Don Julio Parrilla - The Meal That Changed My Mind About Buenos Aires…read moreAfter spending a week in Buenos Aires, my hotel concierge had secured reservations at five of the city's hottest restaurants & trendy spots, Michelin-recognized destinations, and some of Argentina's highest-rated dining experiences. Unfortunately, the first two nights were disappointing. I started wondering if the legendary reputation of Argentine beef was simply an illusion. Perhaps the quality of the meat was exceptional, but the execution wasn't. Then came Don Julio. Our reservation was for 9:30 p.m. at one of the hardest restaurants in the city to book, and within minutes of arriving, every negative thought I'd had about dining in Buenos Aires disappeared. Guests waiting outside were welcomed with complimentary Prosecco and warm empanadas while tables were prepared. We stepped aside to take a few photos and struck up a conversation with a friendly couple from New Jersey. Like us, they admitted they hadn't been blown away by the city's food scene, until Don Julio. We were seated at a cozy table with a clear view of the chefs expertly preparing and carving beautiful cuts of beef. The atmosphere reminded me of Pastis in New York... classic, lively, elegant, yet relaxed, like a charming Parisian bistro. The Wine & Starters We began with a bottle of Balbo red wine, smooth and velvety without heavy tannins. Fresh bread arrived with rock salt, spicy olive tapenade, and a bright pico de gallo that was unforgettable. The menu was refreshingly simple: exceptional ingredients, no unnecessary theatrics. Endive & Shaved Walnut Salad - 30/10 I never expected an endive salad to be memorable, but this one was extraordinary. The leaves were buttery and tender, perfectly dressed, with shaved walnuts adding texture and balance. Midway through the meal, my boyfriend said, "Now this is a dish you can't replicate." I replied, "Challenge accepted." Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Jersey Butter - 10/10 As a self-proclaimed mashed potato connoisseur, I can honestly say these were among the best I've ever tasted silky, buttery, rich, and luxurious without feeling heavy. Grilled Cauliflower - 4/10 Well prepared, lightly charred, and served over a smooth purée, but after the incredible salad, it simply couldn't compete. The Star: Bone-In Ribeye for Two - 100/10 After several disappointing steaks earlier in our trip, we learned that ordering medium-rare in Argentina often resulted in something closer to medium-well. This time, my boyfriend ordered the steak rare with a charred crust, and our waiter understood perfectly. What arrived was one of the greatest steaks I've ever eaten: tender, juicy, perfectly pink, and incredibly flavorful. I've dined at some of the world's most celebrated steakhouses, and this ribeye belongs in that conversation. Halfway through dinner, I leaned over and whispered, "Has our entire trip to Argentina just changed because of this restaurant?" Three of our four dishes were phenomenal. This wasn't just the best meal of our trip--it may have been one of the best meals I've ever had. Dessert - 9/10 Skipping dessert was never an option. We ordered crêpes with dulce de leche, finished with a crisp brûléed top and served with rich Jersey milk ice cream. Our waiter also surprised us with a complimentary serving of dulce de leche cream, one of my favorite bites of the evening. Service - The service at Don Julio deserves a standing ovation. Our waiter was warm, knowledgeable, attentive, and incredibly professional. When I dropped my fork, another appeared instantly. Every time someone left the table, a fresh napkin awaited their return. Wine glasses never sat empty, and the maître d' checked in without ever interrupting the flow of the evening. Every detail was noticed. Nothing was overlooked. It's the kind of hospitality that makes you feel genuinely cared for rather than simply served. Final Thoughts Don Julio completely changed my opinion of Buenos Aires' dining scene. After several disappointing meals, this restaurant reminded me why Argentina has earned its world-famous culinary reputation. Outstanding food. Impeccable service. A warm, energetic atmosphere. An unforgettable experience from beginning to end. If you're planning a trip to Buenos Aires, make your reservation at Don Julio as early as possible. Trust me...it's worth every bit of the hype

One of the most well known parrillas in all of Argentina and currently maintains one Michelin star…read more It's quite busy and very hard to get a reservation. I check a couple weeks out for any night of the week and only was able to find outside tables online. I came here on a Wednesday night around 10:30 in hopes of getting it less busy than a weekend night. I only had to wait about 15 minutes and also got a free glass of champagne and a mini empanda. As I came in they offered me a tour of the wine cellar which was full of unique and old wines. They have a massive wine offering which I think is one of the things that helps them out on the Michelin guide. It's a classic steakhouse offering, probably best approached by sharing a few cuts with a table. But as I was here by myself I went for the tasting menu so I could try more things. They brought over some bread to start with chimichurri, as well as an odd amuse bouche of a single endive leaf with a pretty bland green sauce. The first course started off with a thinly slice of beef kinda like jerky meets prosciutto. Very flavorful and tender, loved it. Second course was a sausage that was incredibly juicy and exploding with flavor, one of the best sausages I've ever had. Then came a sweetbread course which I've never had before. It was very unctuous and rich, bit too heavy for my taste and sort of made me want to stop eating at this point. It came with a very basic salad with simple vinaigrette. The next two courses were a ribeye broken into two components, the eye and the rib cap. The eye came with another equally bland salad. The cap came with a table side preparation of a sweet potato which was honestly quite comical. Fine dining is known for beautiful table side prep, but scooping out the inside of a sweet potato and spooning over melted butter is amusingly basic. With no other seasoning here but salt it was again, very bland. Steak was fantastic and juicy, a bit on the rarer side than I would normally go for but I think this is never given the unique leaner quality of Argentine beef. Chimichurri was classic, oddly I was offered a spicy chimichurri half way through my meal which I preferred, unsure why it wasn't brought sooner. Bread courses were very standard, again nothing spectacular here. The sommelier helped me pick out a couple glasses of wine and was generally very helpful and attentive. The wine I had was solid but nothing crazy, elected for some of the cheaper choices since this was the most expensive meal I had in all of Argentina. Pumpkin ice cream was nice though oddly lacking in sweetness for a country that seems to take many things very sweet. Overall, this is such a classic and well known place that I felt it would be wrong not to check it out, yet I had heard there are better places at cheaper price points and I would now say that is very true. The beef quality here is fantastic and prepared well. Staff is attentive and helpful. But this really just doesn't present a fine dining experience as you might expect for a Michelin star. It feels like it fits more into the bib gourmand category. And at this price point it's really hard to feel like the price is justified. I dined at other places for way less including another Michelin star that was a true fine dining experience for a little over half the price. Much more courses with each element thoroughly thought out. The bland salads and side elements here don't detract away from the meat but they don't bring anything else to the table either. They feel like they exist to be a line item on a menu and nothing more. While I'm glad I got to try this place out, I likely wouldn't come back. There are less busy places with just as good of steaks for much lower the cost.

Easily our favorite restaurant in BA that we came here back to back days without reservations. Pro…read moretip - come here at 5pm to put your name down for their happy hour. You'll be seated at 6:30pm and your entire meal will be 40% off. Yes all food and drinks everyday. Isn't that wild?? We went with the mixed salad, ribeye, and house wine. Ribeye is perfectly cooked and served with a bunch of sides including mashed potato, roasted garlic, potato gratin, corn cheese, etc. Salad was very fresh and complements the fattiness of the steak well. Service can be a bit spotty as they're so busy but very worth it overall. Can't wait to be back!

La Cabrera is so well know around for having some great steak. The energy is lively, yet quaint,…read morewith trinkets all over the walls. The portions are quite large and accompanied by classic little sauces and side dishes that add onto the meal. The bife was cooked to perfection - juicy and teddy with a nice color on it. The service was great regardless of how busy it gets. And I have to say the complimentary liquors and sweets at the end are always a nice touch!

Every Buenos Aires visit deserves a trip is not complete unless you visit Las Lilas for amazing…read moresteak and dining experience. We were in Buenos Aires for a few days prior to our Antartica Trip and asked our concierge at the Sofitel Hotel where we could go for a true Buenas Aires Steak experience. Without any delay he said that we must try Las Lilas. A simple ride over and beautiful location at the site of their redone area along the riverside. Much like every other city is doing. Restaurants. apartments, shops and lots of young people enjoying themselves. We walked inside this beautiful Steakhouse and elected to sit outside where we could enjoy the beautiful view and atmosphere in lovely warm weather. Let me be frank.... Walking into a beautiful Michelin restaurant is pretty much the same around the world. You walk in with a smile and high expectations. Right here in the beginning I will say that the team and service was impeccable from the beginning. Flawless in my opinion. They came over in introduced themselves while bringing us some water, cheesy bread and taking our drink order Appetizers: Three styles of tomatoes. Selection of cheeses from their very complete collection. Main items: 16oz PIcahna steak (shared) Fried Potatoes (shared) Of course the wine was Malbec which paired so perfectly with all the amazing food. I am not going to go through each item other than saying everything was 'over the top' delicious. My friend said to me that once you've had Buenas Aires Beef you'll never forget the amazing flavor. Even through my wife likes her meat more on the well side, it retained the tenderness and unbelievable flavor. There is definitely a reason that a place like this become a Michelin Restaurant. Cabaña Las Lilas is flawless and judging from the look on the faces of the other diners around us.... They thought so too. Please see the pictures I added. Many people shared as the portions are very generous. KUDOS to the team at Cabaña Las Lilas

Every Buenos Aires visit deserves a trip here for amazing steak!! My well done steak was perfect…read moreand still so moist. Only in Argentina! I ate so much steak, I start googling risk for gaut! On this trip, I gave up waiting for table so I got take out instead. I got the filet lignin, truffle fries and passion fruit cheesecake. Order was completed within 15min they packed it with so much care! Swoon. You can stand at the open window and watch everything! Make a reservation so you can experience the atmosphere, complimentary cheese bread and get your steak straight off the grill! But yes they do take out!

Disappointing service, maybe because it was Monday night. Waitress disappeared after bringing…read moredrinks, had to find someone else to bring us the bill. Table next door had someone that passed out drunk and nobody came to help. Disappointing food- missing many of the advertised meat cuts (entrana, vacio, etc). Meat was poor quality. Charged double the price than advertised online... check before sitting down at a table. Very disappointing experience.

Food: salad bar is descent and fresh, sadly our meat left…read moreus with disappointments. Our meat's temperatures were rather cold and 2 out of 3 cuts were overcooked. Service: when servers are wanting to serve you but refrained from it and have to ask the Manager if ok to do so, that's bad management so we don't blame the servers for leaving us waiting for our one and only server to help us. Server was surprised because we tip more than their 10% standard (again, not their fault the service wasn't good enough, we saw him while waiting our turn, he was hustling several tables alone). Manager seemed busy, she stood near our table but never asked us if we were taken care of or not, nobody picked up our pile of plates near the border of our table ready to go and two different servers asked her if they could help us but she preferred to call our server who had his hands full and turned to see her to listen to her while putting a hard to watch fake smile ... the poor guy! We just really wanted to pay and leave. Ambiance: servers seemed overwhelmed, we didn't get the teamwork feeling like in most places. Price: we paid in cash so with the current exchange rate this was cheap but by local standards we could've spent the same amount or less somewhere else and have a better result than this no doubt. I really hope that if you're reading this and still decided to come that you have better luck than we did. We heard from a handful of people we asked recommending this place so I didn't read any of the reviews. Lesson learned!

If I'd reviewed El Sanjuanino after my first visit it would have been a 5-star review. Simply put,…read moreanytime I get a bowl of melted cheese the stars ensue automatically. Here in Buenos Aires, the melted cheese dish is known as provoleta and if your sensibilities mirror mine I'd suggest getting it wherever and whenever you see it on a menu. No exception here. I came back a second time with a smaller group and really couldn't justify provoleta for my party of 2 simply because I knew I'd consume it all. So my second visit, while very good indeed, allowed me to focus on parts of the menu that I'd enjoyed previously while not over-filling myself on provoleta. What that looked like was this: Multiple versions of empanadas, Choripán (basically a sausage sandwich), and flan, all accompanied by beer and wine and all enjoyed at a very reasonable price. TripAdvisor guests rate El Sanjuanino very high as do I. I have a hunch it'd be the place I'd return to repeatedly each time I found myself in Recoleta. It's casual and delicious - especially the provoleta - attracting both Argentinians and in-the-know travelers. You'd be wise to count yourself amongst them.

Great empanadas, especially the one with chicken! Definitely my favorite! The tomato wasn't my…read morefavorite, for some reasons it didn't feel ripe for the season, a little watery. But hey, if you come here you mainly come for empanadas!! And those are great! I tried both fried and baked, and I liked them both. Service was very nice and fun, we felt very welcome and cared for. We ate outside, and it was very pleasant, so I can't really say something about the ambience inside.

Location is perfect right in front of Recoleta center with lots of other attractions Area is loud…read moreand busy. Good for groups. Outdoor and indoor seating. Food is OK, grills are good in this place. Waiters are not so good in English and service is a bit slow that might not be an issue here in Buenos Aires!

Great location, a long a touristy walkway sided by other restaurant. At night, its pleasant to sit…read moreoutside and enjoy the "movement". Service is not amazing, but food is good and not expensive. Interesting decor inside

The cuts of meat here are spectacular, very juicy and melts in your mouth…read more We ordered a cut of meat with cheese inside, and it was unlike anything I've ever tried.....perfection. The reputation is worth the hype, very easy to get a resy, and the staff are very nice! We got a nice bottle of wine to go along with our empanadas and the ambiance was fulled with futbol memorabilia, I LOVED IT. Will come again for sure in the near future

Great place for meat, and whatever we tasted from the menu was good…read more My husband got the half Ribeye, more than enough for him. They tend to cook the meat more than in the States here, so keep that in mind when ordering. No English menu but they tried really hard to help us and find the one waiter who speaks English. We had a wonderful dinner!