Newcomer Is dog poop on sidewalks as bad as I read online in forums and blogs? Do people not pick up after their dogs?

[Vince]

Thankfully, it does not.

BA has never had much of a street food scene. There are choripan carts in Puerto Madero and Costanera but "street food" never took off here. Frankly I'd be worried about how clean food is. As Wally mentioned, you have risk of food poisoning in some of those carts. In tough times, I'd worry about how fresh food is and how they stored it. During COVID in the USA several friends got really sick at sushi places. I think places weren't throwing out bad food trying to save money. I'd never trust street food here.

 

[Digital Nomad]

Back in the '70s and '80s, the puestos de choripan were regulated and inspected often, just like the "carritos" (the Costanera restaurants, which started as carts -carritos- and then morphed into buildings). But, even back then, people did not trust many of those puestos de choripan.

ETA: To clarify, when many of the carritos (puestos de choripan) morphed into very nice restaurants, some puestos de choripan remained and those were regulated and inspected often by the same inspectors that inspected the restaurants, Of course, the bribe has always been king in Argentina so...



Yep. Right now definitely is the worst time to eat street food here.

Interesting about that history. Wow @Sunny did you live in BA back then or just visiting?

I was in Puerto Madero and was going to order a choripan but I noticed the worker had really dirty hands and touching the food. No gloves. I quickly changed my mind.

 

[MikeYoung]

I lived here. Actually, I went to grade and high school here. We lived in several countries because of dad's career.



Good decision. Now, when it comes to gloves, they only protect the person who wears them. The workers put the gloves on and touch everything around them and the food. Actually, I think that wearing gloves makes them more careless.

That would be so cool to experience Buenos Aires many decades ago vs. now. I heard it used to be so expensive here and taxi drivers were making $$$$. Many of the people that I met in BA told me they were traveling all over the world during the heydays.

So true about the glove thing. People think they are somehow getting cleaner food but I've literally seen people coughing into their glove hands and continue serving. I had a Choripan in Costanera and didn't get sick. Was tasty!

 

[Avocado]

Coming back after so many years was interesting. In the '80s the inflation was so bad, that an espresso was 2,400,000 pesos. Tourists would keep receipts as souvenirs! When I left, the currency was called Austral and Alfonsin's government had a lot of problems.

The convertibility happened after we left; it was then, I think in the early '90s, that many Argentines got a chance to travel all over the world. It was the famous "deme dos" (I'll take two) era. A friend used to joke that, in Miami Argentines would buy two of everything and in Chile three of everything ("deme tres"). In the summer of 1993, she and her parents visited 23 countries in two months, her dad was a lawyer.

Taxis were cheaper than now, comparatively.

It is sad to see neighborhoods like Recoleta in such a bad shape, so much neglect. Caballito has exploded, it is so much busier now, so many more buildings, and many of the gorgeous old casonas are gone. But Belgrano has kept its charm.

Back in those years Carrefour had giant supermarkets just outside of the city and Disco was the best supermarket chain. There was one on Scalabrini Ortiz and Cabello that, back then, had a great produce department, very similar to Loblaws in Canada.



Would you believe that I haven't yet been to the Costanera? I know it's going to be very sad to see that none of what used to be a splendid gastronomic experience is no more. On weekends, families from all over the city would go to La Costanera. The restaurants there were beautiful and offered fantastic parrilladas and impeccable service. We used to go to Happening and A los amigos, two of the nicest restaurants back then. You'd also see people fishing and eating at the puestos de choripán.

Wow what times! Good to hear about your experiences. Always something crazy in Argentina. The old saying holds true.


"There are four kinds of countries in the world: developed countries, undeveloped countries, Japan and Argentina"

 

[IrishLad]

My friend sent me this photo. This can't be too sanitary can it with all the dog poop in the streets? Is this typical there? Crazy they would cook food and sell it so low to the ground. Doesn't look too appealing to me.

View attachment 6221

That looks sketchy as hell! I don't think it's just them making a meal for themselves as you can see the big bag of bread and the little table set up to collect money or something. I didn't realize people were doing this in Buenos Aires. I haven't seen this even in poor Latin American countries.

 

[Olivia1]

This reminds me of a scene from the series "Billions" where the prosecutor, while walking his dog, comes across a guy who leaves the poop there. He explains the existence of a law that penalizes that action and forces him to pick it up. Haha! There should be a law about that in Argentina.

 

[Uncle Wong]

My friend sent me this photo. This can't be too sanitary can it with all the dog poop in the streets? Is this typical there? Crazy they would cook food and sell it so low to the ground. Doesn't look too appealing to me.

View attachment 6221

This is nuts! I never saw anything like this while in Buenos Aires. That is disgusting cooking it on the street.

 

[camile]

This is nuts! I never saw anything like this while in Buenos Aires. That is disgusting cooking it on the street.

Oh, I've seen that this is common among construction workers. They often do it on the street or at the construction site.

 

[Digital Nomad]

I've never seen it on the street but, yes, they are common at the construction sites.

But I'm sure they aren't trying to sell it at construction site.

 

[Nasdaq]

Oh, I've seen that this is common among construction workers. They often do it on the street or at the construction site.

View attachment 6271

I'd eat some of that asado from these construction workers. I would note from those girls selling chorizo from the bike lane.

I have actually seen guys on construction sites cooking like this on the ground in Palermo but it wasn't in the street. Probably not the most sanitary but their set up looks better. The girls look like they stole the top of some shed and used it to cover the dog sh*t in the street.

 

[Jenn]

Thanks so much for those of you that talked me out of coming to BA in the winter! I see the brutally cold weather and soooo glad I postponed my trip until the end of October. I am here in Spain and I thought the dog poop on the sidewalks was bad but people in Spain are smearing human and dog poop all over Airbnb lockboxes here! It's nuts! I almost vomited today coming back to my Airbnb.

Poo-smeared lockboxes found at tourist apartments in Seville

Anti-tourism protesters in Spain are reportedly resorting to novel techniques to deter visitors.

www.euronews.com

 

[Uncle Wong]

Thanks so much for those of you that talked me out of coming to BA in the winter! I see the brutally cold weather and soooo glad I postponed my trip until the end of October. I am here in Spain and I thought the dog poop on the sidewalks was bad but people in Spain are smearing human and dog poop all over Airbnb lockboxes here! It's nuts! I almost vomited today coming back to my Airbnb.

Poo-smeared lockboxes found at tourist apartments in Seville

Anti-tourism protesters in Spain are reportedly resorting to novel techniques to deter visitors.

www.euronews.com

Poor you @Jenn. That doesn't sound fun dealing with that sh*t. And I thought BA was bad with dog poop on the ground. Those locals in Spain are crazy.

 

[Jenn]

Looks like this confirms everything I hear that it's safe there except accidentally stepping in dog poop.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1823827047132860834

 

[Finance Prof]

Looks like this confirms everything I hear that it's safe there except accidentally stepping in dog poop.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1823827047132860834

Try doing that in some of the areas outside of CABA and not sure he would have the same result.

 

[Uncle Wong]

@Jenn you will be thrilled to know that BA is buying some poop cleaning machines. My friend sent me this today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1825240447591014547

 

[Darksider415]

@Jenn you will be thrilled to know that BA is buying some poop cleaning machines. My friend sent me this today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1825240447591014547

I think the best thing would be to charge an extra tax for cleaning up after dog owners, if they can't be bothered to do it themselves... Maybe 10-20k per dog per month?

 

[MickMolloy]

I think the best thing would be to charge an extra tax for cleaning up after dog owners, if they can't be bothered to do it themselves... Maybe 10-20k per dog per month?

They just wont pay

 

[FuturoBA]

I think the best thing would be to charge an extra tax for cleaning up after dog owners, if they can't be bothered to do it themselves... Maybe 10-20k per dog per month?

I don't recall if they have have them or how common they are, but installing more community waste stations would help. The ones with the bag dispensers, waste bins, and signs. If it's easy enough and people believe others are being responsible about it, those who aren't will have no excuses not to follow suit.

 

[FuturoBA]

@Jenn you will be thrilled to know that BA is buying some poop cleaning machines. My friend sent me this today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1825240447591014547

There's enough noise pollution as is, they should just be using a cheap pooper scooper.

 

[Uncle Wong]

I think the best thing would be to charge an extra tax for cleaning up after dog owners, if they can't be bothered to do it themselves... Maybe 10-20k per dog per month?

I just don't think people would pay those fines at all. Heck, people don't even say anything when they see owners with dogs doing that. I watched one lady walking her dog in Palermo and her dog was pooping all over the street and not one person said something to her. She said she didn't have any bag so I gave her one of my plastic bags from the grocery store that I was going to use but she still didn't do it. People are lazy.

I wish the police would fine them or put cameras on the street to see it and post it online.

I don't recall if they have have them or how common they are, but installing more community waste stations would help. The ones with the bag dispensers, waste bins, and signs. If it's easy enough and people believe others are being responsible about it, those who aren't will have no excuses not to follow suit.

I asked about this why they don't have any stations around the parks or out and someone told me that people would just steal the bags and use them for something else. Very pathetic.

There's enough noise pollution as is, they should just be using a cheap pooper scooper.

I don't think those cheap ones can handle the amount that some streets have.