drag Race fans, this is where you'll want to be heading to in BA for the best viewing parties. Every time there's an episode on, these guys are the first to put on a faaaabulous show for it!

The Maricafe also has a shop selling a wide range of rainbow paraphernalia from snazzy mugs, and cakes to your own Coming Out Box! For more, check out their website, and Twitter. They are located at 4096 Honduras Street in Palermo.


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Our 15 favourite gay clubs, bars and restaurants in Buenos Aires.

Happy travels are safe travels

We recommend you always take out reputable travel insurance before your next vacation. What happens if you suffer from illness, injury, theft, or a cancellation? Many gay travelers forget about it and regret it when something happens. Better to pay a small price and have peace of mind and not worry.

Stefan Arestis

Hey everyone, I'm Stefan, the curly-haired Greek flavor behind the gay travel blog Nomadic Boys. Together with my other half, I have explored more than 90 countries across 5 continents. What I love most about traveling is discovering the local gay scene, making new friends, learning new cultures. I've written about LGBTQ travel in numerous online publications such as Gaycation Magazine, Gaycities, Gay Times and Pink News as well as for other non-gay-specific publications including Lonely Planet, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Huffington Post. Check my full bio here.

Juan

Monday 25th of January 2021

Hi, i’m just a queer 15- young Argentinan teen. I hope this year Pride Month I’ll go to see a drag show. thanks 🤩

Stefan Arestis

Monday 25th of January 2021

Agreed!! :)

carla tironi farinati

Saturday 23rd of November 2019

Hi! Feliza is missing from the list! It's at Av. Cordoba 3271, the biggest gay bar and culture club

Stefan Arestis

Sunday 24th of November 2019

Thanks Carla! We will update our guide straightaway :)

Michael Nisen

Tuesday 23rd of April 2019

Jungle Bar in Buenos Aires has been closed. I go to Buenos Aires for a month every winter (their summer), side trips, 5 day weekend to Pocitos Beach in Montevideo Uruguay. Take hydrofoil to Colonia then bus to Montevideo, Uber to hotel. If you take direct hydrofoil to Montevideo it is $100 more RT. The best place there is My Suites Boutique Hotel and wine bar. 5 day weekend to Rosario, always stay at 4 star Savoy Esplendor Rosario by Wyndham. Both VERY LGBT friendly.

My grandparents were from there but could not go as a child, teen, young adult, the dictators were killing off 56,000 people. I rented the same condo 8 times then not available, they found me another the last 3 years all in Palermo by Av. Cordoba. I know all the bars, clubs like you noted but all the restaurants tourists don't go to. Brasas Argentinas a very upscale buffet in Puerto Madero, go before 5 pm for a lunch, you can stay to 6. Less than dinner and it filled me up for the day.

As for travel insurance, even though I speak Spanish and my insurance I kept from United Health Care I kept for life when I left my employer actually covers me out of the country, it is a MUST. Last winter January 2018, I got food poisoning after 6 days there. Now that I think of it it may have been ecoli it was so bad. I was in and out of consciousness for 3 days. Lucky I made it to the bathroom. I could not hold even water and lost 12 lbs in 3 days. I then called the insurance, they immediately sent 2 surgeons (contractors with the insurance company) from an exclusive private hospital chain (Swiss Hospital Group). 1 injected me with iron, they came back 3 times a day for 2 days more, then put me on an $8,000 first class bed seat to go home where I wound up in the hospital. I had kidney issues for 9 months more over it and could not drink, ugh. I am diabetic so it did not help things. Added benefit, both doctors were incredibly hot and both Gay but I was in no mood to flirt.

I will be going to Puerto Vallarta for the 4th time in 2 years in a week then every summer july 10 for 5 weeks to Barcelona, Sitges and Perpignan France, my 16th time there. Love my beaches.

Nomadic boys

Tuesday 23rd of April 2019

Thanks Michael! Your ecoli scare sounds nasty. Love all these tips :)