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Empanada class
Cook, then eat lunch
- Length3 hours
- GroupUp to 8
- WhereSan Telmo
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Is Buenos Aires expensive to visit? What eating really costs
Palermo food walk in Buenos Aires
★ 5.0 · 8,399 reviews total
4 options compared
What guided eating costs for your party
Choose your party size and compare the starting fares side by side.
- Mate tasting1 hour · for one person from $22
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View - Empanada class3 hours · for one person from $37
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View - San Telmo street food3.5 hours · for one person from $69
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View - Palermo food walk3.5 hours · for one person from $89
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GetYourGuide's starting prices, converted at the ECB reference rate; exact pricing appears when you book.
Is Buenos Aires expensive to visit? It depends on how you pay and how you plan. Here is how prices behave, how to read a peso menu, and where your food budget goes furthest.
Editorial team, buenosairesfoodtour.click · Updated November 11, 2026 · Quick read: 7 min
In brief
- Prices moveA 21.5% rise in city prices over the first eight months of 2026.1
- Read the signA $ price is in pesos unless it says otherwise.2
- Carry bothCards in larger places, cash for the small ones.3
- Hotel savingForeign tourists get the 21% VAT on lodging refunded.4
- Guided eatingFrom $22 for a mate tasting to $89 for a food walk.
Is Buenos Aires expensive to visit? It depends on timing
There is no fixed answer, because prices in Argentina change quickly. The city statistics office measured a rise in consumer prices of 1.7% in August 2026, which took the rise for the first eight months of the year to 21.5%.1 A menu price you read in a review a year ago can be far from what you pay today, in either direction once exchange rates are counted.
That is why this page gives no restaurant prices in pesos. Any figure we printed would be out of date before your flight. What does stay stable is the structure of costs: how menus are written, how you pay, which meals are cheaper, and what guided food experiences cost in your own currency. The fares quoted below are listing prices in dollars, converted on the page into the currency you choose.
The exchange rate matters as much as the menu. The city tourism board points visitors to exchange houses, banks and the Banco de la Nacion Argentina site for each day's rate.5 It also advises changing small amounts at a time, since the value of foreign currencies against the peso varies a lot.6 Check the rate on the morning you arrive and you will read every menu correctly.
Paying in practice
How to pay for food in Buenos Aires
| Situation | Best way to pay | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel bill | International card | VAT refund of 21%4 |
| Restaurant | Card or pesos | Cards common in larger places3 |
| Cafe, kiosk, market | Pesos in cash | Some places take only cash3 |
| Getting cash | Cash machine or bank | ATMs run 24 hours a day13 |
| Street changer | Never | Illegal, says the city14 |
| Bus and subte | SUBE card | Needed for public transport15 |
Guidance from the city tourism board; check your own bank's fees for foreign card payments.3,14
How to read a menu and its prices
The first lesson is the symbol. In Argentina the peso uses the same $ sign as the US dollar, and a price written with $ is in pesos unless the place states otherwise; US dollars are written U$S.2 A figure with several zeros is normal for a peso menu, so do not panic at the length of the number. Work out a rough conversion for one round sum on your first day, and every later price becomes easy to read.
Menus tend to list starters, mains, desserts and drinks separately, and portions can be generous enough to share. If a menu shows a separate charge for bread or table service, ask what it covers before you settle in for a long meal. Sharing a main and adding a salad is a common way to eat well without ordering too much.
The cost of dinner in Buenos Aires depends heavily on the district and the hour. Dinner is usually eaten between 20 and 23 h, and the fashionable streets of Palermo charge for their popularity.7,11 A neighbourhood bodegon or a pizzeria on Avenida Corrientes gives you a classic dinner for less, and the city lists Corrientes pizzerias among its essential evening stops.12
Time for your money
Guided food experiences on the cost ladder, in hours
- Mate tasting1
- Empanada class3
- San Telmo street food3.5
- Our Palermo walk3.5
- Winery day7
Ordered from the lowest starting fare to the highest; lengths as each listing states them.
Cards, cash and the exchange rate
Paying is simple once you know the pattern. Most hotels and many large shops accept cards, but some smaller businesses take only cash.3 ATMs never close, working 24 hours a day, and take the main international card networks.13 Carry a card for restaurants and a modest amount of pesos for cafes, kiosks, markets and tips.
Avoid the street changers. In the city centre, especially on Calle Florida, people offer to change money at a better rate; the city tourism board says these changers are illegal and recommends regulated institutions only.14 The small gain is not worth the risk the city warns about, and banks and exchange houses are easy to find.
Keep small change handy. The city notes that shops sometimes run low on change and appreciate the exact amount when you pay cash.17 Leftover pesos at the end are best spent on transport or a souvenir, as the city itself suggests for small amounts.18 Plan your last cash withdrawal with that in mind, and you will leave with little more than coins for the airport coffee.
Spend smart
Where your food money goes furthest
Pick the way you like to eat and see where the value lies.
If I want to eat well on very little
Breakfast and market lunch
Bars run breakfast promotions; the San Telmo market has places to eat.8,16
If I want a guided meal once
The Palermo walk
3.5 hours, 4 restaurants and the drinks, from $89.
If I like to cook
An empanada class
3 hours, and lunch is what you make, from $37.
If I want one big splurge
A winery day
A winery, a lunch and a ride there: 7 hours, from $169.
If I want to save on the hotel
Pay with a foreign card
Foreign tourists are refunded the 21% VAT on lodging.4
By budget
A cheap taste, a full meal or a day out
A full meal
Palermo food walk
Sold on this site
- Length3.5 hours
- Stops4 restaurants
- DrinksIncluded
A day out
Winery day
Lunch among vines
- Length7 hours
- PickupIncluded
- MealLunch
The cost of food in Buenos Aires, meal by meal
Breakfast is the cheapest sit-down meal. The city suggests coffee with medialunas in a classic bar, and notes that many bars and cafes run breakfast promotions.20,8 Taking your first meal in a bar notable is a great-value pleasure: a historic room, table service and a modest bill. The city counts more than 80 of these bars and cafes, protected for their history, culture or architecture.21
Lunch runs from 12.30 to 15 h in most homes and offices.7 Where a restaurant offers a set lunch on weekdays, it is a good moment to try a place that would cost more at night. Markets help too: the San Telmo market keeps its old Italianate facade and now holds bars and cafes where you can eat on the spot.16 Mercado del Progreso in Caballito, open since 1889, mixes produce stalls with places to eat away from the tourist routes.22
In the late afternoon porteños stop for the merienda, coffee or mate with something sweet, and dinner comes late. Street food fills the gaps: the city describes empanadas as a quick savoury street snack.10 The cost of food in Buenos Aires stays reasonable when you eat the way locals do, at local hours, and save the expensive tables for one special night.
A day of eating
When porteños eat, and where it is cheapest
What guided food experiences cost
Guided food experiences are priced in dollars on the booking platforms and shown here in your currency. At the bottom of the ladder, 1 hour of guided mate in Palermo Soho costs from $22. One step up, 3 hours of making empanadas and alfajores costs from $37, and the food you shape becomes your meal. Both leave you with a skill or a habit you can repeat at home.
Full food walks cost more and replace a whole meal. San Telmo street food with drinks and history fills 3.5 hours for a fare from $69. Our Palermo walk is priced from $89 and fills 3.5 hours with stops at 4 restaurants, the drinks included. That is a full lunch or dinner with a guide included.
At the top end, a day at a winery outside the city with tasting, lunch and pickup starts from $169. A private food tasting tour starts from $254. The walks above refund in full until 24 hours before, so a fare can be fixed while plans are still loose.
Video
How expensive is Buenos Aires? Food and market prices
s34n Travels on YouTube · Nothing is fetched until you hit play.
Keep some small change handy: shops sometimes run low on small change and will be very happy with you if you can pay with the exact amount when paying in cash.
Money checklist
Pay smart, eat well
Before you go3
In the city3
Ways to save on the rest of the trip
Accommodation is where foreign visitors get a real tax break. Foreign tourists are refunded the 21% VAT on lodging when they pay with an international credit card or a transfer from a foreign bank and show their passport.4 Pay your hotel the right way and the saving can fund several good dinners. Ask at check-in how the refund is shown on your bill, so you can confirm it before you pay.
Getting around is cheap and simple with a SUBE card, which both the subte and the buses accept once you load credit.15 Free sights help too. The Ecological Reserve covers 350 hectares on the river, the largest green space in the city.23 Sunday brings the Plaza Dorrego antiques fair, and city guides lead free walks for anyone who signs up.24,19
Spend where it matters to you. If food drives the trip, book a guided walk in the first days to collect addresses, and lean on set lunches, which cost less than dinners. If you are budget-first, eat breakfast in a bar, lunch in a market and dinner at a pizzeria counter, and keep one evening for a celebration.
Ordering, sharing and asking for the bill
Eating out in Buenos Aires has its own rhythm, and knowing it saves money as well as stress. Portions in traditional places are built for sharing, so start with a plate to share and order more if you are still hungry. Waiters rarely hurry you, and the table is yours for as long as the conversation lasts, which is the city's sobremesa habit at work.25
The bill does not arrive on its own. Ask for la cuenta when you are ready, and check whether the total is in pesos before you sign or tap a card.2 If you are a group, decide in advance whether you will split the total evenly or item by item, and say so early: it makes life easier for a busy waiter and avoids long arithmetic at midnight.
Tipping is at your discretion, and none of the guided fares we quote includes one. In restaurants, leave a tip in cash if you can, since a card payment may not let you add it. Keep a few small notes for that moment, the same notes the city recommends for paying small shops, and the evening ends as smoothly as it began.17
FAQ
Fast answers to common questions.
Is Buenos Aires expensive to visit?
It depends on timing.
It varies with the moment: the city index went up 21.5% between January and August 2026, the first eight months of the year, so check today.1
Are menu prices in dollars or pesos?
Pesos, usually.
Read $ as pesos unless the place says otherwise; dollar prices carry U$S.2
Can I pay by card in restaurants?
Often, not always.
Usually, though some small businesses may take only cash.3
Where should I change money?
At banks or exchange houses.
Street changers, especially on Calle Florida, are illegal; use regulated institutions.14
How much is a food tour?
From $69 to $89 for a walk.
San Telmo street food from $69, the Palermo walk from $89, both 3.5 hours.
What is the cheapest way to eat well?
Breakfast and lunch.
Many bars run breakfast promotions, and lunch at a market or bodegon costs less than a late dinner.8
Do tourists pay VAT on hotels?
Foreign tourists get it back.
The 21% VAT on lodging is refunded when you pay with an international credit card.4
When is dinner in Buenos Aires?
Late.
Dinner is usually between 20 and 23 h, and lunch between 12.30 and 15 h.7
Sources
- Instituto de Estadistica y Censos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (estadisticaciudad.gob.ar) · IPCBA Ciudad de Buenos Aires, agosto de 2026, informe de resultado 2053 (PDF) ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Nuestros turistas extranjeros no abonan el IVA ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Tips para cambiar dinero ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Tips para cambiar dinero ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Feriados, horarios, talles y electricidad ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 8am | Breakfast at one of the city's classic cafes ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Circuito Tradicional: uno, dos y tres dias en Buenos Aires ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Primera vez en Buenos Aires ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Food markets and districts ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Tips para cambiar dinero ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Visitas guiadas ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 8am | Breakfast at one of the city's classic cafes ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 8am | Breakfast at one of the city's classic cafes ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Food markets and districts ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 6 things you have to do in Buenos Aires ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Imperdibles ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 10 vinos para disfrutar en Buenos Aires ↩