El Cuartito ★ 4.3
Stand-up pizza al molde since 1934. Order a cuarta de muzza or fugazzeta at the counter, fold and eat with a tin of moscato. Sit-down dining at the back.
Try: Pizza al molde (cuarta de muzza)
Eat well in Buenos Aires for under €15 a plate: the places locals on a budget actually use.
Cheap eats worth seeking out
Pizzeria Guerrin ★ 4.3
Corrientes institution since 1932 with two-tier service: stand-up counter slices for a few dollars, sit-down tables and full pies at the back.
Try: Pizza al molde (fugazzeta rellena)
El Club de la Milanesa ★ 4.0
Belgrano R milanesa hall: 20-plus toppings (napolitana, fugazzeta, calabresa), generous portions, beer-and-fries combos, packed with locals weeknights.
Try: Milanesa napolitana
El Obrero ★ 4.3
La Boca bodegon since 1954. Soccer scarves on the walls, simple parrilla, daily specials chalked up; a famous Bono and Bourdain pilgrimage stop.
Try: Bife de chorizo and mashed potatoes
Chori ★ 4.4
Chef-driven choripan counter from Pedro Pena and German Sitz: house-made sausages, four pickles, three chimichurris; the cheapest meal at Palermo quality.
Try: Choripan with house sausage
El Sanjuanino ★ 4.3
Recoleta empanada institution since 1976. Order a dozen mixed (salteña, tucumana, cuyana) and take them away to the cemetery park for a working-lunch budget.
Try: Empanadas salteñas and tucumanas
La Cocina ★ 4.2
Pueyrredon empanada counter famous for tucumana-style and the picante (spicy minced beef and potato). Winter Tuesdays and Thursdays bring locro at the bar.
Try: Tucumana empanadas
Miramar ★ 4.2
San Cristobal Spanish-Argentine bodegon since 1948. Paella on Sundays, weeknight classics; one of the city's last big wood-panelled rooms at bodegon prices.
Try: Paella de mariscos at Sunday lunch
Pinta Pizza ★ 4.4
Palermo natural-fermentation pizza by the slice or full pie. Cheaper than a Don Julio steak, dialled-in dough, brings a small queue at lunch.
Try: High-hydration Argentine pizza
Albamonte ★ 4.1
Chacarita Argentine-Italian bodegon since 1953. Hand-rolled noodles, baked pastas and cheap Sunday family lunches under wood-beam ceilings on Corrientes.
Try: Cannelloni rossini
El Imperio de la Pizza ★ 4.1
Almagro pizzeria on Corrientes for the classic cheap-and-fast porteno move: a cuarta of mozzarella plus a slice of faina, eaten standing at the counter.
Try: Stand-up cuarta de muzza
El Hornero Tucumano ★ 4.0
Balvanera empanada counter doing the Tucuman canon at lunch-budget prices. Stand-up service, half-dozen empanadas plus a humita at working-lunch cost.
Try: Tucumana empanadas, humitas