By NYC standards, the food is somewhere between passable and only-while-drunk…read more
This popular chain primarily serves "Buenos Aires-style" pizza (one of the more unfortunate evolutions of the Italian original...) and empanadas, plus salads, desserts, and a bunch of other things. Like many Buenos Aires restaurants that aren't parrillas, the menu defies characterization.
The muzzarella con morrones was 15 pesos and featured a thick sludge of cheese, a couple slabs of red pepper (morrones), and a Spanish olive. The squat triangular shape, thick and airy crust, and volcanic flow of cheese takes some getting used to for this New Yorker. The baked empanadas were not terrible, but I'm beginning to regret the concept of baking when applied to empanadas.
The place is clean and aside from the fluorescent lighting, it's a few steps above what you'd expect for the food. Somehow, there's table service. Again, for the food they're serving, it's surprising to see small groups of Argentinians in their 30's and 40's having an actual dinner here, or older couples dining with a bottle of wine.
Worth a visit? No better to come here than anywhere else for pizza. But there's a (bidirectional) cultural lesson to be had in seeing people who are presumably Argentines, eating what we'd consider drunk food with the air of being at any other proper restaurant.
