In the land of cows, having a good roadmap for experiencing rural culture in the city is essential. Considering different profiles and budgets, this selection of the best grills in Buenos Aires includes everything from simple choripán stands near soccer fields to hotel restaurants where you can savor the best grass-fed or aged beef. Shall we start, meat-lover?
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Opened as a general store and Spanish tavern in 1953, it reopened at the beginning of the 21st century with a focus on meat. Cuts are aged between 15 and 21 days for enhanced flavor and tenderness.
Tip: You must order the T-bone and Tomahawk.
Location: Gurruchaga 1406, Palermo.
Started in Palermo and expanded to locations worldwide, including the Philippines, Madrid, Barcelona, and Miami. Created by grill master Gastón Rivera in 2001, La Cabrera is renowned for giving as much importance to side dishes as to the meat, served in small pots accompanying each plate.
Tip: They use the best cuts from Hereford and Aberdeen Angus breeds.
Location: José A. Cabrera 5099, Palermo.
Hard to say anything new about Don Julio. Recently crowned the best steakhouse in the world for the second consecutive year by the World’s Best Steak Restaurants ranking. Even Lionel Messi dined here after winning the World Cup in Qatar. It's the only grill in the world with a Michelin star.
From a neighborhood grill, Pablo Rivero turned it into one of the highest-grossing restaurants globally. The focus is on high-quality grass-fed beef, vegetables, cheeses, and wines.
Location: Guatemala 4699, Palermo.
A grill that makes you a regular. Unassuming and almost unknown, it offers good prices and quality ingredients in a quiet neighborhood corner in Chacarita. You have to ring the bell to enter. The sweetbreads, short ribs, and fries with parsley-garlic sauce are highlights.
Tip: You can order half portions of almost everything, allowing you to try more.
Open: Monday to Saturday, 12-3 pm and 8-11 pm.
Location: Villarroel 1201, Chacarita.
A typical spot where taxi drivers stop for lunch. It has a street-facing window for quick takeaways and a small dining area with a few tables for those with more time. Expect to leave smelling like food.
Tip: What sets El Litoral apart is its magnificent lemon-flavored pork shoulder sandwich, considered by many as the best in the city. It's hearty, with several layers of tender, crispy pork in a lightly toasted baguette. Add plenty of parsley-garlic sauce and chimichurri before the first bite.
Open: Monday to Saturday, 11 am to 1 am.
Location: Moreno 2201, San Cristóbal.
A famous grill outside the city in José León Suárez, included here because it's worth the trip. It started in the 1980s as Oscar Bopp's choripán stand and became a meat emporium, drawing over two thousand visitors each weekend.
Tip: The large venue is best enjoyed by sitting at the bar and ordering the famous wood-grilled meat. The flank steak is exceptional.
Open: Daily, 11 am to 4 pm. Saturdays also open at night.
Location: Av. Brig. Gral Juan Manuel de Rosas 1391, José León Suárez.
Known locally as “La Esquina” or “Parrillita Buena,” this spot in Belgrano is always bustling at lunchtime. Simple, with green and white awnings and plastic tables on the sidewalk, it stands out for its affordable sandwiches: flank steak, pork shoulder, skirt steak, and choripán or chinchupán (tripe sandwich). It’s been at the same corner for nearly thirty years.
Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 12-3:30 pm.
Location: Miñones 1902, Belgrano.
Opened in 1982, Peña remains timeless, beloved by locals and tourists alike. It’s straightforward: seasoned waiters and grill masters, a modest dining room, and charming details like the complimentary fried empanada you get upon sitting down.
Tip: Order the rib eye, cooked to perfection. The fries are good, and the flan with dulce de leche and cream is a standout.
Open: Daily, 12-4 pm and 7 pm to midnight.
Location: Rodríguez Peña 682, Centro.
A grill with its own butcher shop, since opening in 2018, it has ranked among the city’s best. Spacious, bright, and modern, it's perfect for group dining. The grass-fed beef is top quality. Their sausages are especially noteworthy for their variety, originality, and craftsmanship: chicken, pork, green curry, cilantro, mint, basil, ginger, jalapeño, beef brisket, pork belly, provolone, cilantro, parsley, and Italian sausage with fennel seeds and aperitif, among other options.
Tip: The place is run by two meat experts: chef Santiago Garat and charcutier Cesar Sagario.
Open: Monday to Thursday, 12-3:30 pm and 7-11 pm; Friday and Saturday until midnight; Sunday only for lunch.
Location: Olazábal 1391, Belgrano.
Reliable and neat, this corner grill opened in a neighborhood lacking such options. The best tables are outside on sunny days. They have a few well-executed cuts.
Tip: We particularly recommend the short ribs.
Open: Daily, 8 pm to midnight. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday also for lunch.
Location: Av. Córdoba 6401, Chacarita.
It's very small, so there is usually a long line of diners waiting on the sidewalk. Generally, they are tourists who come looking for some of its iconic cuts, like the bone-in grilled steak, a piece that comes from the animals raised in the open fields of the chef Germán Sitz's family land in the south of Buenos Aires Province and in La Pampa.
Tip: We recommend sitting at the bar to fully observe the experience.
Another hit: the sweetbreads.
Where: Thames 2317, Palermo.
It was just another good value-for-money grill in Buenos Aires until Robert De Niro visited and put it on the map. A filming location for the Star series “Nada,” since then, its attendance and fame have grown. It is small and filled with homages to Carlos Gardel, Tita Merello, Enrique Santos Discépolo, and its owner for over 30 years, Omar Escudero.
Tip: El Rebenque's specialty is the bife a caballo, a 900-gram Angus sirloin with two fried eggs on top.
Where: Matheu 24, Balvanera.
Their choripán is very good, but let's not deny it: the number one reason to include La Glorieta de Quique on the list is its unbeatable location: right in front of the imposing Boca Juniors stadium. An unforgettable experience and photo opportunity. Painted blue and yellow and filled with photos of former players, it has over half a century of history. Quique, a butcher and Boca fanatic, opened it, and his son Luis continues it.
Tip: Besides the choripán, we recommend the lomito with homemade chimichurri.
Where: Brandsen 810, La Boca.
Just as La Glorieta de Quique is "bostera" (of Boca Juniors), El Secretito is for Racing, another major Argentine club. The relationship between meat and soccer is fraternal. Hidden on the first floor of a Palermo property, it is very simple and frequented by large groups of friends (many after playing a game). It has no sign on the door and is hermetically sealed behind blue bars: reservations are essential.
Since it opened in 2004, its specialty is the rib roast with over four hours of cooking and the 800-gram sirloin.
Tip: The star dish is the 1-kilo ribeye steak, five fingers high. After cutting the ends, the remaining meat is cooked on a slab grill, with pipes (not V-shaped), for about 45 minutes to achieve a juicy medium-rare. Most customers order it butterfly-cut. Other recommended dishes include the skirt steak, pork chop, and sirloin.
Where: Dorrego 2720, Palermo.
With a name as memorable as the quality of its heart sweetbreads, El Pobre Luis is one of Buenos Aires' iconic grills. Opened by the Uruguayan grill master Luis Acuña, after his death, his son Luis inherited it. It features a room decorated with garlands of football jerseys from around the world (more than 400) and sports photos. Besides the sweetbreads, their pamplonas are famous: a piece of meat (loin, pork, or chicken) wrapped in the crepiné membrane covering the pig's belly and stuffed with cheese, ham, bell pepper, and spices. At El Pobre Luis, it arrives at the table with an irresistible golden color from 10 minutes of cooking on each of its four sides.
Every day, the fire is lit promptly with quebracho at 6 pm.
Tip: The grill stands out for a peculiarity: it is one of the few in the city that, instead of refractory bricks, has a sand and soil floor, which is changed every January. "This gives it a particular flavor, a more smoky taste. It also gives you more heat to work with," says one of their grill masters.
Where: Arribeños 2393, Belgrano.
A favorite of tourists and San Telmo locals, its rustic and simple dining room mixes accents from various origins since 1994. The portions are generous and the price-quality ratio is excellent. Among the cuts they offer, the sirloin stands out.
Tip: Another must-try: the choripán! Friendly and willing service.
Where: Defensa 855, San Telmo.
Its origins date back to the sixties, surrounded by glamour and celebrities. It thrived during the heyday of the “carritos de la costanera” (riverside food carts) and was frequented by emerging artists and musicians. Today, run by the children of the couple who opened it, it has become a classic.
Tip: We recommend their classic asado banderita, thin strips from the animal's rib center.
With 35 years of history and serving eleven thousand covers per month, Don Zoilo is a phenomenon that transcends trends and generations: founded by two friends in the Villa Crespo neighborhood, it almost always has a line at the door. Additionally, its dining room is impeccable, with white tablecloths and waiters in bow ties, and the meats are aged in view, between 45 and 60 days.
Tip: The skirt steak, short ribs, and ribeye are the most requested cuts.
Where: Av. Dr. Honorio Pueyrredón 1406, Villa Crespo.
Located in the garden of a 5-star hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel, and led by a female grill master, Patricia Ramos. Its dining room, situated in a sort of greenhouse made entirely of glass, is ideal for a leisurely weekend lunch. On those days, the wood-fired grill is lit, and the menu is family style: served to share in the middle of the table, like at home.
Tip: They have a special menu with regenerative, 100% pasture-fed meats, including a half-kilo T-bone, ribeye, and rib steak.
Where: Posadas 1086, Recoleta.
Opened in late 2021 on a beautiful corner of Villa Crespo, but quite far from the usual gastronomic circuits. It boasts a neat and careful aesthetic and an uncommon style of meat: Wagyu - a breed originating from Japan known for its tenderness and juiciness. They use it for charcuterie, empanadas, or the cuts that end up on the grill.
Tip: One of its owners, Juan Barcos, is a pioneer in Wagyu breeding in the fields of Entre Ríos.
Where: Rojas 1600, Villa Crespo.
The unique feature of this San Telmo grill, opened in 1992 by the Mendocino Hugo Echavarrieta, is its fire management. “I work with the heat of the irons, not with the coals,” he says. It is lit at 9 in the morning and lasts until five in the afternoon. It is never rekindled nor is more charcoal added. Only he knows the exact degrees the iron needs to reach to grill without burning.
The cuts and offals are served at different times on hot plates, which are changed each time. Some customers come for their famous lamb chitterlings, others for their sweetbreads or ribeye.
Tip: La Brigada has been frequented by music stars like Bono and Sting, as well as political figures like former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy. The main goal? To witness the stellar show of each shift: the moment when waiters cut the meat with the handle of a spoon.
Where: Estados Unidos 465, San Telmo.
“A truly Argentine place,” this grilled meat emporium is located on former railway lands (hence its name), a few meters from the Vélez Sarsfield stadium in the Liniers neighborhood. Its all-you-can-eat grill menu has a legion of fans (it receives almost a thousand customers per night) and allows you to try everything from sweetbreads, lamb, suckling pig, kid, wide ribs (with over five hours of cooking), to a complete provoleta, one of the house specialties.
Where: Av. Reservistas Argentinos 219, Liniers.
With a very low profile, it emerged as the quick-service grill of the Palermo butcher shop and wine shop, Tomahawk. It only opens at noon and is an attractive option if you are strolling through the neighborhood. It has a few tables and a bar.
Tip: When ordering, the recommendation is to go for the delicious ribeye sandwich, very tender and juicy, or a classic choripán.
Where: El Salvador 6006, Palermo.
Chef Nacho Trotta is a master at handling fire. At Bestia, in the northern zone, he has a yakitori, a kamado, and a grill that he just enlarged, a true paradise for carnivores. What to order? The ribeye or the smoked and lacquered rib they just reincorporated into the menu.
Tip: If you go in a group, you can order whole animals to share, such as the house suckling pig.
Where: Primera Junta 702, San Isidro.
A meeting point for those leaving the club or a party with a craving for something to eat, the most commendable thing about this famous Villa Ortuzar grill is that it will never let you down: it’s open 24 hours, every day of the year. That's right: it only closes for Christmas and New Year's. Founded over 30 years ago, it has become a classic that attracts celebrities, taxi drivers, and other nocturnal inhabitants.
Tip: The choripán and the flank steak sandwich with salsa criolla or chimichurri are must-haves, followed by the pork shoulder sandwich.
Where: Av. Álvarez Thomas 2101, Villa Ortúzar.
A glam grill? Maybe that's how you could define Asadero, whose aesthetic is more related to a cool and elegant restaurant than to a classic grill. High ceilings, designer tables and chairs, and a kitchen with a smoker, clay oven, and grill: they work with top-quality meat.
Tip: To start, you must try the txistorra with fainá and fresh oregano, and to continue, the T-bone for two people, the asado banderita, or the skirt steak.
Where: Corrientes 400, Olivos.
A mix of speakeasy and grill, Rufino is hidden in the basement of a Recoleta hotel. A dimly lit room, with a large mural depicting a cow, forms the ambiance. The kitchen is in full view. To start, you should order the humita empanada and the perfect bell peppers stuffed with onions and three cheeses. But the real star is the six-hour roast, so tender it can be cut with a fork.
Tip: For dessert, definitely order the chocolate cream with salt.
Where: Av. Pres. Manuel Quintana 465, Recoleta.
It is a favorite spot for Brazilian tourists: a huge and elegant grill with a terrace facing the dock in Puerto Madero. For four generations, they have produced their own meat in the fields of Buenos Aires Province, which they grill in a glass-fronted grill. This is the place to try chinchulines, rib steak, and especially the picanha, a flavorful cut from the rear quarter of the cow, which is not common in other grills.
Tip: Its impressive wine list deserves a special mention, having won the Wine Spectator award multiple times.
Where: Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 516, Puerto Madero.
Wood-fired cooking, aged meats, small plates with seasonal vegetables, Argentine wine. At Somos Asado, they don't consider themselves a classic grill, but a place to share food treated with fire. It is located in a long and somewhat hidden venue in Palermo, with a patio full of plants.
Tip: Order the rib roast in homemade BBQ sauce, the 30-day aged ribeye, and the Porterhouse.
Where: Av. Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz 651, Palermo.
The concept of a roadside grill is a true Argentine one: there are hundreds along national and provincial routes throughout the country (for example in Dolores, on the way to Mar del Plata). But here, we will recommend one in Duggan, an hour and a half from the city. It is called Rancho El Tata lo de Castillo, with the fire burning for over sixty years and its owners attending to the public.
Tip: We recommend starting with some knife-cut Tucuman empanadas with lemon, and then following the grill master's recommendation, which is never wrong.
Where: Ruta 8 km 133.
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