Bar Mar Azul

Mar Azul opened in 1939 and, I’m proudly told by the waiter, hasn’t changed since. The windowframes are the original oak and the glass tiling on the far wall is the same as was installed when it opened.

There’s something very familiar about Mar Azul and in a sense it’s identical to many small bars around the city. Its sole waiter runs the place very efficiently, so much so that when I asked him for a flan (crème caramel), he gave no sign of acknowledgement and I was getting ready to ask him again when it arrived on my table. The dark wood and tiled floor could be in any bar in the city and the menu has the same items would see all over.

For all its lack of originality it does have a warmth about it. As the gentlemen at the table behind me left after their lunch the waiter called out “Hasta mañana”, and after having heard me talk to the waiter the couple next to me asked me how to ask for the bill in English as they were on their way to Miami that evening for the first time. Turns out they were from Santiago del Estero and were going to be playing Argentine folk music over there.

It’s not the sort of place you would go out of your way to visit, but if you lived nearby it would make a great little local, and has enough atmosphere and history to deserve its notable status.

Mar Azul: Tucuman 1700
Subte: Callao, Line D

This page is part of a series examining the Notable Bars of Buenos Aires.