In Montes de Oca corner California we find a noble building of ground floor and a high floor, built in 1911, by the prestigious architects Emilio Hugue and Vicente Colmegna, authors also of the Barracas branch of Banco de la Nación, in Montes de Oca 1699 and from Casa Moussion in Callao and Sarmiento, among many other works. On the ground floor of the building in question, by Montes de Oca 1700, you can access the El Progreso café, one of the traditional ones in the Barracas neighborhood. In California, despite its 38 years of inactivity, the tramways still shine; for her they ran the 74 that from the Central Post went to Gerli, and the 10 that having left in Italy Square looked for its destiny in Sarandí.

A folding metal awning protects from excess light. Your space is generous, the tables are comfortably arranged. The boiserie, and the wooden screen that gives intimacy to the family room, with its three small pillars, crowned with plants, that rhythmically separate their four martellined glasses, with frosted art-decó ornaments, are two of the most outstanding characteristics of coffee. Two columns in the middle of the room and the pipes of the ceiling fans, are the vertical elements in the geometric composition.

The bar; wooden counter, which includes a refrigerator that shows the variety of cold meats of the house, has its tap in the shape of a swan. On the wall, behind the counter, bottles of Tres Plumas, Terry, Boussacq, Rhum Bold, Hesperidina, Anis 8 Brothers, whiskey Breeders and gin Bols line up in front of the mirror, on glass or wooden shelves. Above, a decorative guard, with mirrors in the shape of a diamond, completes the sector. And a sign invites you to order mixed toast.