The best places to eat and drink in Buenos Aires
We spent a week in Buenos Aires, which gave us plenty of opportunities to explore the food and drink city in different areas of the city. With cultural and culinary influences from all over the world, but especially Europe, there are some amazing dishes that are traditional to Argentina as well as those with an international twist including steak, seafood, pastas, and spritz and vermut drinks.
These were our favourite places to eat and drink in the city:
San Telmo Market
El Hornero de San Telmo
Santo Remedio
Punto Cafe
Cerveceria Patagonia
Green Eat
Pepia
Rita Dinamita
La Parri
Che Taco
El Gauchito
Freddo
Sifón Soderia
Lharmonie
Aurelia Cantina
Rebelión
Pani
Pasaje las Flores
Read on to find out more about each spot and why we loved it so much.
The best places to eat and drink in Buenos Aires
San Telmo Market
San Telmo market is home to a wide range of stands and shops selling everything from steak and choripán to pizza and empanadas. Many offer takeaway as well as smaller seating areas, and some of the more popular spots are likely to have long queues – but it’s worth the wait.
El Hornero de San Telmo
My favourite spot in San Telmo market is El Hornero de San Telmo. They serve about 10 different flavours of freshly made empanadas as well as sandwiches and traditional local drinks like fernet and Coke. I loved these empanadas and salsa picante so much that I came back three times (I recommend the Roquefort and the caprese).
Cerveceria Patagonia
This brew pub can be found all over Argentina but we especially liked the location at Puerto Madero. We sat outside and had a salad for lunch by the water – the menu here is more varied and has healthier options than some of the other Cerveceria Patagonia’s that mostly serve burgers and fries.
Punto Cafe
This small cafe in San Telmo was our go-to for breakfast and coffee. Their menu is small but delicious and the food is great quality – especially the croissants. It’s open all day until 8pm with a different menu for breakfast and lunch, but they close on Sundays.
La Parri
Choripán is one of Buenos Aires’ most famous dishes and La Parri is the only chori spot where I found a vegetarian option. It’s not exactly healthy – oil-cooked veggies full of flavour that are kind of messy to eat but absolutely worth it. There’s also an amazing selection of sauces and other condiments so you can make your sandwich exactly what you want it to be. Seating is limited but, unless you get the veggie, choripán is well suited to being eaten in the street!
Pepia
Another brunch spot in San Telmo – Pepia has a bigger menu than Punto and the food and drinks are just as good. We stopped here on a Sunday morning and the cafe was quiet and relaxing.
Rita Dinamita
This small cocktail bar has a cool, East London feel to it. The bar staff pick great music played on vinyl, as well as serving up delicious cocktails.
Che Taco
We wandered a little further out of San Telmo to get to this highly-rated Mexican restaurant. It’s small and family-run and the food is delicious. I ordered nachos and the portion was huge, although I also wanted to try the tacos!
Pani Pizza Feroz
Some of the best pizza we had in Buenos Aires was at Pani in Palermo. The food was great and the staff were really friendly and helpful. There’s loads of indoor seating but we preferred to sit outside and watch the world go by on the busy Plaza Serrano in central Palermo.
La Hormiga
This trendy restaurant in Palermo comes highly recommended, and for good reason. The food we ordered was delicious and great quality and the portions were huge! The trout with salad was some of the best food I had in Buenos Aires.
Lharmonie
After a hot afternoon wandering the parks of Palermo we stopped for lunch under the cool of Lharmonie’s umbrella-covered patio. The food here is delicious (especially the Caesar salad with trout) and the portions are generous, but it’s not cheap. For me, the lunch was worth the money but the £5 alfajor from their bakery definitely wasn’t…
Freddo
Argentina is known for its ice cream. This is thanks to the strong Italian influence in the country and so, if you’re from Europe, you probably won’t be blown away by the gelato – it’s very similar to what we’re used to but very good by South America standards. Freddo was my favourite spot for European-style ice cream in Buenos Aires as it was cheap but delicious and great quality with a good selection of classic and more interesting flavours.
El Gauchito
On a busy Sunday afternoon while the San Telmo market was in full swing and I couldn’t stand the heat and queues at the indoor stalls, I stumbled across El Gauchito. They serve huge plates of traditional Argentinian food which looked amazing. I just got two empanadas to go as they were so busy and they were some of the best I had in the whole of Argentina.
Sifón Soderia
This cool bar and restaurant in Palermo Hollywood specialises in spritz cocktails and vermuts. We sat outside on a warm evening and listened to their vinyl DJ. But there’s also plenty of indoor seating, a good food menu, and great merch!
Rebelión
Close to the buzz of Palermo Soho’s Plaza Serrano is Rebelión, a bar and restaurant with street seating and lots of plants. We stopped here for a spritz on a Sunday afternoon and it was a great place to spend an hour or so people watching and trying their great cocktail menu.
Santo Remedio
We stayed in America del Sur hostel in San Telmo for one night and this small, cosy bar was very close by. Santo Remedio has a good choice of beers and the most impressive selection of hot dog toppings I’ve ever seen!
Aurelia Cantina
This Mexican restaurant in Palermo Soho was so good, we ate there twice. The menu is small but perfect (we loved the frijoles!) and everything is delicious, home made, and full of flavour. The staff are so friendly and helpful, and the indoor and outdoor seating areas are both comfortable and homely. It’s not the cheapest dinner spot in Buenos Aires, but it was definitely one of our favourites.
Green Eat
We stopped into Green Eat to pick up a quick lunch when we were in central Buenos Aires to see the obelisk and teatro colon, and I was surprised by how good it was. You can choose from salad, poke bowls, and other healthy lunch options including hot meals like fish and chicken. The prices are reasonable and the food is delicious and healthy – perfect when you need something fast, but healthier than empanadas!
Pasaje las Flores
This one gets an honourable mention although it’s not actually in Buenos Aires, it’s in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. We got a ferry across to the small town, which only takes an hour, and this was the best place we ate there. The food was absolutely delicious and the portions were generous and very affordable. If you’re taking a day trip to Colonia from Buenos Aires I would highly recommend eating here (and ordering the espagueti!)
Find out more about our favourite things to do in Buenos Aires here.