a little guide to eating in Buenos Aires

I already mentioned last time that Buenos Aires is a great place at the cheap price for pizza, ice cream and meat lovers. Here you have a little guide to eating in Buenos Aires- everything about where and what the locals eat. I must warn you though Buenos Aires is not the best place for you if you watch your weight. No matter how strong willpower you can have, that city will break you. So be prepared to struggle with closing the last button of your trousers.

Do you want to eat like a local? Here is a list of the foods you should try. I also mentioned a few places where locals would go to eat. Enjoy.

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Food to try in Buenos Aires

Ice cream

If you’re a big admirer of ice cream, this is your city. There’s a heladería on almost every corner. I’m not even much of an ice cream person (please don’t judge), and resisting the temptation here was still a real challenge.

I was lucky to have a private, half-local guide — a huge enthusiast of the capital, and of ice cream possibly even more — so I got to eat like a local. He made sure I tried all the Argentinian specialties that the people of Buenos Aires swear by. His verdict: the best gelato is at Freddo, and the best flavour is dulce de leche tentación. I’ll admit it, it’s not bad at all. It’s like toffee with toffee and more toffee. (I got told off for calling it toffee, so I may not be welcome back in Argentina. It’s not toffee. It just tastes similar.)

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you have any other suggestions regarding culinary in Argentina, please let us know. You can now download this post via GpsMyCity and use it later offline during your trip.

Pizza in Buenos Aires

Someone once told me the best pizza in the world is in Buenos Aires. Crazy, I thought. Aren’t the Italians the masters of this? But with such a deep history of Italian immigration here, the art and tradition of pizza-making in Buenos Aires is genuinely hard to beat.

I wasn’t going to believe it without proof, so I had to see with my own mouth what the fuss was about. And yes, I ate some of the best pizzas of my life. That said, popularity and quality don’t always go hand in hand, and the good traditional places are harder to find than you’d think. So here’s a short list, approved by real porteños.

Wherever you end up, order fainá, a flatbread made from chickpea flour. That triangle sitting on top of your pizza slice? That’s fainá.

Where to eat best pizza in Buenos Aires

Banchero

A big, old pizzeria in La Boca neighborhood. It seems to be not very popular amongst tourists. Located a little bit outside of the busy part of La Boca, Banchero goes a way back. When you enter, it will take you back in time. And the pizza! You have never eaten more cheese on one slice.

Güerrin

This pizzeria is located  Avenida Corrientes 1368. With a very traditional design and a rich history of pizza making, it is a great place to feel the atmosphere of Buenos Aires. Although it is always packed with hungry tourists and locals, it keeps the traditional look and taste.

Make sure you try fainá, a dish based on chickpeas flour. You can see that triangle on top of my pizza? That’s fainá.

El Cuartito

Talcahuano 937. Another classic: great atmosphere, great food, the kind of place that’s been doing one thing well for a very long time.

Chunchulines

Chinchulines are the small intestines. I guess some of you on the sound of eat will turn your head away, but what can I say, it is a delicacy in Argentina and I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t try it. I have to tell you that it is quite tasty and if you are a little bit adventurous, this is just another thing to try something different.

Choripan

It is a simple and a very popular food usually sold on streets. It is a grilled sausage called chorizo criollo in a roll (esp. pan). Stands that prepare that for you usually offer different toppings and sauces that are placed on a table on a pavement, for example, for you to help yourself.

Panchos

Well, it is just another name for so well-known to everyone hot-dog.

Alfajores

Alfajores might be the best cookies you’ve ever tried, and I’m not exaggerating. Two crumbly, tender biscuits sandwiched with dulce de leche and, as they say in Spanish, bathed in chocolate. Truly irresistible, and Buenos Aires is devoted to them. You’ll find them everywhere from corner kiosks to smart cafés.

Sandwiches de miga

Those sandwiches are prepared with different fillings (blue cheese is my favourite), the secret of them, however, is the bread. It is a very thin bread called pan de miga and is lighter than air. Sometimes those sandwiches are made of three layers of bread instead of two. The best and the freshest sandwiches de miga are sold in small bakeries.

Matambre

Matambre is a very thin cut of beef rolled with vegetables, hard-boiled egg and herbs. The word ‘matambre’ means ‘mata’ + ‘hambre’ = ‘kill hunger’.

Pionono

Pionono is a dessert: a soft sponge cake rolled around — you guessed it — dulce de leche. The cake is said to be named after Pope Pius IX, whose nickname was Pío Nono.

Meat, asado and the parrilla

Here’s the thing Buenos Aires is truly famous for, and it deserves its own section. In Argentina, meat isn’t just dinner – it’s a ritual.

Two words worth knowing before you order. A parrilla is both the grill itself and the name for a steakhouse. An asado is the event: a slow, sociable barbecue, traditionally a weekend affair with family and friends. If you want the steakhouse experience, you’re looking for a parrilla.

What to order:

• Bife de chorizo — a thick, juicy sirloin (nothing to do with chorizo sausage, confusingly). The classic first choice.
• Ojo de bife — ribeye, rich and well-marbled.
• Entraña — skirt steak, thin and full of flavour.
• Tira de asado — short ribs, cut across the bone, an Argentine staple.
• Provoleta — a disc of provolone grilled until it’s molten inside and crisp at the edges, usually the way to start a meal.

The best restaurants in Buenos Aires (which was also selected as the best place in South America) for the meat is Don Julio. We eclebrated birthday parties there- it’s really worth it.

If you can’t decide, order a parrillada, a mixed grill that brings a bit of everything on a little charcoal brazier, including offal like mollejas (sweetbreads) and chinchulines (more on those below). Everything comes with chimichurri, the garlicky herb sauce you’ll want on all of it. And pair it with a glass of Argentine Malbec, the best of it comes from Mendoza, a wine region well worth a trip of its own.

One useful tip: Argentines tend to cook meat well done by default. If you like it pink, ask for it jugoso (juicy, roughly rare to medium-rare); a punto is closer to medium.

Where to get best coffee and medialunas in Buenos Aires

La Biela Café

This traditional cafe located in the heart of Recoleta neighbourhood should not be missed. You can go back in time there while sipping your coffee and indulging yourself with sweet pastry – medialunas. Or if you are in the mood you can share some stories with two Nobel Prize winners and frequent customers of La Biela: an Argentinian writer Adolfo Bioy Casares and his writer friend Jorge Luis Borges.

Located at 600 Quintana Avenue

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