Monday lunch in May at Don Julio's in Buenos Aires. We arrived early hoping to snag a table but…read morethey told us there were none and to return in the afternoon to be placed on the walk-in waiting list. So we came back at 3. While we waited outside with the rest of the crowd they gave us champagne and mini empanadas. So good. At 3:30 we were sat at a nice table in a small room with a few others. The ambience was quiet luxury in a rustic setting. No loud music (or any I think), just soft murmurs of conversation and the tinkling of cutlery kissing dishes. I felt like royalty. Before ordering they brought us endive with a delicious arugula pesto (sauce was amazing!!), yummy bread rolls and butter. For starters we ordered provoleta (grilled provolone) and for the entree ribeye and porterhouse with sides of salad greens and baby Brussel Sprouts. And a glass of house wine. My steak was the best porterhouse I've ever had. Period. It was huge, so tender, so delicious. Perfectly seasoned and cooked. My mouth is watering as I write this. The ribeye was perfection! No wonder people come from all over the world to drop tons of money on a meal here. It is sooo worth it. The server kindly cut the bone off my steak and set it off to the side which made for an uncrowded eating experience. The simple salad was delicious as were the perfectly grilled baby Brussels sprouts. Even the house wine was good. We were too full for dessert but they brought us complimentary alfajoritos to end our meal. I highly recommend making reservations when you visit. Which is a must!!

One of the most well known parrillas in all of Argentina and currently maintains one Michelin star…read more It's quite busy and very hard to get a reservation. I check a couple weeks out for any night of the week and only was able to find outside tables online. I came here on a Wednesday night around 10:30 in hopes of getting it less busy than a weekend night. I only had to wait about 15 minutes and also got a free glass of champagne and a mini empanda. As I came in they offered me a tour of the wine cellar which was full of unique and old wines. They have a massive wine offering which I think is one of the things that helps them out on the Michelin guide. It's a classic steakhouse offering, probably best approached by sharing a few cuts with a table. But as I was here by myself I went for the tasting menu so I could try more things. They brought over some bread to start with chimichurri, as well as an odd amuse bouche of a single endive leaf with a pretty bland green sauce. The first course started off with a thinly slice of beef kinda like jerky meets prosciutto. Very flavorful and tender, loved it. Second course was a sausage that was incredibly juicy and exploding with flavor, one of the best sausages I've ever had. Then came a sweetbread course which I've never had before. It was very unctuous and rich, bit too heavy for my taste and sort of made me want to stop eating at this point. It came with a very basic salad with simple vinaigrette. The next two courses were a ribeye broken into two components, the eye and the rib cap. The eye came with another equally bland salad. The cap came with a table side preparation of a sweet potato which was honestly quite comical. Fine dining is known for beautiful table side prep, but scooping out the inside of a sweet potato and spooning over melted butter is amusingly basic. With no other seasoning here but salt it was again, very bland. Steak was fantastic and juicy, a bit on the rarer side than I would normally go for but I think this is never given the unique leaner quality of Argentine beef. Chimichurri was classic, oddly I was offered a spicy chimichurri half way through my meal which I preferred, unsure why it wasn't brought sooner. Bread courses were very standard, again nothing spectacular here. The sommelier helped me pick out a couple glasses of wine and was generally very helpful and attentive. The wine I had was solid but nothing crazy, elected for some of the cheaper choices since this was the most expensive meal I had in all of Argentina. Pumpkin ice cream was nice though oddly lacking in sweetness for a country that seems to take many things very sweet. Overall, this is such a classic and well known place that I felt it would be wrong not to check it out, yet I had heard there are better places at cheaper price points and I would now say that is very true. The beef quality here is fantastic and prepared well. Staff is attentive and helpful. But this really just doesn't present a fine dining experience as you might expect for a Michelin star. It feels like it fits more into the bib gourmand category. And at this price point it's really hard to feel like the price is justified. I dined at other places for way less including another Michelin star that was a true fine dining experience for a little over half the price. Much more courses with each element thoroughly thought out. The bland salads and side elements here don't detract away from the meat but they don't bring anything else to the table either. They feel like they exist to be a line item on a menu and nothing more. While I'm glad I got to try this place out, I likely wouldn't come back. There are less busy places with just as good of steaks for much lower the cost.

There are proably hundreds if not thousands of Parrillas here in Buenos Aires, and while many are…read morevery good, this is one of the better ones. The best part is that this is a locals restaurant, and it has such a great feel. The minute you walk inm you are welcomed by a friendly staff and led to a table, we chose upstairs and were quickly seated. Our waiter was friendly and jovial, and spoke great english. He recommended a Malbec, and then we ordered a bunch of food, which came quickly. As we dined, the placed filled up quickly, and looking around, there was not an empty table in the place- upstairs or down. The restaurnat has an Italian family feel, white table cloths and worn, but classy china. Plus the grill is amazing. Overall, this place is excellent, and a local friend who I dined with said he will be making this place one of his regular stops!

This was my first lunch in Buenos Aires so how crazy am I to have booked dinner the very same day…read moreLet me tell you, when they say the plates are meant to be shared, they are not kidding. The portions here are massive. And that's coming from someone who can usually put away a pretty serious steak. Here, though It's a lot even for me. Was it good Absolutely. But a little heads-up if you're visiting: learn how Argentinians order their meat. If you ask for jugoso, it'll land somewhere between rare and medium rare. Al punto is closer to medium, sometimes even leaning toward medium well depending on the kitchen. And well done. Honestly... don't even think about it. Another tip: don't rush to order sides. Unless you're just getting a salad or you're sharing with more than two people, one plate is usually more than enough. Around here, they believe in feeding you properly and they definitely deliver.

Awesome spot. Great steaks, excellent wine cellar. Make the reservation! The complimentary vino…read morewhile you're in line was a nice treat too!

On his last visit to Buenos Aires Anthony Bourdain came to eat at Don Carlos with francis mallmann…read moreThe setup is unique, you show up, tell Don Carlos how hungry you are and then he feeds you whatever he thinks will be good for you (we were hungry). There is a menu but why order from the menu when you can have Don Carlos feed you whatever he feels you might like? This is the best part of this place, let Don Carlos feed you. I couldn't capture all of the dishes as they kept coming one after another, the meat was grilled to perfection, the baker took her time with every item that came from the oven and the charismatic Don Carlos kept us entertained the entire meal. Also our meal was only $38 (included a 2014 bottle of Malbec, approximately 10 dishes plus 3 desserts)

One of the best meals during our trip: - fair, considerate…read moreand professional service - high quality well executed food - prices reasonable for the value There's a reason why this spot is jam packed all day. Highly recommend if you are a meat lover and even the veggies were magnificent.

One of the Not-To-Miss spots in Buenos Aires! Great food made to perfection with an great wine…read moreselection. Great service that made good recommendations based on how/what ur looking for. The place is pretty small and reservations are highly recommended. Highly recommended!

Fire. Smoke. Steel…read more No gimmicks. No unnecessary theatrics. Just cooks standing over open flame, moving with quiet confidence while the room watches the ritual unfold. Every plate carried the flavor of fire and patience. The steak was perfect. The vegetables weren't treated like an afterthought. Even the simplest bites had depth, texture, and soul. The kind of place where you lose track of time because you're too busy watching the kitchen work. Buenos Aires knows meat. FOGÓN reminds you it also understands restraint, hospitality, and craft. One of the best meals of our trip. Easy 5 stars.

We went with a group of 6 for the 11 course tasting menu, as recommended by our local travel…read moreagency. They open at 7:30p and have only one dinner seating, we arrived a few minutes beforehand and waited out front for the doors to open. Once inside, we were all seated at a bar style table, where you could watch the food being prepared. Each course had a wine pairing, and if you wanted more wine you simply set your glass on the higher edge and it was refilled. The 11 courses included a nice selection of started, several asada dishes and dessert. It was an experience and a show, while being delicious!

Really good asado rib and ribeye was on point. Staff was super friendly and the room had a great…read moreatmosphere. Highly recommended place with reasonable prices due to the dollar exchange.

Wow! After 14 days in Argentina we dine here before our flight out.... service was perfect,…read moreambiance was perfect, and the food was perfect! I wish this place was in California.