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
Neighbourhoodrecoleta
The dishTucumana empanadas
Location
Address: Avenida Pueyrredon 1508, C1118 Buenos Aires
More budget eats in Buenos Aires
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
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)