Do Argentinians HATE Money?
I was in the wondrous mountain town known as Bariloche, Argentina.
Situated on the outskirts of Patagonia and filled with stunning mountains, lakes, and insane views.
For nature, Bariloche is hard to top.
For getting great service in hotels, bars, and restaurants – Bariloche is not going to win any awards.
And after spending a week in this lovely mountain town, I could only conclude one thing…
Argentinians HATE Money
See what had happened was…
Me and a good buddy had just went on a sick hike, trekking through Patagonia for 4-5 hours one afternoon.
After the stunningly beautiful, yet exhausting hike, we were starved.
We got cleaned up at the hotel and immediately hit the town to find some steaks.
Now, Argentinian steaks are insanely overrated. Paraguay and Mexico both have better cuts than Argentina.
But Argentina steak is still damn good.
So we see this massive steakhouse across the street from our hotel and immediately walk over.
Now…
Before we dig into this story, it’s important to understand Argentinian culture.
Locals go to dinner at 9:30PM…at the earliest. It’s common to sit down for dinner at 11:00PM and drink wine, have apps, eat a steak, and chat until the wee hours of the morning.
So…
Me and my buddy were walking into this steakhouse at 7:00 on a weekday.
The place is huge. 100+ tables easily, and maybe 5 of them are filled.
The place is set up so that there’s 25-ish booths on the outside of the restaurant and tables in the middle.
We walk in and ask for a table of two. The host is like sure, but then I say: “Can we have a booth please?”
He looks at me: “How many people are in your party tonight?”
Me: “Just us two”
Waiter: “Ohhh, well the booths are for groups of 3-4 people only”
Me: “Ummm, yeah, but it’s 7:00PM and we’re gonna eat quick and then leave. You’ve got 20+ booths open.”
Waiter: “No, we can’t do that”
Me: “You can’t?”
Waiter starts getting snappy: “If you only have two people, you have to sit at a table for two people. You cannot have a booth for two people”
Me: “You know what…go fuck yourself”
We turned to walk out and the waiter ran after us trying to get us to stay…
Get the fuck out of here.
Dude lost out on a $10 USD tip, which would have actually meant something to him, because…
Argentinians hate money.
It Gets Interesting…
Fast forward a few days and this is where it really gets good…
I thought the prick at the steakhouse couldn’t be topped.
I was wrong.
It’s almost 10:00PM in a nice, but very small Italian spot in Bariloche. My friend and I have finished our meals, which were fantastic, and are now just waiting on the check.
The only issue is…
We can’t find any waiters to get the check from.
Five minutes go by.
Ten minutes go by.
Fifteen minutes go by.
Twenty minutes go by.
We’re just sitting and waiting. The only customers in the place. Not a waiter to be found for 20 minutes.
I finally get up and go back towards the kitchen to see if we can find anybody. Because we’re just about to walk out on this meal.
We weren’t going to spend all night waiting for the damn check.
So I turn the corner into the kitchen area only to see…
Our waiter zipping up his pants, while his co-worker, a cute Argentine female, is buttoning up her blouse with a hair pin in her mouth and her hair all messed up.
They see me and literally jump in the air.
I start to smile.
They both turn bright red, blushing about as much as one can.
Me: “Ummmm, we’re trying to pay the check and go home”
Our waited can barely get a word out: “Ummmm, ok sir. I’ll have the check out in a second.”
I walk back to my table with a huge grin on my face.
I had always thought Brazilians were too horny to be a normal functioning society, maybe Argentina is the same way ;)
My buddy looks at me grinning and was like, “What the fuck is going on? Where’s the waiter?”
I laugh, “Broooo, you know the cute waitress we saw earlier?”
My buddy looking at me funny, “Yeah…”
Me: “So, yeah. Her and our waiter were for sure just smashing while we waited for the check.”
I breakdown the whole story and we’re rolling in laughter as the waiter walks over with the check.
He still looks as red as the Kool-Aid Man.
But of course, I cannot hate on the player, only the game, sers. So we tip him 20% still even though the service was horrific and…
Argentinians hate money.