A note before starting here: our time in BA wasn’t really characterized by a lot of picture taking. A month gives you that “oh we’ll get a picture of it later” attitude, therefore there are relatively few photos to include. SORRY! All the same, we know food is as important to you as it is to us’ so here we go…

Buenos Aires is dense with eateries – at least in our hoods. It’s hard to traverse a block without passing a Parilla (BBQ), a panaderia (breads), a confiteria (pastries and sweets), a cafeteria (coffee), a heladeria (ice cream / gelato ) and two pizza places. You’re also going to find at least one kiosko (convenience store), a dietetica (health foodish store) and a fruit stand with the same thin variety of freshies: lettuce, tomato, eggplant, apple, grapes, banana, the occasional watermelon … And that’s fruits and vegetables in Argentina, folks! Good luck eating something besides bread and meat!

Unless you are in a speciality restaurant, like a Chinese or Middle Eastern joint, the menus are almost completely identical. Seriously, we’ve been confused, wondering “is this place owned by the other place?!” Aside from ethnic foods, the menus come in two varieties: Parilla or Pizza/Pasta/Empanadas.

Parilla (pah-REE-szha)

A BBQ meat place. I say BBQ, really it’s just grilled. This is where you’re going to find steaks of different cuts, sausage, the infamous blood sausage, offals and entrails, etc, as well as your popular sandwiches like the ubiquitous “choripan” (literally, sausage and bread). It’s mostly beef, some pork, no lamb that I’ve seen, which contrasts it pretty sharply with the Patagonian Parilla and Asado.

Most meat sandwiches can be ordered “completo” which includes a thick squirt of mayonnaise, a thin slice of ham, and a fried egg.

Of course Argentina loves it’s meats: it’s a huge country that’s really good at growing grass and cows, but I get the impression that parillas are slightly more of an occasional thing and that the grilling of meats is saved as more of a family/festive thing.

Pizza, pasta, empanadas

The pizza here is thick crusted, dry on sauce, and frankly kind of awful. We went to a late night place and ordered the “cheddar special”, which was a regular mozzarella pie with no sauce, a slice of American cheese, and (literally) a squirt of ketchup. Sure, there are better ones, but not by much. Ironically, I thought Denver’s “Buenos Aires Pizzaria” had much better pizza than any of the pizza here in the titular city.

Usually when you see pizza and pasta and hamburgers on a menu outside of the US, you assume that it’s for the tourists – not so in Argentina. It’s many a crowded restaurant or sidewalk cafe packed with “porteños” of all ages, eating pizza with fork and knife.

Picante

Like Colombia, spicy isn’t really a thing here. If you order something that threatens at all to have any spice, they are quick to warn you about it. We find ourselves quite spice starved; going to a noodle place in Chinatown, we were so anxious to dump chili sauce on our food, that we both left whimpering.

Sushi

All of the sushi here has a really fat vein of cream cheese in it, and/or canned tuna.

Cubierto

Literally “cover”. This is a cover charge for a restaurant. Sometimes we’ve seen it listed as a silverware charge. Usually it’s indicated on the inside front of a menu, the cover charge is generally 15-30 pesos, less than 3 bucks. I have read that the government has tried to stem cubierto abuses by restaurants by setting legal minimums for what is offered: 250ml of clean drinkable water, 1 unit gluten free bread, sodium-free salt (!??!), and traditional or “diatetic” bread. Sometimes this is far surpassed, with peanuts and olives and sauces and breadsticks and warm fresh bread, but usually it’s just bread of varying qualities. Never water. You order and pay for water.

To-Go

Packing something to go is apparently slightly taboo, and when you do ask for them “para llevar” they are packaged in alternating layers of cardboard and paper and folded into a cute parcel.

Delivery

Almost every place delivers, and has a fleet of dudes with motorcycles on the curb to prove it. Because of this, lunchtime can be kind of a bad time to go to a restaurant as they have a massive volume of to-go orders they are busy fulfilling.

Alcohol

Of course wine is huge here: it’s cheap and plentiful, and really decent, and I don’t think anybody cares whether you buy the 4 dollar bottle or the 8 dollar bottle. For beers, you see the same things most places – Quilmes, Imperial, Brahma, Stella Artois and sometimes Heineken. Often, if you order a liter bottle at a sidewalk place, they bring it out in a little styrofoam sarcophagus to keep it cool.

The surprising beverage fascination here is Fernet and Coke. If you’re adventurous, Fernet Menthe and Sprite. Lucy has heard many a haggard traveler utter “ungh.. I drank so much fernet last night”. I think fernet and coke tastes like lotion, personally.

Street food

Not much. Some parilla carts, hot dog (pancho) venders, and occasional choripan guy.

Panaderias and Confiterias

Many a day have I walked next door to pick up supplies for a morning picnic and left with a 6-high stack of sweet, crisp, flaky, sticky, freshly made croissants, breads and pastries, for less than 3 dollars. Almost every place, no matter what the menu, serves up some variation of the cafe/medialuna breakfast special. That’s usually a cup of cafe con leche and 2-3 thinly rolled croissants with a sweet glaze, for 2-3 bucks. Now that’s the kind of breakfast that usually comes with a cigarette!

So there you have it, whether you like bread, meat, or cheese… well, they have it, and you won’t starve. I guess you kind of have to be a meat person here.

Ciao and Salud