Breaded beef cutlet pounded thin, fried, then topped with tomato sauce, ham and melted mozzarella. The Argentine ego of milanesa: cutlet plus pizza, plus more.
The dish was invented in the late 1940s at Restaurant Napoli on Bouchard, between Corrientes and Lavalle, facing Luna Park in central Buenos Aires. Owner Jorge La Grotta covered a burned milanesa with tomato, ham and cheese; the name nods to his restaurant, not to the city of Naples. By the 1960s every bodegon offered it and the porteno lunch crowd ordered it with chips and a fried egg on top (a caballo).
4 editor picks for Milanesa Napolitana in Buenos Aires, ranked by editorial score. All Buenos Aires signature dishes · Milanesa Napolitana across every city.
El Preferido de Palermo ★ 4.7
palermo-soho · Jorge Luis Borges 2108, C1425 Buenos Aires
Pablo Rivero and Guido Tassi reopened this 1952 bodegon in 2020 with parrilla-grade Spanish-Italian classics. LA50B #24 in 2025; Michelin listed.
Miramar ★ 4.2
san-cristobal · Avenida San Juan 1999, C1232 Buenos Aires
San Cristobal classic Spanish-Argentine bodegon, opened 1948. Wood-panelled dining room, terrace tables, paella on Sundays, bodegon classics through the week.
Albamonte ★ 4.1
chacarita · Avenida Corrientes 6735, C1427 Buenos Aires
Chacarita corner bodegon doing Argentine-Italian pasta and milanesas since 1953. Hand-rolled noodles, Sunday family lunches, cannelloni rossini.
El Club de la Milanesa ★ 4.0
belgrano · Juramento 2995, C1428 Buenos Aires
City-wide milanesa-specialist chain with a long-running Belgrano R branch: 20-plus toppings (napolitana, fugazzeta, calabresa) on the breaded cutlet.