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
Pizzeria Guerrin is an argentine pizza al molde budget eat in Microcentro, Buenos Aires.
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.
Address: Avenida Corrientes 1368, C1043 Buenos Aires
Belgrano R milanesa hall: 20-plus toppings (napolitana, fugazzeta, calabresa), generous portions, beer-and-fries combos, packed with locals weeknights.
Try: Milanesa napolitana
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
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
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
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
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