A resto I forgot but would highly recommend is Reliquia. They tend to focus on seasonality more than others and if you’ll be there within the next 3-4 months the produce should be peak.
If you don’t mind dining on little makeshift sidewalk* table, CANCHA pizza in Villa Crespo is nice. Small, inexpensive and OK wines kind of leaning natural. I bet they would be cool with offering $10 corkage.
*Protip, don’t leave your phone on the table whether dining inside or out. Phone theft is the most common form of crime. Beware of the guys trying to sell you socks. They’re harmless but they sometimes use this tactic to distract and swipe.
Ti Amo/La Sorellina in Colegiales (mi barrio) might be the best pizza in town. Crowded and tightly packed so be prepared.
If you want to try something very Argentine and local, Esquina, Cafe, Vino is the place. Casual, local corner spot. At least as of a few months ago it was still way off the tourist route. It’s just a tiny place with most of the seating outside. Not fancy at all. Not going to blow you away but it’s a pretty good spot for something like milanesa, pasta, burrata, puree (aka mashed potatoes) flan and similar local things. Small plates if you want to share. The wine list is decent. Prices are comparatively reasonable.
You didn’t ask but a proper food exploration of Argentina needs some ice cream in the mix. There are many heladerias serving pretty junky stuff with artificial ingredients. Here are some of the better ones in a rough list of my preference.
1, Obrador Florida. Natural ingredients and prepared properly. Most rotate depending on seasonal ingredients. A very good dulce de leche (aka ddl), basically the national favorite, is always available. Love the coco. Love the pistachio.
2, Cadore. Benchmark. Fig (higo), dark chocolate, pistachio, so many.
3, Pistacchio. In Chacarita. Fun, quirky flavors. Again, pistachio when available.
4, Gruta. A classic. They’ll toss in some candied almonds when you get a 250gr aka un cuarto/cuartito. Hazlenut and many others. Lovely area of Belgrano to stroll in the direction of the river from the Heladeria. Streets like 3 de Febrero, O’Higgins and the vicinity.
5, Antiche Tentazione. Colegiales location probably less touristy and easier to manage than Palermo.
Some that I didn’t try but think are probably good. Pot and Via Maggiore in Recoleta. Cimino R in Belgrano.
IMO Rapanui is overrated. Not terrible but easy to tell ingredients are not top notch.
Random, but I lived in BA for about a year after graduating college (2005-2006), and my favorite neighborhood spot was a place called Dada Bistro. Think it was relatively new at the time, but just looked it up and amazingly it’s still there! I can’t vouch for much 18 years on, but the Google reviews seem quite positive and the pictures look the same. I remember finding (similar to an earlier post here) a lot of the food in BA fairly bland / average, and Dada was a notable exception, super flavorful. And a cool bar / environment to boot. Not too far from Recoleta, could be a fun stop if you’re looking for something a little different there
My friend who has lived there for about 15 years likes Dada. I’ve never tried it. Not too far from the Kavanagh building, one of the iconic art deco apartment buildings in BA. I considered buying a place there several years back.
Another I forgot about is Fico in Villa Crespo. They opened after Michelin did their first AR review. My guess is they’ll at least get a mention next year.
Mengano is another. Wine director there is pretty sharp.
Forgot to mention coffee. The whole scene kind of reminds me of Paris, just 10 or so years behind. By this I mean the standard coffee (espresso) was pretty lousy at the majority of places. Burnt, poor quality beans. Over the past, say, 5-8 years there has been an explosion of cafe de especialidad. Now you will see this all over from tiny kiosks to more formal cafes. Generally the old, classic place serve the bunk stuff even when they are in beautiful buildings.
Some I can recommend in Recoleta are Clorindo, OSS, and Lattente.
Clorindo is the best if you are looking for a place to sit down for more than just a minute. It’s a beautiful location. Haven’t been to that OSS location but the one in Belgrano serves one of the better espresso in the city. Lattente is kind of a reliable standby. Haven’t been to that location. They now have several around town and all are fine.
Not that I can think of at the moment. It’s very different. In general not that many people care much about good food.
I love La Alacena Pastaficio. Do you eat any meats? You could put together a nice spread from there. Doesn’t have to include meat but their charcuterie is very good. My favorite is the bresaola. They have nice cheeses and good focaccia. Plus they have some other prepared things like torta pascualina (look it up) and really tasty cakes and tarts. You could also get some sauce (pesto, marinara, etc) and dunk bread it in.
Close to Recoleta, there’s a place called Poolish that makes lots of good things you can take away. No meat at all from what I remember. The only thing is everything is smoked (ahumado) because of the wood fired oven. The smoky flavor is not overwhelming but it’s in everything. It’s all pretty healthy. Owner is the sweetest guy. I lived around the corner for a couple years just as they were opening. Used to go back occasionally after I moved to another part of town. You could easily cobble together a few dishes. Definitely try the tartas. (sounds sweet but they make savory versions too) Cabutia (a squash) is great.
There is a good takeaway pizza spot in Recolta called P!ccatino.
A place I enjoyed a lot for takeout is Rotiseria Ruiz in the lovely barrio of Nunez. It would be a fairly easy Uber ride of about 20 minutes down Libertador. I haven’t been there for at nearly a year and things change but I imagine they still do nice work as it is/was run by a family. Good quality ingredients. A little pricey but, IMO, worth it for the quality. NIce salad with black rice. Good roast chicken.
If you want a wine shop you can trust, visit Autre Monde in Palermo. Sorry I don’t have one closer to Recoleta. Victor is the owner. He speaks enough English to help if you don’t speak Spanish. Good and large selection. Fair prices. Tell him you like Euro style. You can tell him Tony sent you
Victor may also be able to point you to a good prepared food venue. He likes good food.
Ozono might be slightly closer. Similar selection and prices to Autre Monde.
Thanks @TGibson, this has become a great thread with a ton of very useful and thoughtful recs. We are headed to BA in March so all very timely for us. Just starting to dive in, but lots to go through here… Awesome!
Happy to help.
There’s plenty more so don’t hesitate to ask. I left out a lot of places like Korean, some Japanese, Asian fusion, as well as steak houses (not really my thing but I know several), cafes, croissants, cheese shops, organic produce, butchers etc.
No one I know has complained about them so far this year although the season is still early. They fluctuate from year to year as well as within the season. Sometimes minimal, others like a horror film. I am a magnet for them and it can be a living hell when they’re bad. I’ve seen entire walls coated black with them, been running in swarms where it’s impossible to shake them. They were pretty intense last year several times. Maybe this year will be light.
Along these lines, summer can be similar in terms of heat and humidity to the US east coast so be prepared.
I am back in the US since September. I haven’t heard anyone talking about them this year so far which probably means they’re not too bad. By this time last year it seemed nearly everyone was talking about them and complaining that bug spray was nowhere to be found. Lovely evenings in the summer when it’s not too humid and mosquitoes are at a minimum. Next week projected to be in the upper 70s for highs so it’s looking good. Buen viaje!
In Mendoza, Don Mario is a must. 1324 Dorrego on the outskirts of the city.
The goat is incredible, everything else is excellent, the wine list is extensive and reasonably priced, with a lot of things never imported to the U.S. and usually some nice offerings with some bottle age. It is definitely off the tourist track.
Other really good Mendoza restaurants include Marchigiana Central, Carolino Cocina and especially Azafran, also with an excellent wine program. At Azafran, there is no list, there is a room full of wine, you select a bottle and carry it to your table. Again, interesting wines hard to find elsewhere and usually some with bottle age.
