Cheap Eats in Buenos Aires

Chori

• ★ 4.8
• Street food
• $
• Palermo Soho

Try Choripan with house sausage

Pedro Pena and German Sitz upgraded the street choripan to chef-counter form: house-made sausages, ferments, pickled toppings and signature chimichurris.

Atelier Fuerza

• ★ 4.7
• Bakery
• $
• Palermo Soho

Order Medialunas (Argentine-style)

Palermo flagship of Buenos Aires' sourdough revolution, with branches in Recoleta, Almagro, Nunez and beyond. Slogan: fewer croissants, more medialunas.

El Sanjuanino

• ★ 4.7
• Street food
• $
• Recoleta

Try Salteña and tucumana empanadas

Recoleta empanada institution since 1976. Salteña, tucumana and cuyana empanadas baked or fried, tamales and winter locro; family-owned three generations.

Salvaje Bakery

• ★ 4.6
• Bakery
• $
• Palermo Soho

Order Sourdough loaf with whole grain and rye

German Torres's Palermo-Colegiales border bakery, standard-bearer for Argentine sourdough since 2016. Alternative flours, integral pastries, his book Pan.

Cocu Boulangerie

• ★ 4.5
• Bakery
• $
• Palermo Soho

Order Butter croissant

Three French entrepreneurs' Palermo Soho boulangerie, widely cited as the city's best croissant. Baguette, pain au levain, pastries; small cafe corner.

L'epi Boulangerie

• ★ 4.5
• Bakery
• $
• Belgrano

Order Pain au chocolat

Bruno and Olivier's Belgrano boulangerie: pain au chocolat, kouign amann and mille-feuilles, Argentine flour with French technique, plus a lunch counter.

Las Violetas

• ★ 4.5
• Café
• $
• Almagro

Drink Merienda (tea, medialunas, tea sandwiches)

Voted best Cafe Notable in Buenos Aires, opened 21 September 1884 at Rivadavia and Medrano. Belle-epoque stained glass, Italian marble, legendary merienda.

Feria de Mataderos

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• Mataderos

Try Provincial empanadas, locro, asado

Sunday Mataderos fair on the old livestock-yard plazas. Provincial empanadas, asado off open coals, winter locro, tamales; gaucho displays alongside.

Le Blu

• ★ 4.4
• Bakery
• $
• Palermo Soho

Order Twice-baked almond croissant

Palermo Soho corner room turning out the city's most-photographed laminated pastries. Twice-baked almond croissants, kouign amann, medialunas queues.

Gran Cafe Tortoni

• ★ 4.4
• Café
• $
• Microcentro

Drink Submarino (hot milk with chocolate bar)

The oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, founded 1858 and on Avenida de Mayo since 1880. Cafe Notable, a Site of Cultural Interest; Borges and Gardel were regulars.

LAttente Caffe

• ★ 4.4
• Café
• $
• Palermo Soho

Drink Filter coffee from LAB Tostadores

Specialty Palermo coffee bar from the LAB Tostadores roastery, a standard-bearer for third-wave coffee in BA. Filter, espresso, baked goods; laptops welcome.

Choripaneros de la Costanera Sur

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• Puerto Madero

Try Choripan from grill carts

Buenos Aires' classic choripan-cart strip along the Costanera Sur reserve. Open-flame grills, chorizo and bondiola sandwiches, paper napkins, cans of beer.

Pinta Pizza

• ★ 4.4
• Pizzeria
• $
• Palermo Soho

Try High-hydration Argentine pizza

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.

El Cuartito

• ★ 4.3
• Argentine Pizza Al Molde
• $
• Microcentro

Buenos Aires' canonical pizza al molde pizzeria since 1934. Thick-crust mozzarella, fugazzeta and faina at stand-up counters; sit-down tables in the back.

Pizzeria Guerrin

• ★ 4.3
• Argentine Pizza Al Molde
• $
• Microcentro

Corrientes pizzeria since 1932, cited with El Cuartito as a BA pizza al molde institution. Stand-up counter for cuarta-de-muzza, sit-down tables at the back.

Confiteria La Argentina

• ★ 4.3
• Bakery
• $
• Caballito

Order Pasta frola and palmeritas

Caballito panaderia opened 1907, one of the oldest active bakeries in the city. Pasta frola, palmeritas, alfajores de maicena and a full factura counter.

Bar El Federal

• ★ 4.3
• Café
• $
• San Telmo

Drink Cafe and tostado mixto

One of the oldest bar-restaurants in BA, opened 1864 as a general store and rebuilt as the present Italianate corner. Bar Notable, Site of Cultural Interest.

El Preferido (cafe service)

• ★ 4.3
• Café
• $
• Palermo Soho

Drink Espresso and vermouth at the bar

Pablo Rivero's Palermo bodegon doubles as a morning and aperitif cafe with the 1952 marble counter. Sit at the bar for vermouth and tortilla pre-lunch.

La Cocina

• ★ 4.3
• Street food
• $
• Recoleta

Try Tucumana empanadas

Pueyrredon empanada counter known for tucumana-style empanadas, fried or baked. Famous picante (spicy minced beef with potato); Tue and Thu locro at the bar.

El Obrero

• ★ 4.3
• Argentine
• $
• La Boca

Try Bife de chorizo and mashed potatoes

La Boca bodegon since 1954. Soccer scarves on the walls, simple parrilla, daily specials chalked up; a famous Bono and Bourdain pilgrimage stop.

La Biela

• ★ 4.2
• Café
• $
• Recoleta

Drink Cafe and tres medialunas

Cafe Notable opposite Recoleta Cemetery, on Quintana and Junin since 1850. Renamed La Biela in the 1950s for its racing-driver clientele; Borges wrote here.

El Gato Negro

• ★ 4.2
• Café
• $
• Microcentro

Drink Spiced cafe and exotic teas

Cafe Notable since 1928 on Corrientes, half spice merchant and half cafe. Wood shelves of imported coffee and tea, marble counter, theatre lunch crowd.

Miramar

• ★ 4.2
• Argentine
• $
• San Cristobal

Try Paella de mariscos at Sunday lunch

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.

El Imperio de la Pizza

• ★ 4.1
• Argentine Pizza Al Molde
• $
• Almagro

Almagro pizzeria on Corrientes, the kind of stand-up pizza al molde joint locals come to between subway rides. Bargain prices, classic fugazzeta rellena.

Panaderia San Antonio

• ★ 4.1
• Bakery
• $
• Palermo Soho

Order Facturas (medialunas, vigilantes, sacramentos)

Classic Palermo Soho panaderia of the kind every porteno barrio has on a corner. Medialunas, vigilantes, sacramentos, full factura tray, bread by the kilo.

Cafe de los Angelitos

• ★ 4.1
• Café
• $
• Microcentro

Drink Cafe con leche and medialunas

Cafe Notable at Rivadavia and Rincon, opened 1890 and rebuilt in 2007 after demolition. Gardel and Pugliese were regulars; upstairs tango show runs nightly.

Feria de San Telmo (food stalls)

• ★ 4.1
• Street food
• $
• San Telmo

Try Choripan, churros, empanadas, helado

Sunday San Telmo fair runs the length of Defensa. Choripan grills, churros stands, empanada carts and tango buskers between Plaza Dorrego and Plaza de Mayo.

Albamonte

• ★ 4.1
• Argentine
• $
• Chacarita

Try Cannelloni rossini

Chacarita Argentine-Italian bodegon since 1953. Hand-rolled noodles, baked pastas and cheap Sunday family lunches under wood-beam ceilings on Corrientes.

Havanna (flagship)

• ★ 4.0
• Bakery
• $
• Microcentro

Order Alfajor de chocolate con dulce de leche

Argentina's most recognised alfajor brand, founded 1948 in Mar del Plata. Now in every airport; the Florida pedestrian-street store is the busiest outpost.

La Poesia

• ★ 4.0
• Café
• $
• San Telmo

Drink Cafe and apple strudel

Bar Notable on the Chile and Bolivar corner of San Telmo; a small bohemian room declared a Site of Cultural Interest. Worn wood, soft lamps, slow Sundays.

El Hornero Tucumano

• ★ 4.0
• Street food
• $
• Once

Try Tucumana empanadas and humitas

Balvanera counter specialising in the Tucuman regional canon: hand-formed empanadas of cuchillo-cut beef, humitas en chala and tamales. Cheap, fast, packed.

El Club de la Milanesa

• ★ 4.0
• Argentine
• $
• Belgrano

Try Milanesa napolitana

Belgrano R milanesa hall: 20-plus toppings (napolitana, fugazzeta, calabresa), generous portions, beer-and-fries combos, packed with locals weeknights.