The architecture of La Ventana is as graceful and engaging as its tango dancers. The interior of the building is beautifully preserved, making each of the three stories a unique setting for the three distinct tango shows held every night. The lowest level, where La Ventana takes place, is especially elegant, with brick walls and wine bottles tucked away as in a vineyard’s cellar. The staff is extremely friendly, English speaking, and won’t laugh at your bad attempts at Spanish. As one of the newer tango shows in the city, La Ventana’s enthusiasm is fresh and palpable. The menu is fixed but you can choose between various meat dishes and sides, all of which are delicious and accompanied with a wine of your choice. I took my parents there when they visited—they can be a tough sell—and they both found the show entertaining and accessible. The head accordion player is one of the gems of the performance; an old, wry master of his craft. The traditional tango dancing is mixed with folkloric dance and song, keeping the performances varied. La Ventana keeps the neighborhood’s artistic legacy alive by helping to foster its own community of artists, maintaining thirty-five artists in residence, two tango orchestras, a folklore band and, of course, a company of dancers. You can hire their show to perform anywhere in Argentina or the world, so if you like it, you can bring it home!
La Ventana Tango
Balcarce 431, San Telmo — map it.
+54 11 4334-1314
+54 11 4334-1314
| Schedule: | Mon - Sun |
| Dinner: |  |
| Transportation: | not included |
| Live Orchestra: | |
| Overall |    |
| Show | |
| Dinner | |
From only $75!
7 Reviews
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Book ahead with your hotel if possible. We got to this beautiful theater room, elegant and romantic, and got a great table in the middle of the room in front of the stage. (There are no bad seats here so no worries.) The dinner included your choice of an appetizer, main dish, dessert, and unlimited bread, wine, and non-alcoholic drinks. Towards the end of your main dish the entertainers come on consisting of mostly tango dancers in elaborate costumes, but also there were singers and musicians (old men on accordians) throughout the night. We were amazed by how long the production lasted- well over 2 hours. It was a delightful evening and made me want to sign up for tango lessons!
The owner of our hotel (the guy was from New Jersey) in BsAs recommended Señor Tango. After he’d left the lobby, the desk clerk and I continued the conversation. I mentioned that what was most important to my wife (a former professional ballerina and ballet teacher) was being able to see the dancers’ feet and legs. He said Señor Tango was very “Las Vegas” and unless we paid a premium price, we’d be some distance from the stage. He also mentioned a horse on stage. I’m very allergic to horses and had to leave a performance of the Royal Lippizaner Stallions last year after 20 minutes. The hotel had a huge portfolio of tango show brochures, probably more than 20 or 30, but I asked his opinion. He recommended La Ventana and I asked him to arrange it.
Cost: AR$250 pp. This included dinner and RT bus transportation between the hotel and show (very necessary after all the wine). It did not include service, which I was unsure how to value, so left AR$50. The location was somewhere in San Telmo. The bus ride was fine except for sharing a seat with Sr. I-bathe-in-cheap-aftershave. We picked up pax at several hotels and were the only non-Spanish speakers on the bus (Sr & Sra Aftershave were honeymooners from Peru). There were tango lessons beforehand which my 17 year old son took advantage of due to the overwhelming beauty of one of the dancers. Pre-dinner Quilmes beers were AR$15 each. The venue may have held 75, but there were multiple stages I think, because I did not see any of our busmates in the room. The majority of other guests around us appeared to be from the US based on overheard conversations. We were 3 seats back from the stage. We did not pay the additional AR$100 each for seats at the stage. There was a 5 piece band that was excellent, 2 singers and 5 couples dancing. There were 2 variety acts: a man who performed one song on wooden flute and another on pan pipes (both familiar tunes) and a, for lack of better title, bolo-bouncer. The flutist was quite talented. The bolo-bouncer was embarassing and detracted from the overall performance. We were given a choice of menus in Spanish or English. Dinner was cruise ship quality or slightly better. There were 3-4 choices for appetizer, entree, dessert. We selected a variety: (A:warm goats cheese, empenadas E:bife de lomo, baby pork D:Profiteroles, apple sticks w/vanilla ice cream) We were allotted one bottle of wine (private label Malbec, which was decanted prior to serving) per couple. Since we were 3, we got a second bottle at no charge. The finale was a patriotic rendition of “Don’t cry for me, Argentina” from Evita with lots of marching and flag-waving. Then the dancers made themselves available for a couple tangos with the guests. My wife and son danced while I took pictures. There was a professional photographer before the show who took a group photo of us entwined with the performers in tango poses. It was well done and we paid AR$40 for a copy.
Venue: 8 out of 10 (intimate room elaborately decorated, table nicely set)
Band: 10 out of 10 (incredible guitarist)
Singers: 8 out of 10 (not attractive, call me shallow)
Music: 7 out of 10 (the finale was too hokey, tangos sound similar to my ear)
Dancers: 11 out of 10 (My wife’s score, particularly one handsome young man )
Choreography: 9 out of 10 (wife’s score)
Food: 6.5 out of 10
Service: 8 out of 10 (glass stayed full, food coordinated, not rushed)
Wine: 7 for quality, 9 for quantity
Variety acts: (6+0/20)=3
Transport: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 .7 out of 10. I felt it was good value for the price.
This tango show was my favorite out of the three that I have seen in the city. Had lots of dance from the interior of the country as well… Not just Buenos Aires Tango. Very entertaining, I was never once bored while sitting in my seat, and the dinner wasn’t bad either! Highly recommended.
We booked the La Ventana tango show (show only) based on the reviews. Maybe our expectation was too high, we thought the show was only so so. Our hotel made the reservation for us. The driver picked us up and took us back to our hotel. We watched the show in a cabaret like room on the second floor. The room is much smaller than I anticipated. The dancing was good but not spectacular. The singing and side show were a bit too long. Our hotel recommended El Viejo Almacen. We wondered maybe we should have followed their advise but decided not to see another show.
I went to the show as the travel agency’s guest. The pick up and drop-off after the show was right on time. The show itself was ok but there were couple of real disappointments. First I was seated on the upper balcony from where I could only see half of the stage. Second the dinner was so so. What they show you one hte menu is not what you get. I got only half the salad serving compared to other people. When asked I was told I am not sitting in the executive area. If I was sitting there I would have received the full salad. The wine did not taste very good either (did not touch it after half glass). Like other shows they do not allow pictures of the show. However I think if they allowed pictures, more people will come. Very few people buy their videos anyway. Ones who want to buy will buy anyway. I was told by others that Senor Tango was a better show than this. The musicians are very old, I think they can use some young blood of musicians. One tango couple of an old man and young girl really looked out of place.
My wife & I booked and pre-paid as part of our total Argentina vacation. We looked into the Rojo Tango show but decided not to spring for the extra $70 pp. We found La Ventana to be enjoyable. We would not call it the most memorable part of our BA stay, but it held our interest, exposed us to more than just Tango, and served the purpose for which it was intended. We strongly suggest including the dinner. The room was impressive, the views good, and everything was nicely paced. Above all, it held our interest for the entire 4 or 5 hours.