The best restaurants in Buenos Aires, ranked and mapped

Ranking the best restaurants in Buenos Aires starts with outside judges. The MICHELIN Guide now covers Argentina and lists 58 restaurants in the capital, with 1 holding 2 Stars, 4 holding 1 Star, 11 Bib Gourmand addresses and 42 more selected for good cooking.⁶ Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants publishes a yearly list, and its 2025 edition places 8 Buenos Aires restaurants inside its top 50.⁷

The lists are built in different ways, which is why some names appear on both and others on a single list. A restaurant on both is a safe bet for a big night. One on a single list is still worth a look, especially if its cuisine is the one you came for, Korean, modern Argentine or a creative tasting menu. Read the lists as a shortlist, not a verdict, and let your own appetite break the tie.

Then there are the institutions no guide needs to rank. The city tourism board keeps its own register of iconic restaurants and historic cafés, where the point is a century of service rather than a new menu. And Argentina's best-known chefs have been asked where they eat themselves. Use all of them together, and you can pick by budget, mood and appetite instead of by a single number.

Lists of the top 10 restaurants in Buenos Aires age fast. The city tourism board still notes that in the 2016 edition the city held 10 of the 50 best restaurants in Latin America.²⁸ The 2025 list counts 8 inside the top 50.⁷ The city keeps its weight in the region, while the names on the list keep changing from one edition to the next, as new kitchens open and older ones close or move.

Read any ranking as a first filter, then confirm this year's edition before you book. A sensible way to build your own shortlist is to mix types: a tasting menu such as Aramburu or Crizia, a modern bodegón such as El Preferido, a Bib Gourmand bistro, a century-old dining room and a pizzeria on Corrientes. That spread covers the city better than a week of tasting menus.

Dates help too. A tasting menu is a long evening, so put it on a night with no early start next day. Lunch is the clever way into the busier rooms, and many classic places serve it every day. Leave space for the restaurants no list includes: the corner place your hotel recommends, the market stall at midday, the café where you end up staying an hour longer than you planned.

Some of the top restaurants in Buenos Aires are famous for staying the same. El Imparcial, founded in 1860 by a Spanish immigrant, has a fair claim to being the oldest restaurant in the city.⁴ Expect Spanish puchero, paella and milanesa a la napolitana, and respect the sign that forbids arguments about politics and religion.^83,30 El Globo nearby built its name on a puchero of hen, beef and pork; in its early years it served nothing else.⁸⁴

El Tropezón on Avenida Callao was founded in 1896 by Spanish immigrants, and its flagship is hen puchero; Carlos Gardel had his own table, number 48.^10,47 Chiquilín, which started in 1927 under another name, now serves generous bodegón plates near the theatres of Corrientes.³¹ These rooms are less about invention than about waiters who know the menu by heart and can carry several plates at once.⁸⁵

Out in the barrios, Spiagge di Napoli has run since 1926 and is now in the hands of the founder's grandchildren.¹¹ Cervecería López in Villa Ortúzar has served its huge portions since 1943.⁸⁶ Pucará in Caballito keeps a Galician seafood menu dating from 1960.⁴¹ For many locals these, not the starred rooms, are the best restaurant in Buenos Aires: the place where the family has eaten for generations.

Visit Argentina asked Germán Martitegui, Narda Lepes and Gonzalo Aramburu where they eat. Martitegui named Gran Dabbang on Scalabrini Ortiz as spectacular.²⁷ Lepes chose Oviedo in Recoleta, a classic where anyone has a good time.⁴⁶ Both pointed to Kona for drinks, and Lepes suggests eating at its bar.⁴⁹ Martitegui's tip for an afternoon break is coffee in Casa Cavia's garden in Palermo.⁵⁵

Book for weekend nights and for any name on a list; the tourism board advises reserving popular restaurants, especially at weekends.⁵ Dinner service starts around 8 PM and prime time begins at 9.30 PM, so an early table is easier to find.^74,76 Smart casual suits most rooms in the city; for the grander dining rooms, dress up a little. Tell the restaurant about allergies or a vegetarian diet when you book, not when you sit down.

The most romantic tables are a matter of taste rather than of any list. Some swear by a candlelit tasting menu, others by a corner of an old café with the city outside the window. Either way, avoid running between famous rooms in one evening. Choose one, take your time over the wine and leave the rest for another night. Buenos Aires rewards slow evenings; the table is usually yours until you decide to leave.