Tetuan Brasero Marroquí

This is one of those “only open for late-night” kind of places that rocks. No matter if your late night is dinner or 4am (or 7am?) after a night out. They have great music, easy-drinking wines / beers, and awesome food.

The hummus plates are fantastic. Loaded with your choice of topping (cauliflower, plain, meats), they’re the baseline. Continue from there to order a pita pocket with, again, your choice of filling. Their potatoes and sides are good, but not the best.

• Cost: $15 USD for 2 late-night; credit accepted.
• Meal: Dinner, or late night second meal
• Tip: There’s a bar in the front with a wide selection of beers on-tap, but sit in back on one of the big boxes that line both sides of the restaurant up to the ceiling. So cool!

Artemesia

This is a “I could have lunch here every day for the rest of my life” kind of place. Strangely, it bucks the “fast-cheap-quality” triangle because it’s got them all! This is a hard-to-find gem.

The starter bread are very unique and homemade. Artemesia pairs them with a “Zanahoria hummus” which is basically cooked carrots mashed with garlic, olive oil, and spices – I wish I had some right now. Wine and beer is available for a lunchtime relaxer.

To eat, they’ve really got the gambit on clean, vegetable-forward eating covered. Want a salad? Pick from the 6 options that all sound awesome. Want something more substantial? Get their homemade lentil burger with homemade pickles, caramelized onions, and a light chutney sauce.

The team is so friendly and will answer any question you have. We recommend sitting on the sidewalk with a cold beer. Try the dessert too – we didn’t have it, but they looked awesome…

• Cost: $20 USD for 2 including beer; credit accepted.
• Meal: Lunch
• Tip: Go hungry and often!

Eretz Cantina Israeli

Strangely, this is the only restaurant we visited twice! We love Israeli food and this place has the best in BA. Lunch is an incredible deal: $220 Argentinian (~$6 USD) for a selection of small, homemade salads, pita, a glass of wine, and hummus topped with falafel, cucumber/tomato/mixed vegetable salad, and these awesome grilled eggplants. There are a wide selection of lunch specials, so Mediterranean to fit every taste is available – including for your meat-eating friends.

The setting is a quaint cafe on a walkable street very close to fantastic shopping. We split one lunch special which was more than enough for us, but at $6 USD you can afford a few 🙂 Dinner is a bit more expensive (no lunch specials), but just as good.

• Cost: ~$10 for lunch, ~$35 for dinner; credit accepted.
• Meal: Lunch
• Tip: It’s a quaint restaurant and good to sit, but the lunch meal would travel well to-go if you wanted to take it to a nearby park.

Gran Dabbang

Spicy doesn’t exist in BA. You have to travel further north near Salta to find spicy food, but maybe an Indian-inspired restaurant has lip-tingling goodness? Sort-of… they used Siracha, which was great, but not something you’ll need more agua con gas for.

In any case, Gran Dabbang was pleasantly surprising even if it didn’t have the spicy food we were looking for. The food is not quite as vegetable-forward as we normally eat, but you can request they make it so.

The meal starts with a fantastic piece of sourdough bread that has expertly crisped crust, but a light and chewy interior. It rivals the sourdoughs of San Francisco. Paired with salted olive oil from nearby Mendoza, it’s fantastic.

For the meal, split everything. The fried eggplant with Siracha and yogurt sauce was fantastic. The Labneh was one of the best we’ve had. The highlight were the long-beans  which come with ham on top, but it’s easy to place it to the side (you can request sans-jamon). The long-beans were braided and served with a wonderful sauce, crisp nuts, and raisins. 10/10 would order again.

Finally, don’t miss the namesake highlight: order both Gran Dabbangs on the menu. They’re a pudding-like treat with amazing flavor like the Atacama Desert-native plant, Rica Rica. It has a minty / herby / sweet flavor that is unreal. The Dabbangs are topped with fresh fruit and crisp honey. Outstanding.

• Cost: $40 for 2 (didn’t order drinks); credit accepted.
• Meal: Dinner
• Tip: There’s no reservations and always a wait, but it moves much faster than expected. Bring a to-go wine cup and hang on the street with the crowd for 15 minutes.

Casa Cavia

Are we in Hollywood? You expect movie stars to show up, but we’re in Buenos Aires in a luxury setting. The beautifully and artfully decorated Casa Cavia was recently redone to match the luxury of Beverly Hills and with a music theme.

The food and cocktails match the luxury and music theme. Each season, a new record volume is released. Each volume has new, seasonal food and creative cocktails. The food menu is presented on the literal record cover and the cocktails are presented on the record inside. You can’t go wrong with any of them.

We ordered the chef’s lunch special which came with a bread starter (your own, cute mini loaf!), a selection of appetizers, a selection of entrees, and a few desserts. We opted for the langostino (shrimp) appetizer which was artfully displayed atop avocado and greens. The shrimps were the best we’ve ever had – delicately seasoned and cooked to perfection, you could taste these were fresh. The fish entre was also nicely presented and tasted great, but (frankly) the meat options on the other tables looked and smelled like the thing to order. Each lunch selection came with a glass of wine which was outstanding. We split one lunch between the two of us, but they gave us each a glass in addition to our cocktails.

This is truly a luxury in the city. Come dressed to impress and walk the neighborhood afterward.

• Cost: $35 for 2 including cocktails (amazing value); credit accepted.
• Meal: Lunch, on a sunny day
• Tip: It’s a casual place, but you’ll want to dress-to-impress. Take a picture anywhere here and you won’t be disappointed. The bar is also a fantastic, marble slab that would be a good place to just have a cocktail. There’s even a flower shop in the restaurant if you’re really feeling instagram-ready.

Alo’s

This is one of those places where you literally can’t go wrong by ordering anything. If it were a blind taste-test, you’d think you were in a fine-dining restaurant. Alo’s is a bit outside the traditional city-center, but every bit worth going.

The food matches the instagram-worthy restaurant setting complete with a private wine room if you need to impress.

Not to worry though – you can show up in your Sunday-best, business casual, casual, or beach wear here! It’s even a great place to crank out a few emails or edit pictures while enjoying the setting and your meal. Everyone is welcome.

The food is all incredible. The menu is somewhat changing every day, so ask your waiter for the freshest / best dish of the day. It’s so fresh, they may run out of something! We ordered the langostino Thai curry with pasta and a salad entre. Both had spectacular flavors and were artfully presented. The curry was the best dish I had in BA… seriously. Each full-portion entre even comes with a dessert. We opted for a peaches-and-cream style dessert along with a dulce de leche pot-de-creme style dessert. Both were Michelin-star worthy! Amazing.

If it weren’t so far outside of the main city center, we’d have come back many times.

• Cost: $30 for 2 including a glass of wine (incredible value); credit accepted.
• Go For: Lunch or Early Dinner
• Tip: Explore San Isidrio in the morning beforehand. There are many places along the Rio Plata where you can paddle board, kayak, or lounge. When it’s windy, be sure to try kite surfing or wind surfing!

More Restaurant Recommendations

Tegui: Literally, don’t go. This is the most disappointing meal we’ve ever had. The restaurant felt old, the menu was the bad-kind-of clever, the food was not well cooked, and the service was uncomfortable. It is a waste of money and time.

Parillas / Meat: If you’re inclined to eat some steak, you’ll find it on every corner. The best places to go are La Cabrera and Don Julio. La Cabrera is where a local would go and it’s an incredible deal Mon-Fri before 7pm. Don Julio is world-renowned. Be sure to show up early or make a reservation at both places.

Bakery: Salvaje Bakery is the place for baked goods and bread. They’re creative, tasteful, and without frills. Go there and visit a local vegetable store for avocado, spring onions, and spices to make your own avocado toast.

Coffee: The best coffee in town is Cuervo Coffee. The expresso is ‘best ever’ type of quality. The breakfast eats from avocado smash to pastries are also a treat. This is real coffee unlike many other places about town. Don’t bother with anything else if you’re a coffee snob.

Asian Food: Sunai Asian Cantina is the place to go. It’s as close to Asia as you can get. Here you’ll find some good spice along with unique teas and GOOD cocktails.

Tacos: La Fabrica Del Taco is the place to go. It’s not Mexico-worthy, but good enough. The hot sauces are more like salsa, so indulge in that with their chips.

Cocktails: Boticario is the place to go. It’s a true cocktail bar with bartenders that make it a show. A good place to hang out with someone, listen to the DJ, and prepare for the late-night ahead.

Beer: El Galpón de Tacuara is the best brewery in BA. They have a wide selection of home-brewed styles for everyone’s taste. A good place to hang over a beer.

Sports Bar: Temple in Palermo Soho is the place to be on the corner. Good beers, popcorn, a dedicated crowd flowing into the streets, and a single TV to fixate your attention to. Chant with the locals and enjoy the chit-chat.

Ice Cream: While Rapa Nui may be the most prevalent and well known shop (with beautiful spaces), the best ice cream is Lucianos. You can’t go wrong there.

Empanadas: They’re ever-present. One empanada didn’t make the top of the list, but visit any pizza or empanada shop to get one. They’re great and a staple for the take-away crowd. Many are filled with cheese and meat. Ask for a beef empanada with chopped beef instead of ground beef – it will be higher quality and so will their other fillings.