183 Best Restaurants in Argentina

A haunt for foodies who adore the creative, contemporary Argentine cuisine and beautiful presentation, there's nowhere better in the neighborhood for lunch or an atmospheric dinner in the city's Architectural Association. The star of the lineup is the roasted, stuffed whole quail with squash. Service is very efficient and a top sommelier is in charge of the wine list and heads up the dynamic team.

This central restaurant serves up every meal of the day and while the chocolate fondue has some fame in the town, it's really the fusion cuisine in the evening that keeps punters returning. There's a relaxed but professional bistro vibe to Sugar and the chef has an eye for smart presentation.

One of the city's more sophisticated dining rooms, Tomo I is a bastion of modern French-Argentine cooking. Dishes lean towards less-is-more, and truly shine with updated versions of classic French dishes, like kid with broad beans.

The menu at this unassuming picanteria (restaurant specializing in spicy foods) has everything from trout to rabbit, but llama or quinoa are the dishes to try: give them a go as an empanada starter. Less adventurous eaters can sample one of the pasta dishes. Named after an Andean god, Viracocha has helpful staff, and the atmosphere amid the yellow walls and arches is happily relaxed.

“With the nobility of fire” is how this lively steakhouse styles itself, and for good reason—it offers a large menu of parrilla classics, in generous servings, as well as wood-fired pizzas. Fairy lights decorate the outdoor patio, while inside, the oak tables and low lighting give the restaurant an intimate feel.

Realizing that not every visitor to Buenos Aires has friends or family to invite them to an asado, the traditional backyard barbecue, Colorado native Kelly Brenner and Argentino Gabriel Aguallo decided to take the plunge. They threw open the doors to their charming home, where guests join them on the patio around a massive grill and then adjourn to the farmhouse-style dining area for a family-style steak or seafood fest. Plenty of grilled vegetable dishes, creative salads, and glasses of local wine accompany the meat. More wines are available from the short but well-selected wine list. The exact address is provided when you make a reservation.

In this boisterous wooden dining hall you'll share hearty steaks, warming soups, and wine poured from penguin-shaped ceramic jugs in a family restaurant that includes a hostel upstairs. The food is nothing spectacular, but the portions are big and just what a stomach needs after a long hike on the trail. It's also a friendly atmosphere in what is easily one of El Chaltén's most popular restaurants. They're consistently open for lunch and dinner in the off-season.

Empanadas, llama dishes, and other hearty regional specialties served in earthernware bowls lead the menu at this friendly spot. Standout dishes include regional stews such as lamb and quinoa; the house wine is worth ordering. Most evenings, local musicians such as the Pasakana band take to the stage, giving the restaurant much more of a lively peña animada feel.

This intimate eatery serves up comforting Argentine cuisine each evening for just 10 tables in a romantic, candlelit garden. The menu changes regularly, but some favorites include homemade gnocchi and mollejas (sweetbreads).

Folks from Salta and San Lorenzo favor this bright, semi-enclosed brick-and-glass building with a vaulted ceiling for weekend dining. Lo de Andrés prepares a lightly spiced Argentine-style parrillada, but if you're not up for a full-on feast, there are empanadas and milanesas (breaded steak), as well as regional dishes like humita.

Locals are thrilled: finally, a date-night restaurant in Puerto Iguazú. Although the high-ceilinged split-level cabin seats too many to be truly intimate, the owners make up for it with well-spaced tables, discreet service, and low lighting. Softly gleaming timber from different local trees lines the walls, roof, and floor. Local river fish like surubí and dorado are the specialty: have them pan-fried, or, more unusually, as pasta fillings. Forget being romantic at dessert time: the chef's signature dessert, caayucayari, with almonds and yerba mate, is definitely worth keeping to yourself. Reservations are essential on weekends.

This restaurant in the center of town is one of the many typical and popular tenedor libre (all-you-can-eat) parrillas on the main strip—nobody orders à la carte. Skip the Italian buffet and Chinese offerings and fill up instead on the grilled meats and morcilla (blood sausage). Sit by the interior window toward the back where you see the parrillero artfully coordinate the flames and spits, and ask him to load your plate with the choicest cuts.

In a city known for its steak and potatoes, vegetarians generally have to make do with salads, pastas, and pizzas to get by. That’s slowly changing thanks to gems like Artemisia, which serves up what is arguably the city's best and most creative meat-free fare, spiced up with Peruvian flavors. It also offers what may be the city's best veggie burger, packed with flavorful lentils. If you're traveling with omnivores, there's always one fish dish on the menu. The service tends to be a bit slow, but it fits the relaxed vibe. There's a sister spot at Cabrera 3877, also in Palermo.

A spectacular five-course meal of unique, well-prepared meats and vegetables. A sample menu might begin with a guanaco empanada, followed by courses of diverse meats, grilled pumpkin, and a vegetable bruschetta. It's a veritable feast that is worthy of the high price tag.

The city’s finest purveyor of southeast Asian food started out as a closed-door restaurant in the chef's home but these days it has a prime Palermo Hollywood location. Adobo pao (steamed pork buns) from her beloved Philippines and delicious Thai yellow curry are two musts, best accompanied by a lemongrass and vodka cocktail. Book a table under the banana trees at the back for a romantic dinner.

The young owners of this resto bar provide friendly service, a creative take on Argentine and international cuisine, and excellent microbrews.

This character-filled restaurant has stepped up in recent years, bagging a Michelin star for its Argentina-focused tasting menus in 2023. Start dinner over a glass of espumante bubbles in the tasting room, next to the old grape press that's been upcycled into a tasting table. Offering a welcome break from parrilla fare, the two tasting menus, which can be paired, give traditional Argentine and regional ingredients a creative twist.

On the southern edge of Palermo, this place serves pints of ale—not too cold, as is British custom—and what are easily the tastiest Indian-style curries in the city. The best part is that there's no stinting on the picante, as is more typical at Indian restaurants in this spice-averse city. These dishes will make you sweat, so you'll definitely need that beer. This place is a hangout for British and American expats, but there are always a few intrepid locals. If you choose to sit upstairs rather than take a seat in the pub, order your food before climbing the steps. The waiters will go up to deliver your plates but not to take your order.

The coolest bar in Pirámides is also the town's best seafood restaurant where—amid nets, nautical gear, and glam-rock posters—the requisite fish and steak dishes are offered alongside pizzas and homemade pastas.

One of the first Italian restaurants in Palermo Botánico, Bella Italia is the cornerstone of what has become the city's quasi-official Little Italy. The Lena family runs its flagship restaurant and a neighboring café (along with branches in Palermo and Belgrano) with grace, warmth, and elegance. The star of the menu is one of the city's few veal chops, a whopping cut of perfectly cooked meat encrusted with salt and rosemary and served over beautifully roasted potatoes. This dish is easily enough for two, especially if you start with one of the kitchen's stellar pastas. The restaurant also features a well-thought-out and fairly priced wine list.

Stepping into the wood-paneled dining room, with tables draped in white linens and a ceiling tented with a colorful carpet, you may feel like you've entered a British officers' club from the late 1800s. During the day the clientele seem to be mostly embassy employees and foreign-service workers, which just adds to that atmosphere. At night it changes over to a mix of neighbors and tourists enjoying the offbeat menu that's half Italian and half Indian. For those in the mood for spice, a half-dozen reasonably hot curries are on offer (the fish and prawn curries are the stars). For something milder, pasta is the thing, and the excellent lasagnas are the house specialty. The waitstaff is trained to sell and can sometimes seem a little pushy.

San Martín wouldn't be a ski town without a fondue restaurant, and this one is particularly appealing. The cheese fondue is smooth and rich, while the meat version comes with cubes of Argentine beef in assorted cuts and up to 12 condiments. (Vegetable fondues are, sadly, a bit limp.) Steaks and pasta are also well represented, and there's a fantastic wine list. The restaurant's two rooms—adorned with wooden panels and rustic tables—are equally suited to children and honeymooners.

A romantic bistro located down a secluded Recoleta alley, the sister restaurant to Aramburu deals in classy comfort food. Expect dishes such as rabbit terrine, Patagonian lamb, wood-grilled octopus, and a steak tartare that comes with mustard ice cream. The outdoor patio is lovely when the weather cooperates. In 2023 it was awarded a Bib Gourmand for great value by the Michelin guide. 

Stop by for a tasting of easy-drinking whites and reds at Bodega Colomé’s sister winery just outside Cafayate, and stay for lunch with beautiful valley views from the foot of Cerro San Isidro. The spacious restaurant and wine bar opened in 2023, a refreshing and contemporary addition to the winery scene, and the solid menu provides several short, paired tasting menus that might include lamb casserole. It’s one of the few wineries to also open for dinner (on weekends). Wine tastings from 10,000 pesos. 

A mustard-yellow pioneer house that lights up the main street, this traditional eatery is driven by its ebullient owner Sergio Otero, a constant presence bustling around the bench seating, making suggestions, and revving up his staff. Sample the picada plate (king crab rolls, Roma-style calamari, marinated rabbit) over an artisanal Beagle Beer—the dark version is the perfect balm on a cold windy day. Lamb dominates the mains, and the emphasis is on hearty rather than fashionable. Tables filled with locals and visitors make for a boisterous atmosphere. 

One of the few classic French brasseries in Buenos Aires, Petanque is a place to enjoy hearty French fare accompanied by local wines. The ambience is lively, with marble-topped tables so close to each other that you may find yourself participating in neighboring conversations, though service can be snooty. The best dishes are the most traditional, the confit de pato, or duck confit, is not to be missed.

This elegant corner Italian restaurant features wraparound windows overlooking Parque Paseo de las Americas was one of the first spots to bring some life to "Bajo Belgrano." Now, there are a half dozen restaurants within a block, and this area is a dining destination, not only for local Belgrano residents but for visiting gastronomes from across the city and globe. The duo that owns it—restaurateur Fernando Brucco (also owner of Happening in Puerto Madero) and local rocker Fabián "Zorrito" Quintiero (who also owns Soul Café)—have maintained the standards originally set by consulting chef and local food TV personality Donato deSantis. The stars here, other than the owners, are the pastas, made fresh in-house and topped with creative, delicious sauces—don't miss the "Unico," a whopping raviolo filled with spinach and cheese and topped with mushrooms and truffle sauce.

In the heart of the city's Chinatown, BuddhaBA is part pan-Asian restaurant, part tranquil garden, and part art gallery. The service is understated, but always gracious, and the food is a pleasure to both look at and eat. The tastiest dish on the menu is the paté imperial, a unique twist on the classic Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, reinterpreted as a pair of long, delicate, crispy springrolls. The Chinese sweet-and-sour dishes are always delicious, if sometimes erring a trifle on the sweet side. Finish up with a pot of tea, perhaps out in the garden during nice weather.

The city's first microbrewery is in a prime position opposite Recoleta Cemetery, and it's a prince among frogs in a saturated craft beer market. There are seven different styles of beer (the Porter is highly recommended), and you can have a sampler of the whole range. Great sandwiches and one of the better burgers in the neighborhood are more reasons to drop in. Head up to the terrace on weekends. There are also pubs in Villa Crespo and Belgrano. 

The beef and pork are sourced from the owner's own ranch at this well-known—and expensive—steak house that attracts a crowd of mostly international travelers to the docklands. Service is impeccable, as are the steaks; of note are the ojo de bife and bife de lomo, aka the rib eye and the sirloin.