Now that we’re settled into Santiago, it’s time for some reflection on our favorite places to eat in Buenos Aires.  While we may have mentioned from time to time that the food choices in Buenos Aires can be a bit repetitive (cycling through the 5 major food groups), there are definitely some amazing places to eat in the city.  In addition to the things listed in Time Out and on Trip Advisor, we’ve been lucky enough to find a few lesser known restaurants that we think are awesome, and you just happen to be lucky enough that we’re willing to share them with you!

Note: We’ve indicated the price we usually pay for the two of us, typically including wine (we like wine) and either an appetizer or dessert; we’ve noted exceptions.  Take these as rough estimates, not absolutes.

• El Estrebe: If you’ve followed our blog, you know that we LOVE El Estrebe.  We found it around the corner from our apt. in Recoleta and noticed that it was always packed (after 9pm anyway – don’t dare try to go to dinner before then in Argentina).  They also have a couple of fabulous wines for around AR35-40 (that’s US$10) by bodega Viñas de Narvaez, on the first page of the wine menu (our faves are the malbec and the syrah).  Read our review here and our photo essay here, but suffice to say that this is probably the one restaurant we’ll miss the most when (or if) we go back to the US.
  • Neighborhood: Recoleta
  • Cuisine: Parrilla
  • Price: ~AR 200 – we usually share a steak since they’re massive (see below) but have 2 appetizers, dessert and a bottle of wine
  • Best for: Dinner
    

    Incredible bife de lomo from El Estrebe

• Don Julio: Another great parrilla, this one located in Palermo.  It’s a classic, and classy,  kind of place – great service, great wine list, fabulous meats.  Another parrilla in the neighborhood is really popular with tourists (La Cabrera) but we think this is much better.  Try the Flecha de los Andes malbec – awesome.
  • Neighborhood: Palermo Soho
  • Cuisine: Parrilla
  • Price: ~AR250-300 (the above-mentioned wine is ~AR100, bumping our total up a bit)
  • Best for: Dinner
    

    Us with our favorite bottle of wine at Don Julio (yes, we know we look like we've had too much)- sometimes they'll let you sign it and they'll put it up on the wall

• Dada: This one is a bistro located in centro, near Florida street.  The space is a little funky and casual with only about 10 tables, plus a bar.  They have amazing beef dishes (the ojo de bife is our favorite – amazingly flavorful – they actually appear to use seasoning it which doesn’t happen much in Buenos Aires and may be considered cheating…) but also a bunch of other good stuff, including a langostine risotto.  Smaller menu than most places, which we’ve found to mean that they do all of it well, rather than much of it poorly.  Call ahead for reservation, especially if you’re going on the weekend.
  • Neighborhood: Microcentro
  • Cuisine: French bistro
  • Price: AR250
  • Best for: Lunch, dinner
    

    Funky, low-key place with amazing food!

• Pizza Piola: Trendy environment, often playing techno or other clubbish music, and really good thin crust pizza – not only the typical Buenos Aires pizzas, but more creative modern cuisine style as well (think California Pizza Kitchen, but better).  Two of our favorites are the Carbonara and the Avandaro.  Best to get a reservation Thurs/Fri/Sat.
  • Neighborhood: Barrio Norte
  • Cuisine: Pizza
  • Price:  ~AR120 (~AR50 for a large pizza, AR20-30 for a small)
  • Best for: Lunch, dinner
    

    Thin crust, proscutto, brie and arugula - yes!!!

• Pizza y Espuma:  If you want a good set lunch with pasta or a simple pizza, this is a good bet.  We stumbled across this place on our walk home from Spanish school – they have a couple of locations, including Palermo Viejo and Recoleta.  They also have pretty much the only white wine in all of Argentina that we really like, and it’s their house wine – San Felipe.  It comes in a funny short, fat bottle, and you can sometimes find it in the grocery store too.
  • Neighborhood: Recoleta, Palermo Viejo, others
  • Cuisine: Pizza and pasta
  • Price: AR80-100 (lunch price; variance based on whether we order wine or not – we highly recommend a bottle of wine for lunch)
  • Best for: Lunch (good fixed menu options)
    

    Location in Palermo Viejo - 2 levels, with plenty of TVs for football (and we think a rooftop deck too)

• Cumana: This is a Buenos Aires institution that draws tons of locals and tourists alike.  They’re famous for their empanadas and cazuelas (stews/soups), and also happens to be the site of my unfortunate run-in with mondongo.  As such, we love their empanadas and some of their stews, but just be careful what you order.  There’s often a line out the door for this place during the lunch rush or dinnertime, but we’ve had better luck with a late lunch, around 2ish.
  • Neighborhood: Recoleta
  • Cuisine: Traditional Argentine
  • Price: AR100 or less
  • Best for: Lunch, dinner
    

    Cumana (in Recoleta) sometimes has a line down the street of locals and tourists alike waiting to get in

• La Morada: Not exactly the greatest ambiance, but this is our go-to empanada delivery place.  They have carne suave as well as carne picante (thank god for a little spice, finally!!), as well as some awesome caprese empanadas (we think of these as appetizer empanadas).
  • Neighborhood: Recoleta
  • Cuisine: Empanadas
  • Price: ~AR50 for a dozen (empanadas only, no drinks–usually covers us for 2 dinners)
  • Best for: Delivery (dinner)
    

    After much searching, our favorite empanada place in our neighborhood

• Miranda: We tried this place for lunch soon after arriving in Buenos Aires on the recommendation of a friend (see our full review here) – good decision!  Every time we’ve gone, this place has been packed with businessmen and trendy Palermo Hollywood-goers (you know, the ones who leave their sunglasses on indoors).  The set lunch options here include an appetizer (try the chorizo or polenta), a main dish (we especially like the lomo sandwich and chicken kebab with tower of grilled vegetables) and drinks (includes house wine- yay!!).  That’s a LOT of really good food for not that much.  We’re guessing dinner’s pretty good too, but we’ve never been since the lunch option is such a good deal.
  • Neighborhood: Palermo Hollywood
  • Cuisine: Parrilla
  • Price: ~AR90 (lunch with wine)
  • Best for: Lunch, dinner
    

    Only go here if you're hungry and you like meat

• La Fabrica del Taco: Having come from California, we’re used to Mexican food being plentiful and cheap, and thus ate it around once a week before we came to South America.  Turns out, Mexican is hard to come by here, but this place makes some awesome (and pretty authentic) tacos, as well as good guac and pico de gallo (try saying that with a Buenos Aires accent and not laughing).  Margaritas are expensive (like most mixed drinks in Argentina), so we usually stick with beer or sodas here.  When we get that craving for good Mexican and food with a little heat, this is where we go.  Just be prepared for the kind of creepy collection of Mexican wrestling masks covering the walls . . .
  • Neighborhood: Palermo Soho
  • Cuisine: Mexican
  • Price: ~AR120 (AR12-15/taco, 1-2 should fill you up)
  • Best for: Lunch, dinner
    

    Just wait until you get inside . . .

• Cluny: This is our fancy place where we go when we want to pretend like we can still afford the dinners we used to buy when we had paychecks.  It’s a beautiful, elegant space with fabulous service – we’ve been lucky enough to have the same server, Marcelo (and ironically, the same table) every time we’ve been.  It’s been described as “modern Argentine” as well as French, but we just call it delicious.  After trying a number of different things on the menu, our absolute favorite is the mushroom risotto topped with a incredibly flavorful hunk of lamb – best we’ve had anywhere, not just in Argentina.  Extensive (and somewhat expensive) wine list.  Great for a special evening out.
  • Neighborhood: Palermo Soho
  • Cuisine: French/Argentine
  • Price: ~AR300 (includes ~AR100 bottle of wine)
  • Best for: Dinner
    

    You can sit on the couches, or they have regular tables and a loft upstairs

• La Salamandra: This is one of our favorite cafes, located in Palermo Soho.  The company is actually a producer of high-end dulce de leche that they sell in their cafe as well as in grocery stores throughout the country – it’s good.  They also make their own fresh mozzarella and use it in lots of their dishes – stuff like grilled vegetable salad, foccacia sandwiches and fresh quiches, definitely not your standard Argentine fare.  And if you order a coffee, they serve it with a ceramic spoon full of their dulce de leche!!
  • Neighborhood: Palermo Soho
  • Cuisine: Cafe, sandwiches, salads
  • Price: AR80 (no alcohol)
  • Best for: Brunch, lunch
    

    Be sure to order a coffee after lunch so you can try their fabulous dulce de leche

• Lo de Mateo: This is another neighborhood parrilla that we stumbled across one afternoon while wandering around Recoleta.  We’ve been for both lunch and dinner, pasta and carne, and our favorite is the pasta lunch menu.  They have an awesome scarparo sauce – a red sauce with various types of onions, a touch of cream and then a bit of pesto in the middle – great with their stuffed pastas.  And the lunch menu includes dessert – their flan is my favorite.
  • Neighborhood: Recoleta/Palermo Viejo (it’s right on the line)
  • Cuisine: Pasta and parrilla
  • Price: AR80 (lunch, no alcohol)
• Best for: Lunch, dinner
  

  Nothing too fancy, just really good pastas and flan!!

  Any other favorites out there??