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Chaotic during the workday, the downtown area can be deserted at night and on weekends. But you’ll find some great bars and clubs here, if you know where to look.
This party palace moved to a new space in 2024 and the beautiful, tightly clothed youth continue packing out the dance floors. This is a great spot to catch local techno and EDM DJs, though there are also big nights with international artists.
Also fondly known by its previous name, Palacio Alsina, this enormous downtown club meets all the prerequisites for an excellent night out—especially when world-famous DJs make a guest appearance. Pop tunes attract a mixed-age gay and lesbian crowd on Friday and Sunday; Saturday delivers hard electronica for the dance mad.
This happening spot enjoys cult status in both the straight and gay communities. Upstairs is a diverse art gallery big on young locals; downstairs, underground house and techno drives one of the city's darkest dance floors, while DJs with huge followings are frequently on rotation.
Soaring columns, tarnished mirrors, and ancient chandeliers are part of Confitería Ideal's crumbling Old World glamour, along with a rather pungent musty smell. The former homewares store that reinvented itself as a tearoom now hosts milongas organized by different groups in its first-floor dance hall every day of the week. Some are held during the afternoon and evening, others late at night.
The standard of dancing is usually high at this club, which belongs to La Academia del Tango Milonguero, one of the city's best tango schools. Beginners should consult the online schedule for classes; there are usually several a day plus a milonga.
A refreshing exception to the sometimes suffocatingly macho world of tango, this is the gay milonga. The main night is Friday, when a cool set of guys and girls, both gay and straight, look to break with the "he leads, she follows" doctrine.
