san cristobal

[jrockstar80]

so a friend is setting me up with a depto in san cristobal for when i come to BA next month. any thoughts on the neighborhood? recommendations for bars/restaurants in the area? apparently it's on the other side of the 25 de mayo highway from the entre rios subte on the E, a few blocks off entre rios itself. tyia

 

[Davidglen77]

It´s definitely up and coming and a lot of activity close by in San Telmo, and very close to the center of Buenos Aires and all the attractions. However San Cristobal is not very safe at night, just keep your wits about you and if you come home after dark I recommend you don't walk around - take a taxi to the door of your building.

 

[Johnny]

It´s definitely up and coming and a lot of activity close by in San Telmo, and very close to the center of Buenos Aires and all the attractions. However San Cristobal is not very safe at night, just keep your wits about you and if you come home after dark I recommend you don't walk around - take a taxi to the door of your building.

Agreed. That can be a sketchy area. The best sushi place in BsAs is in San Cristobal however. Yuki, Pasco 740. Everytime I go there they beseech me to let them call a taxi for me at the end of the night.

 

[jrockstar80]

wow thank you very much for the sushi tip. as for the safety stuff i don't really know what to say... the apartment is pretty much in the bag. are there particular blocks that should be avoided? i'm sure the area under 25 de mayo is not very nice for instance lol.

 

[benderino]

Avoid wandering about in any area of that barrio at night. Relatively safe to explore in the day of course, but still only carry with you what you need for where you're going.

 

[thuy.ashtango]

I lived in San Cristobal for a year and, with the exception of middle aged men persistently asking me out for "coffee", I never encountered anything untoward.

At San Juan 2651 is the Okinawa cultural center (http://www.okiren.org.ar/). They have performance, classes, AND a sushi restaurant upstairs. VERY good. There is also a Japanese grocery store on the main floor so you won't have to trek 1hr Chinatown for your basic Asian ingredients.

In short, my experience in San Cristobal was great. It's a local neighborhood, so you won't find the English newspaper, but you WILL get a lot of local flavor.

Enjoy your stay in BA.

Thuy

 

[pauper]

I haven't lived there but it's one of my favourite parts of BA to walk around, haven't ever encountered any problems there.

 

[shpunter]

I wouldn't say it is a "dangerous" neighborhood overall but you should get a sense of the streets during the day. There was a period when a number of blocks just south of San Juan, maybe around the 2200 / 2300 blocks were a bit hairy, but other than that nothing that bad.

There are a number of old bars along San Juan, and one in particular is Miramar the corner of Sarandí (I believe) that I have great affection for. Further up is Saverio which is, in my humble opinion, one of the best ice cream parlors in the city. It is also the oldest, though the one on San Juan is not the original from 1909 but rather the second one that they opened in the 50s. There is a large population of people from the north around that area so a number of the bars have folk music and dancing "foklore".

Also, one of the reasons there are so many memorial stones for disappeared in the neighborhood is because the neighborhood was very much a work / middle-class union neighborhood and one of the major goals of the dictatorship was union busting, through torture and murder. The most famous person disappeared in the area was the writer / journalist Rodolfo Walsh, and their are plaques in his memory on the corner where he was disappeared: Entre Ríos and San Juan.

On the corner of Matheu and Independencia is a great bar called Hermanos Cao.

A classic confiteria is on the corner of San Juan and Pichincha: La Helvetica.

And don't worry, there is still lots and lots more for you to discover on your own.

Suerte,

Richard

 

[jrockstar80]

shpunter -

that is an amazing post. thank you for sharing so much information on a place obviously near and dear to your heart. it's especially good to hear about the union history of the neighborhood since i worked for a union in the USA for a few years...

best,
jr

 

[Dolly]

Just another perspective,

I don't live there but I have had classes there for the past 4 years. 2 days per week in the day, and once per week at 7pm. And the truth is - it's a wonderful part of town and I enjoy it a lot. At night when I leave classes, (especially in winter when it is dark) I take care and have my bus money in my hand before I leave the company (so as not to open my bag or wallet in the street) and I have never had any problems at all. Yes, it's not the most lit-up area, but it's a normal suburban area and I personally have had no problems at all - and I'm a single gringa female!

Actually - I think you will enjoy it - when my work friends want to meet for lunch etc - we have a lovely time in this area. It's not Palermo or Recoleta (which I won't put down, as I like them too) but it is nice and traditional. Very nice.

But as others have said, just be careful at night - like all of BA - and you will be fine!