Restaurants in Buenos Aires
 

Avrooster, I'd love to pick your [very knowledgeable] brain re restaurants in Buenos Aires. We like all kinds of food, and are staying in Palermo at the Mine Hotel. Prefer not to dress up for dinner, but we don't need to be wearing shorts and t-shirts either! Any "local" places you'd recommend? (we used to "wing it" when we traveled, but now prefer to at least have a list, if not reservations, in advance. We too often ate at touristy or just not very good restaurants in the past. Not looking for the French Laundry, and don't like to linger over food, or spend too much time talking about what we're eating!)

Hi, sf7307! Thank you very much for your kind words about my brain. I thought I was getting old, but if you say otherwise...... LOL!

You don't say when you are coming, but I assume it will be sometime during the next few months, in other words during our summer.

During that season, particularly in Jan. and Feb., shorts and t-shirts should be fine in all but the most elegant restaurants. Slacks and a nice shirt should be accepted ANYWHERE. Forget about needing a jacket or a tie!

In Palermo, many places set tables on the sidewalk, which should make informal clothing even more acceptable.

I don't live in BA, but I'll ask TOP poster Marnie https://www.fodors.com/community/pro...forum-activity who comes to BA every summer and usually stays in Palermo for help with this matter.

Most restaurants open at 8 PM and are mostly empty until 9. What I mean is that, unless you plan to eat late, reservations are not required. My advice: go early.

Tourists LOVE these two steakhouses in Palermo: La Cabrera https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._District.html and Don Julio https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._District.html

But you asked for places which are popular with locals, as well as tourists. In Palermo, I'll defer to Marnie. One thing you could do: as you walk around Palermo during the daytime, be on the lookout for places which seem to be popular with locals having lunch. Ask for the menu, which could be different for dinner.

Clinton's famous "it's the economy stupid!" is very much alive at this time in my country. The economy is a disaster, which means restaurants should be much less busy than normal, because eating out is one of the first things our middle class gives up when it becomes difficult to make ends meet.

In the Recoleta area, which I know quite well, I would suggest for Italian https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._District.html
for grilled meat AND grilled fish or vegetables https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._District.html and for cheap empanadas and local food https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._District.html Not too sure about shorts being adequate in the first two places.

Have a great time in my town sf7307, keep the questions coming and please post a trip report to help other forum readers!

Thank you!!

OK, so outside of the very touristy (though Don Julio is still one of my favorites) good restaurants recommended by the Rooster, above, here are a couple more - not necessarily in Palermo...but close enough. And this is just a sample...Have fun finding treasures and reporting back here :)

El Trapiche (Paraguay 5099, Palermo Viejo)

El Trapiche? Helpful waiters who know the menu backwards. Which is good, because the menu is vast. It also has a long and well-priced wine list, an often-overlooked feature
The matambrito de cerdo (grilled pork flank) here is famous, so if you can bear to order a cut of meat that doesn’t come from a cow for once, you might just be very happy you did.

El SanJuanino on Posadas in Recoleta for excellent empanadas and other Argentine specialities....oh, and then CUMANA for the same. Both have excellent food and authentic atmosphere, etc.

Right next door to El SanJuanino is FERVOR a more upscale, excellent restaurant for seafood and meat.

The Cafe at the Evita Museum is really good for lunch - a nice outdoor garden, too. Just across the street is one of our local favorites: La Josefina for beef and proveleta and salads and, and .........

The restaurant at the Bobo Hotel is interesting and good....and La Choza in Palermo is wonderful. as is the Fiero Hotel Restaurant. And then there is the Alvear for Brunch (Recoleta) or dinner in their new Argentine Grill.

OK, I need to have some dinner now....my mouth is watering and I am impatient to get to Buenos Aires in January.....save some for us :) and enjoy it all.

I'm following this thread too, as we'll be there in early December. Love all the great ideas for places to eat! The lunch place at the Evita Peron museum sounds lovely (by the way, we saw a nice exhibit featuring Evita Peron's manuscripts at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Charleston, SC where we live).

Great lists - I'm full just thinking about it!

I second the recmmendations for Sottovoce and Fervor as well as for San Juanino.

Thanks bookmarking

No longer
 

I went to Fervor again a few days ago, after several years and no longer recommend it. Expensive (by local standards) and barely OK.

Oh my, what a shame. Actually, the last time we were there - 2018 - it was definitely not as good as were previous meals there.. I had hoped it was a fluke- a one-off. Sorry to learn that Fervor is no longer up to its previous standards. Thanks for the update, AV Rooster.

Thats a shame avrooster. I was planning on taking you there next time we are in your town (and picking up the tab this time!)

Some of our favorite restaurants were in the Palermot area, http://www.crizia.com.ar/crizia/, for a modern twist on local cuisine. We also had lunch at a very good Pizza restaurant, Cosi Mi Piace. For more traditional food, in Ricoleta area, we liked Oviedo Restaurante, el sabor original | miércoles, 06 de marzo de 2019

While on a walk in Palermo Soho a few weeks ago, we passed by a semi-open door to what looked like a garage, with laughter and happy bustling sounds reaching the sidewalk. Drawing nearer, we saw that it was a restaurant, and we were hearing the staff preparing for opening hour. A friendly guy came over and asked if we'd like to have a look. Sure enough, the inside also seemed to be an old garage, stripped down, scrubbed, and re-fitted as a restaurant offering a small menu of mostly vegetarian food, all cooked in a wood oven.

Although there is no sign outside, the restaurant, whose name is Proper, has been in this mostly residential, quiet part of the barrio for over a year.