On any given Sunday, Los Talas del Entrerriano will grill (and sell out) more than 70 racks of beef ribs; that’s in addition to hundreds of chorizos, blood sausages, and other grilled items. What’s essentially a big tent of meat in the suburbs, the place might not serve the best steak of your life, but it certainly epitomizes the Argentine parrilla experience. Large groups tend to fill the 450 spots at the long picnic tables in the warehouse-like space, but solo diners or smaller groups can find room at the U-shaped bar overlooking the grill dedicated to achuras (organ meats). The biggest spectacle is outside: Beef, goat, and pork are splayed on iron crosses and cooked over an open-flame pit, while smaller cuts and chicken are cooked on an Olympic-sized grill.

Whole slabs of beef sizzle on the grills outside of El Ferroviario, a giant meat palace located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in an abandoned railway station. Waiters move between the outdoor grill and mess hall balancing plates overflowing with every part of the cow. Serving more than 1,000 covers per night, this place is always a scene, and it boasts all the qualities of a great parrilla: Portions are large, prices are cheap, and groups are welcome. To avoid long wait times, reservations are a must.

When Egidio Zoppi, an eccentric antiquarian from Genoa, immigrated to Buenos Aires in the early 1900s, he switched professions and opened up a wine and canned goods distributor. The business morphed into a popular dispensa (general store) and neighborhood hangout for tango singers, poets, artists, and gauchos. Fast forward a century, when Zoppi’s grandson and great-grandson took over the space, uncovering a trove of turn-of-the-century memorabilia and a wine cellar filled with more than 2,000 antique bottles of Campari, Cinzano, and local spirits aged in perfect condition. They restored the interior and continued the place’s legacy in the form of a cantina, serving updated spins on traditional Argentine drinks and dishes. 

If Ácido leaves a sour taste in your mouth, the restaurant has succeeded. In March 2023, 26-year-old chef Nicolás Tykocki opened his first restaurant with his father on the outskirts of Chacarita. Showcasing ultra-savory, acidic flavors, the one-page menu at Ácido defies any particular cuisine, featuring eclectic dishes like Nashville-style fried chicken and cacio e pepe tteokbokki, each accompanied by a few “satellite” small plates. It’s all meant to be shared family style. Don’t miss the regular abuela pop-ups, when Tykocki invites grandmothers to take over the kitchen.

You can’t visit BA without dining at a bodegón, a neighborhood tavern serving Porteño fare (generally consisting of a mix of Italian, Spanish, and grilled meat dishes). Since 1958, Albamonte’s devoted clientele has religiously returned time and again for massive plates of fusilli with red sauce or pesto, veal milanesa with french fries and salad, and thin-crust pizzas.

For decades, beer drinkers in Buenos Aires almost exclusively consumed Quilmes, the national brand. In recent years, however, the city has seen an artisanal beer boom of epic proportions. There may be dozens of cervecerias in every barrio, but few are quite as welcoming as this microbrewery and taproom, which serves quite solid pub grub. Strange gets busy, so get there early or expect to perch on the curb.

Expect top-quality sirloin, skirt steak, rib-eye, pork loin, and house-made chorizo at this Belgrano steakhouse, which sources everything from the team’s butcher shop next door. If cured meats are more your style, visit nearby sister restaurant Corte Charcuterie, and be sure to try the morcilla asturiana, salame criollo, and spianata with hazelnuts and pistachios. 

Catalino first began as a puerta cerrada (closed-door restaurant), a popular Buenos Aires restaurant model trending over the last decade. Now, their doors are open to the general public for “cocina sincera,” sincere food carefully sourced with agroecological ingredients. Relax in the beautiful patio oasis and try dishes like a choripan (sausage sandwich) with chimichurri and criolla sauce, wild boar ribs, and flan with house-made dulce de leche for dessert.

There are more than a hundred Korean restaurants in the city, most tucked inside private homes in the Flores and Floresta neighborhoods. For years opera singer An Ra Chung, owner of Una Canción Coreana, has welcomed Argentine and Korean communities to this Koreatown favorite, where she serves dishes like kimchi jjigae, japchae con carne, and bo ssam. The restaurant got a PR boost when Chung appeared in the documentary Una Canción Coreana.

Despite his past lives as a pilot, actor, doctor, director, and activist, serial entrepreneur Enrique Piñeyro claims his most challenging role yet is his newest vocation: chef and restaurateur. His industrial-style restaurant, Anchoíta, specializes in grilled meats, river fishes, and pastas. It’s not easy to get a table, but you may have better luck at Panadería Anchoíta, the team’s bakery around the block, or at their nearby wine and cheese bar, Anchoíta Cava.

Due to import restrictions and price, many Argentinians only drink local wines. Naranjo offers a wonderful selection of lesser-known boutique bottlings. The wine bar is located in the micro-barrio between Chacarita and Villa Crespo, where many new restaurants have recently opened. The food is not an afterthought to the wine. Try plates like carrot hummus, halloumi with tomato and peach chutney, and rib-eye with chimichurri butter.

Once upon a time it was nearly impossible for vegetarians to eat well in BA. Luckily, things have changed. Chuí doesn’t use the vegetarian label, but the wood-fired cooking is free of meat. The entire ultra-fashionable space is located in a garden oasis, where a large open-air kitchen is surrounded by a jungle of plants and trees. Before or after your meal, check out the glass chambers where the team cultivates mushrooms.

A grilled ham and cheese sandwich on a medialuna (like an Argentine croissant) makes for the perfect Porteño breakfast, especially at Oli Café on the cusp of the trendy Palermo and Colegiales barrios. The bright dining room overlooks a glass-walled kitchen, making a buzzy scene for pastry chef and owner Olivia Saal’s menu, which mashes up classic viennoiserie, modern diner fare, and a hint of Jewish soul. Think club sandwiches, babka, Caesar salads, crinkle fries, and a wonderland of dreamy cakes and pastries, including fosforitos: glazed pastries filled with ham and cheese.

TV star and cookbook author Narda Lepes is a household name in Argentina. Her restaurant in Bajo Belgrano, Narda Comedor, resembles a mess hall where vegetables take center stage. Many dishes are inspired by Lepes’s travels across Asia, the Mediterranean, and Latin America, including must-order items like napa cabbage with anchovy-herb aioli and, the all-star hit, braised onion with creamy potato mash bathing in a rich meat stock. The all-day restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, merienda (tea time), and dinner.

Francisco Seubert started baking sourdough bread in his home after watching how-tos on YouTube. He began selling it outside specialty coffee shops around town, and today, he’s the co-owner of Atelier Fuerza, one of the fastest-growing bakeries in the country. With a team of young bakers, AF is on a mission to put Argentina’s beloved bakery culture in the spotlight, honoring traditional favorites like medialunas de grasa, ricotta cake, pastafrola, palmeritas, alfajores, and chipa.

The city’s unconditional love for beef combines with its obsession over Asian fusion at this pan-Asian parrilla, called “Fat Boy,” where Japanese, Korean, and Chinese flavors meet Argentine traditions. Two fish tanks complete with floating faux jellyfish open onto the dining area, which is decorated with 143 red chochin lanterns. Sit at the bar for a great view of the open kitchen, where chefs plate memorable dishes like miso chile-glazed sweetbreads, steak tataki with wasabi and shiso, and the famous katsu sando: beef milanesa tonkatsu and Japanese mayo between two slices of brioche.

Gran Dabbang delivers much-needed spice and flair in the city’s traditional meat-and-empanadas palate. Chef and owner Mariano Ramón, who spent time in the U.K. and India, is a master at layering flavors and textures in dishes that utilize fresh, local produce to blur the borders between Latin American and Asian cuisines. Think pacu fish marinated in hazelnut and turmeric and served with mango raita and kirkiña (an herb similar to cilantro), manioc and goat cheese bread with creamed corn and tomato chutney, and swiss chard pakoras with carrot chutney. Open Monday nights, the restaurant is a favorite haunt of the chef community.

The iconic Palermo bodegón, which originally opened in 1952, got a total makeover under the careful eyes of restaurateur Pablo Rivero, of Michelin-starred steakhouse Don Julio, and chef Guido Tassi. Try upgraded Porteño comfort foods like beef or chicken milanesa with perfectly crisp fries, house-made charcuterie, and sambayón ice cream. Reservations are essential.

This quaint trattoria just outside of Palermo’s trendy epicenter is the type of neighborhood restaurant everyone wishes to have in their barrio. Head chef and owner Julieta Oriolo channels her Italian roots to create simple and tasty home-style dishes. Be sure to try hand-made, fresh pastas like cavatelli, tortellacci, and tía Carmelia’s lasagna bolognese. Most of the pastas, sauces, freshly baked breads, and pastries are available for takeaway at La Alacena Pastificio, the team’s pasta shop a few blocks away.

Off the tourist track in residential Almagro, this local dive is the king of the milanesa. Deep-fried flattened cutlets of chicken or veal are topped with a universe of cheesy and porky adornments. Portions are huge and prices are cheap. This is Argentine comfort food at its finest.

This isn’t your bubbe’s shabbat dinner. The upscale Jewish eatery by chef Tomás Kalika recreates Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Israeli, and Mediterranean dishes using fresh ingredients and modern techniques in ways that both intrigue and evoke nostalgia. The bone-in pastrami will leave you utterly verklempt.

Over time, Peruvian immigrants have helped shift the traditional Argentine palate toward specific flavors and spices (hola, cilantro and ají picante). La Conga, a Peruvian hangout in the Once garment district, turns out ridiculously large portions. Order the roast chicken; the full, half, or quarter bird comes with a side of french fries, salad, and sauces. With a larger group, fill the table with papa a la huancaína (potatoes in cheese sauce), chaufa (fried rice), ají de gallina (chicken stew), and lomo saltado (stir-fried beef).

La Cocina in Recoleta bakes up a handful of empanada flavors sealed with careful repulgue folds. The stewed chicken is a keeper, as is the Pikachu, loaded with cheese, onions, and mildly spicy red pepper flakes. La Cocina also has a second downtown location hidden in Galeria Boston.

Sandwiches de miga, a local obsession comparable to English tea sandwiches and Italian tramezzini, are often associated with celebration. The making of a miga sandwich is an art form, and Confitería Caren in Recoleta has maintained the same artisanal quality for more than 50 years. The shop only offers takeaway, so grab a variety of flavors (like ham and cheese; chicken and celery; salami and cheese; and ham, hearts of palm, and salsa golf), and bring them to nearby Parque Las Heras for a picnic.

This corner bistro near the Recoleta Cemetery has become the barrio go-to for those looking to eat and drink well. Ideal for a laid-back dinner, Roux serves fresh Mediterranean seafood dishes that are a counterpoint to the traditional meat-heavy lifestyle here. Small groups can request the private chef’s table in the wine cellar.

One of the few remaining traditional no-frills steakhouses in BA, Parrilla Peña is always a solid option for quality food in an unpretentious setting. Every meal starts with a complimentary fried empanada, and then pros order dishes like provoleta cheese, ensalada, bife de chorizo (sirloin), provenzal fries, and flan mixto (with dulce de leche and whipped cream) for dessert. If you want to really fit in, order the house table wine and lighten it with ice and a splash of soda water.

Hidden in the opulent Pasaje del Correo passageway in Recoleta, chef and owner Gonzalo Aramburu’s namesake, two-Michelin-starred restaurant serves one of the last remaining tasting menus in the city. Request a table overlooking the kitchen and watch as the chefs prepare an 18-course menu featuring local seasonal ingredients, complete with foams, clouds of liquid nitrogen, and carefully selected wine pairings.

The Mercado de San Telmo opened in 1897 as one of the city’s first major markets to cater to European immigrants. Today, most stalls have shifted from serving the local community to attracting a tourist clientele. Despite feeling like Disneyland, the market is still worth a visit. Make your way to the Beba Cocina stall for classic home-style empanadas, fainá, and tortilla Española. Or pop over to neighboring stand Nuestra Parrilla for choripan (sausage sandwich), before washing down your meal at Nilson with a glass of wine.