Trendy spot for good thin crust pizza and other Buenos Aires, Argentina Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Filo

Filo's a hip trendy (yeah, I know, what the heck was I doing there????) pizza place. We got there just about 8 pm and they offered us a table in the front window or next to the bar so we took the front window area so it was a bit quieter than the rest of the place. In fact, it was so quiet it was almost like having dinner by ourselves!

Favorite Dish: I had the Oro pizza, a white pizza with cheese, tomato and basil. It was very good and I was only able to eat about 1/2 of a small pizza (15 pesos) but that was likely due to the meat coma I was still in after doing two of those all you can eat meat extravaganzas in Brazil.

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Theme: Pizza
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter

Restaurant Name: La Chacra

If the sight of the stuffed cow doesn't lure you into La Chacra, surely the display of meat on an open fire spit in the window will. We stopped here for lunch on our last day (recommended in Frommers), one more hunk of beef before we headed home back to a normal diet. Lunch at most Buenos Aires restaurants is not terribly busy, there were many empty tables. Also like many Buenos Aires restaurants, you are served by waiters in black pants and white dinner jackets and served on tables with white linen even though you will not feel out of place in casual attire.

Favorite Dish: For my last meal in Buenos Aires, I selected a ribeye steak (ojo de bife) which came without any sides so I ordered one last plates of french fries (papas fritas), a common side dish as well as salad. David ordered Lomo La Chacra, a tenderloin covered in cheese and a sauce with vegetables, his selection was better than mine even though I enjoyed the ribeye, I would heartily recommend the Lomo La Chacra.

Before our entree came, they served us an empanada, which was pretty tasty and the usual bread which I assume is the table service. Locals were getting sauce with their empanadas, I don't think our waiter knew enough English to explain it to us so he didn't offer us any.

Our bill came to 101 pesos ($33 US) including table service of 5 pesos each and 2 drinks.

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Theme: Steakhouse
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (54-011) 4322-1409
Address: Av. Cordoba 941
Directions: Microcentro-Cordoba at Carlos Pellegrini (Av. 9 de Julio)
Website: www.restaurantlachacra.com.ar

Restaurant Name: Freddo's, Munchi's

Buenos Aires has a large Italian population and so it follows that they have really good gelato. There were three chains that I had read about before leaving, Freddo's, Munchi's and Persicco, so I kept my eyes open for these while walking what seemed like every square inch of Buenos Aires. Volta's is another one I've seen mentioned. If you want to map out locations before you go, look at the websites under sucursales (locations).

We found Freddo's first, located in the basement of the Galerias Pacifico on Calle Florida. The flavors are listed on the board, you can't see them like you could at a Baskin Robbins in the US, so there's a little guess work involved in you aren't fluent in Spanish.

Favorite Dish: Pick out the size first and pay the cashier, then take your receipt and select two flavors. My first attempt was Chocolate Blanco (white chocolate) and Banana con dulche de leche on a waffle cone for 6.50 pesos ($2 US). The first scoop is usually smaller than the 2nd, so order accordingly. We tried Freddo's again the following day, I like the Chocolate Blanco so much I had it again and tried the dulche de leche.

We finally found a Munchi's on our 3rd day in the Shopping Alto Palmero near the Bulnes subte stop, once again I tried the chocolate blanco (not nearly as good as Freddo's, had a grainy texture) and a coco con dulce de leche which was good. David ordered flan con dulche de leche and that one was excellent.

On our last day, we tried a place on Calle Florida near Diagonal Norte which might have been Via Flaminia, FINALLY a place where you could look at the selections. I tried the banana split and the flan, both were excellent.

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Theme: Ice Cream
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter

Restaurant Name: Postavecchia

I can just see all you foodies out there cringing in horror at the thought of eating a steak at a mall food court but we were a) starving b) wanting to take advantage of a beautiful sunny afternoon and c) it looked and smelled pretty good. And you know what, it was pretty good! And ridiculously cheap!

Something that was a bit curious, we kept seeing people come back up to the counter, turn in a poker chip and their silverware and get some coins back. We didn't get a poker chip so we just handed our tray to an employee, do they not charge foreigners the silverware charge? And is stealing crappy fast food silverware really all that common? I may never know :-)

Favorite Dish: I tried the bistek de chorizo (16 pesos, around $5US including beverage and french fries) and David tried a Lomo which was better than my selection. Someone in line behind us encouraged us to try one of the sauces, an oil based sauce with peppers which added a nice flavor. It wasn't the best steak I had in Buenos Aires but for $5 and 5 minutes time, it was pretty darn satisfying.

There was also a mixed grill option for around 25 pesos that was served on a little portable grill and looked to have enough food to feed two (came with 2 drinks). We saw several women apparently giving this one a shot on their own!

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Theme: Steakhouse
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Galerias Pacifico, lower level
Directions: San Martin at Calle Florida

Restaurant Name: Havanna

People in Buenos Aires must eat tons of alfajores, two cookies with dulce de leche in between two biscuits, there are Havanna shops selling these confections all over Buenos Aires and also sell them prepackaged in supermarkets.

We brought home a box as a gift for my mother in law, my sister in law took one bite and crinkled her nose, too sweet she said. So I finished it off for her, too sweet doesn't exist in my world LOL

I also tried one of their coconut cookies sold in a triangular wrapper, this was just like a macroon and I wasn't crazy about it.


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Theme: Local

Restaurant Name: La Brigada

I saw La Brigada recommended virtually everywhere I looked, we were close to the San Telmo branch after our walking tour so we headed over to have lunch. We got there just a bit after noon and there were few patrons but it filled up as it got closer to 1 pm. There are two floors, the upstairs is covered in football memorabilia, the downstairs a bit more ranch like. The menus are furry (is that cow hair?), everything on the table is stamped with La Brigada. I noticed that they whisked away the napkin ring holders almost immediately, I'm thinking a few of these "walk" away as souvenirs!

Favorite Dish: I love schnitzel so I tried a Milanesa Loma which is more or less a steak schnitzel. I thought it was a little dry, maybe that's how they are prepared here? It might have been better with a little sauce. David has a chicken schnitzel dish (I think it had Maryland in the name?) topped with a slice of ham and a fried plantain and crisp fries on the side, I liked his better than mine.

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Theme: Steakhouse
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 11/4361-5557
Address: Estados Unidos 465 at Bolivar
Directions: San Telmo neighborhood, closest subway: Independencia

Restaurant Name: Plaza del Carmen

We were heading back from the Botanical Garden in Palmero (where there are supposedly tons of good places to eat) but we wanted to stick to the street that the subway ran under so we said the first place that looked decent would be where we ate....

Favorite Dish: Surprisingly there were very few restaurants on _________ , when we got to Plaza del Carmen, we looked at the menu and said "well, this will do". The food was actually pretty good for the rather corporate chain look to the place. We ordered a few empanadas and a plate of fried calamari and after a few hand gestures even got the waiter to bring us some ketchup and mayo that we mixed together to get something resembling cocktail sauce. Both were pretty good

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter