Photography by Samantha Demangate
Polo, parks, gardens, and high-rise apartments are what many first-time visitors to Buenos Aires associate with the Palermo neighborhood. In reality, Palermo is all of this, and so much more.
Palermo is the largest of Buenos Aires’s 48 neighborhoods. The once sleepy, middle-class barrio became riddled with creative entrepreneurs, entertainers, restaurateurs, baristas, and other individuals, art collectives, and businesses that bolstered its ascension into hipsterdom.
Like every other corner of Buenos Aires, Palermo functions like a community, or more accurately, several distinctive communities with their own unique flares. Small specialty stores and locally owned markets exist side by side with centuries old residential buildings and parks. Weathered two-story traditional homes with deep courtyards—known as casas chorizos in the Rio de la Plata region—mix with towering glass windowed apartment buildings. Between these buildings are the older, crumbling, turn-of-the-century but not pretty enough to be preserved, buildings of old Palermo. Decades of ivy and uncontrolled plant growth cover these structures, as if the mighty Rio de la Plata itself is laying claim to them.
History of the Neighborhood
The neighborhood of Palermo possibly owes its name to the Franciscan Abbey of Saint Benedict of Palermo. Another likely explanation was that they named it after the Italian property owner, Juan Domingo Palermo. Either way, the neighborhood attracted immigrants from various diasporas like Armenians, Syrians, Italians, and Spanish. This diversity and neighborhood identity has combined with urban zoning barriers like railroads and avenues, to create separate mini-communities with their own distinct way of life and style. Porteños (locals of Buenos Aires) took it upon themselves to identify these sub-neighborhoods by affixing alternative names to them based on nearby landmarks or similar neighborhoods in other global cities.
At the southern end of Palermo are two distinct sections that offer visitors and locals plenty of nightlife, art, and excitement. These neighborhoods are known as Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. Separated by the wide Juan B Justo Avenue, these two sections are distinct in almost every way.
Palermo Soho
Named after the high-end bohemian style of New York’s SOHO neighborhood, Palermo’s Soho contains a similar aesthetic. Amongst the cobblestone streets and graffitied alleyways are small boutique businesses, restaurants, and cafes that have the same bohemian energy of the neighborhood’s cousin in New York.
Every night, the neighborhood’s nocturnal energy spills out into Plaza Serrano. Buenos Aires’s well-off youth descend on the restaurants, bars, theaters, and boutique stores that surround the plaza. Many locals consider Plaza Serrano the heart of the neighborhood’s nightlife. From here, late night escapades begin and end, often not until dawn.
Parrillas, Middle Eastern pastry shops, and high-end dining experiences await the hungry patrons of Soho. For meat lovers, traditional parrillas (Argentinian BBQ’s) like La Carniceria serve up smoky cuts of incredible free-range meats. For those with a high budget and appetite the famous Don Julio is a must, to experience what organic, free range Argentinian cattle can taste like when prepared by expert grill masters.
Bars, Cafes, and Graffiti
When the night winds down, Soho’s bars come to life. Tres Monos is one particular bar that’s won several awards, including the Spirited Awards’ Top International Bar award. Breweries like Cerveceria Peña, Cerveceria Glück, and Bejas serve local artisanal beers that are gaining notoriety from the city’s growing sphere of beer fanatics.
Shopping is somewhat of a pastime for Porteños. Every weekend, street markets draw shoppers from throughout the city. During the popular Feria Honduras, Honduras street is closed to through traffic and vendors set up their installations to sell everything from hunting knives to incense.
Aside from shopping and nightlife, the neighborhood has incredible street art. Everyday artists come to decorate the facades of buildings and walls. Notable street artists cover the walls lining the alleyways of Russel, Sta. Rosa, and Soria in incredible murals and graffiti. Models and photographers come here daily for photoshoots.
Armenian Diaspora
In the early 20th century, thousands of Armenian immigrants came to Argentina for new opportunities. During that time, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries on earth with a growing economy. The Armenian community formed a unified diaspora which today is one of the city’s largest and most influential.
In Palermo Soho, many Armenian Argentine businesses take up prime real estate along bustling Armenia street. Institutions like the Asociatión Cultural Armenia and St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral organize cultural activities, language schools, and art classes for the community. In 2014, the already aptly named Plaza Armenia park in the center of Palermo Soho officially became Plaza Immigrantes de Armenia.
Palermo Hollywood
Like its namesake in Los Angeles, Palermo Hollywood is where television studios, theaters, and entertainment specialists live, work, and play. Like neighboring Soho, it’s also home to some of Buenos Aires’s best restaurants. For vegetarians or people needing a break from the meat and cheese that permeates the veins of almost every Argentine, Casa Munay is the perfect place. Their dishes go beyond the realm of just plain delicious; they are divine!
The quieter, more residential Palermo Hollywood still attracts late-night revelers. A handful of Buenos Aires’s top clubs are scattered along its usually quiet streets. Incredible places to drink like the New York Subway inspired speakeasy Bar Oculto and M Street Bar cater to fans of wine, cocktails, and local beer. Tucked on the western edge of Palermo Hollywood is the fantastic brewery Babuina House.
Buenos Aires lives and breathes live theater and Hollywood’s underground theater scene is top-notch. Almost every evening there are live performances in venues like the Chacareren Teatre and Teatro la Galera.
