El Beso - La Casa de la Milonga Permanente — Attraction in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

An un-necessarily nasty experience from the female host of Thursday night's milonga.

I arrived and stood at the back-end of the bar for just a few moments to see how many women-to-men there were, as I have been to too many milongas where I paid the entrance fee, then spent the entire evening not dancing due to there being far, far more women then men dancers. I had been standing at the bar for no more than 2 minutes, when the female organizer came up to me, quite aggressively, and demanded that either I leave immediately or pay up the entrance fee. I told her why I was first observing the gender balance, but she was not sympathetic at all.

This is a really, really stupid business decision by this host: it was un-necessarily nasty and aggressive, and it has put me off ever wanting to go back to El Beso in future, even though I have just moved to BsAs and now live here permanently. As a European citizen and US citizen, I have a lot of foreigners asking my advice on where to go: now, I will tell everyone to avoid El Beso.

So, as a former institutional investor who has advised countless CEOs of the biggest corporations in the US, Europe and LatinAmerica, I can say that this organizer needs to learn some basic lessons about business: you are supposed to be building a brand, a brand that builds good relationships with locals (such as me), who are potentially repeat, loyal customers, who can also bring a lot of new foreigners to the venue.

This organizer is going to find that her milonga will struggle, as the housing bubbles burst in the US and Europe, leaving far fewer foreigners visiting BsAs and coming to milongas.

This nasty woman's behavior reflects badly not only on this particular milonga, but on the venue in general.

She needs to learn that she is supposed to be a brand ambassador, not a brand terminator.

UPDATE:

The management of El Beso (the venue) responded that I should have left this review and criticism for the organizers of this particular milonga. However, this response ignores the fact that (i) El Beso (the venue) chooses to rent itself out to these particular milonga organizers and therefore El Beso (the venue) is empowered to take this issue up with those milonga organizers, and (ii) point out to the milonga organizers that they (the milonga organizers) represent El Beso (the venue), because it is El Beso's name that is over the front door of the venue for this milonga (and thus such inappropriate, aggressive conduct by the milonga organizers DOES reflect badly upon El Beso and its brand and reputation.

But the management of El Besos did not say that they had any intention of taking this issue up with the milonga organizer - and thereby, El Beso supports and condones such aggressive, inappropriate conduct by the...

El Beso, at Riobamba 416, is a fixture of the Buenos Aires tango scene—unassuming, consistent, and quietly central. The room is compact: mirrored walls, a tight wooden floor, modest lighting, and chairs arranged just far enough back to give the ronda space to breathe. Nothing is elaborate, but everything serves the dance.

The seating is gender-segregated along two sides of the room, preserving the traditional architecture of the milonga. Dancers find one another through the cabeceo—a quiet negotiation of eye contact and nods across the floor. To be seen, you need to be seated correctly. And to be seated correctly, you need a table reservation. This is not incidental. At El Beso, where you’re placed determines whether you’ll dance at all.

Getting a good table isn’t easy. You need to know someone—either a respected dancer or someone with ties to the organizers. If you show up without those connections, you’re unlikely to get onto the floor. This is a milonga for dancers, not for casual visitors. The codes are lived, not displayed. And access, like reputation, is earned.

That said, even if you’re not dancing, there’s value in simply being there. The musical selections are among the best in the city—Golden Age tandas played at proper pitch and with attention to rhythmic clarity. The cocktails are decent. The floor is full. The movement is quiet, refined, and unmistakably Argentine. And the room, whether you dance or not, offers a glimpse into a tradition still...

We wanted to see some tango but as we travel with a small kid we couldn't go to any of the late night shows. Our host suggested we visit this place, where they have milongas in the afternoon. We had no idea what to expect but it was a very pleasent experience. We saw people dance after the class, which for sure wasn't as spectacular as the tango show but was interesting for us. We also had pizza, which was very good. The whole experience was very nice. The women working there are friendly, helped us settle in and order...