32 Best Restaurants in The Northwest, Argentina

A short drive off RN 9, located in front of the Cerro Pollera de la Coya lies this impressive, wine-driven restaurant that opened in 2024. Elevated on a small hill and surrounded by Malbec vineyards and mountains, Inkillay is raising the wining and dining game in the Quebrada. Here, chef Florencia Rodríguez brings together regional ancestral cooking techniques and ingredients with haute cuisine. The four-course tasting is paired with Mallku, the house line of wines, as well as regional labels; do order the calapurca goat stew for its fiery preparation. If the elevation is hitting you, order the smaller tapas menu. There's also a wine bar should you simply wish to sample local vintages.

A delightful al fresco dining experience located within the courtyard of an adobe home, Casa Mocha has put the rural village of Huacalera on the foodie map. The Manzur family, who opened the restaurant in 2024, also produces wines including Malbec, Criolla, and Sauvignon Blanc from the Quebrada de Humahuaca as Bodega El Bayeh. Sample these with the delicious lunchtime menu that draws from the family’s Lebanese roots, including bean hummus, quinoa tabulé, and empanadas baked in the clay oven. You can also buy their wines and own selection of goat cheeses from the little store.

Good food and great music roll together at this peña, located in a traditional 19th-century casona that attracts cafayenteños and visitors. Start with tiny beef empanadas and lashings of spicy llajua tomato sauce then follow up with entraña steak with quinoa salad. Once the live music starts, the conversation stops flowing. 

The food, from steak to quinoa salad, is superb; the wine list is fairly priced; and the wooden floors, whimsical lights, and artwork make the space appealing. What's more, some evenings around 9:30 there's live music, generally performed by friends of the owners, award-winning chef Florencia Rodríguez. El Nuevo Progreso is right in the center of town, with windows looking out across the small plaza.

A group of chefs launched a restaurant and catering service with high Andean cuisine as its goal—"high" referring to both the altitude and the gourmet techniques. The result is José Balcarce, in a brick-and-wood building with large windows just two blocks from bustling Balcarce Street. The menu is short, and the service can be slow, but the creative dishes—using local ingredients such as quinoa and llama—are delicious.

While almost every restaurant proudly serves up tiny, handmade, clay oven-baked empanadas, this casual spot is one of the undisputed champions in the city. A popular place located in a 100-yeard old casona, as noted by the lines to get in and online discussions where it regularly features in the top three, the menu is to the point: beef or cheese empanadas. Perfect repulgues (folds), pastry charred just so and tasty fillings make La Salteñeria a go-to. Just remember to bite open the most pointy end and drop llajua sauce in.

For a contemporary spin on regional dishes, head to Los Morteros. The llama in Malbec, squash and quinoa ravioli, and succulent lamb stew are all noteworthy picks; this busy spot also cooks up a sizzling barbecue worth ordering for its smell alone. Reservations are a good idea.  Check out Los Morteros' wine cellar—it mostly stocks regional wines made at high altitudes.

Although the all-female restaurant team caters breakfast for El Porvenir Wine Lodge’s guests, Pausa really comes to life over long lunches held next to the trellis vineyards and at dinner within the colonial-style salon. Salta-born chef Guadalupe Blanco naturally prepares excellent hen and beef empanadas, but also puts a spin on regional classics. Order tortilla, black sausage with free-range eggs, or lamb pie à la carte, or choose the five-course menu; regardless, kick back and savor the moment in this privileged location. The wine list is solely derived from the estate.  

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.

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.

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.

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. 

After a bumpy three-hour drive to Cachi, the rounded wining and dining experience at this rural bodega run by fourth-generation vintners at the foot of snow-capped Cerro Cachi is most welcome. Sample the seven wine labels made at extreme elevation, including Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon, in a tasting under the pink pepper tree or over a barbecue lunch prepared by a champion asador at the old farmhouse a few blocks from Cachi’s main square.

At this adorable spot in Seclantás, Pío Díaz and his family cultivate heritage ingredients in their organic garden then harvest them to create delicious regional dishes. Many recipes, such as charquisillo made from jerky, have been passed down through the generations and are served in this gorgeous 18th-century farmhouse. Try the Díaz’ mistela wine as well as ulpada, a fermented corn beverage.

Picadas—assorted cured meats and local cheeses, accompanied by home-baked breads—are the star attractions here (try the smoked boar and trout). Although this deli and wine bar does get busy, the staff is generally friendly, and you can escape the bustle by retreating to the back terrace.  Wash down your meal with one of the hearty Los Morros-line reds, produced by Casa Moderna’s own small winery.

This warm, festive, family-friendly locale serves dishes quite typical of Salta and the Northwest such as classics like humita (steamed corn husks filled with cheese) or the local locro stew, with beans and hunks of beef. You'll dine in a room steeped in local tradition, amid wine jugs and old wooden implements. Empanadas and meats are also reliable; the pastas are unremarkable, though. The location, across from Iglesia San Francisco, is very central. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

When a top Buenos Aires restaurant moved to the northwest, salteños couldn’t believe their luck. Taking their concept of cooking exclusively with Argentine ingredients, chef Fernando Rivarola and sommelier Gabriela Lafuente now focus on giving  contemporary identity to the northwest’s abundant pantry, while illuminating alternative proteins; you can only order the tasting menu. There’s also a fantastic vista thanks to its location at the top of Cerro San Bernardo; taking the cable car up adds to the magic.

With three dining rooms, a patio out back, a location just yards from the central plaza, and well-priced regional cuisine, El Patio is one of Tilcara's most popular restaurants. Anita Ponce's menu is an unpretentious yet delectable mix of dishes using locally sourced ingredients such as llama fillet, quinoa risotto, and tamales, and service is friendly. Order beef empanadas to start, and slather in llajua spicy sauce.

Facing the main plaza, this big barn of a restaurant serves regional specialties (like tamales and cabrito al horno), as well as pastas and classic Argentine steaks. Expect generous portions, a bustling atmosphere, live folk music, and wines from the owner's Bodega Río Colorado, just a block away.

A 20-minute drive from San Salvador, this Italian restaurant is a welcome addition to the city’s dining scene. After many years working in Buenos Aires, chef Daniel Hansen returned to his native Jujuy and opened Flor del Pago in the family home in Lozano. Part of the stunning colonial mansion lends itself to three dining rooms, where diners can savor risotto, solid homemade pasta, and a wine list focusing on Northwest Argentina labels.

For wine-tasting with a difference, stop at Heladería Miranda in Cafayate. In 1994, at the age of 60, Ricardo Miranda decided that he wasn't going to succeed as a painter. So he turned his creative energy to making wine sorbets, taking two years to perfect the recipe. Sweet yet tangy Torrontés arguably makes sense as a sorbet; the Cabernet makes a good match for his fruit-flavored ice creams. All are made organically on the premises. 

It's an honest little restaurant in Seclantás, with some fine old photos on the walls and good, oven-baked empanadas. Other attractions include a delicious goat stew, corn-based dishes, regional breads, and a warm welcome from your host, Alejandro Díaz.

A great-value restaurant on a bustling downtown corner, Jovi Dos has several airy, high-ceilinged rooms with wood beams and plate-glass windows. Noteworthy starters include marinated eggplant and baked beef empanadas while grilled meats, seafood, pizza, and pasta have equal billing on the overly long menu. Dishes such as the ravioles mixtas (ravioli filled with spinach and cheese, then topped with a creamy sauce) are big enough for two people. The waitstaff is attentive, and the wine list is solid.

At lunch, the best tables are taken by groups of tourists being serenaded by a band of minstrels, but don't let that put you off. The food is simple, well-presented Andean fare, and the prices are very reasonable. The kitchen can cater to vegetarians, too.

Slotted neatly into the tiny Plaza Peloc, La Picanteria’s streetside setting makes for a great lunch spot to watch people come and go about their business. You can, of course, also dine inside, and enjoy the simple yet cozy aesthetic. There’s a brisk business for those after the three-course lunch menu, which might include spicy vegetable soup, llama escalope with salad or delicious handmade pasta. Dinner consists of a decent pizza—and pizza only—menu.

Empanadas, llama dishes, and other hearty regional specialties dominate the menu at this eatery on the main square. Take a seat by the window and watch the scene at the market stalls outside while enjoying jujeño staples such as picante de pollo (spicy chicken) or regional stews, or avoid the bustle on the airy back patio.

A poetic narrative in the menu describes this place as "a haven for parched travelers," along the lines of the watering holes used for centuries by local shepherds. Top picks include empanadas baked in the clay oven at the entrance and a llama fillet served with orange sauce and colorful tiny Andean potatoes. They also cook up great asado (barbecue).

A 102-year-old converted school building houses one of Cafayate's more ambitious regional food restaurants. Overseen by the friendly owner Matías, it has three dining rooms themed after the Nanni, Domingo Hermanos, and Etchart bodegas, with wine displays and special cutlery. The decoration is from all around the world, but the food is strictly local—llama, quinoa, rabbit, kid, and Andean potatoes lead the menu. A convivial wine bar stays open late to serve vino from every bodega in town. There's live music and dancing some weekends.

Ponchos on the walls, old paintings, native artifacts, stucco archways, and Andean background music are clues that this might be one of the best places to sample authentic Northwestern cuisine. Try the locro: a stew of maize, white beans, beef, chorizo, pancetta, and a wonderful red pepper–oil glaze, all of which come together in a mélange of savory, starchy flavors.  Ask for a table at the back for a more authentic and less-hurried dining experience.

For jujeña classics with an eclectic twist, head to Pan de Azucár, where an ample menu offers original concoctions of the local staple, llama—think curry, carpaccio, grilled fillet, or stuffed in ravioli. House specialties also include quinoa, pork, and pasta.