10 of My Favorite Empanadas in Buenos Aires

1. Parrilla Peña

San Nicolás

Okay, I said these aren't ranked, but Parrilla Peña is my personal favorite.

Not just my favorite empanada. Peña is probably my favorite place to eat in Buenos Aires.

If you want fancy, this isn't it.

And that's exactly why I love it.

Peña is an old-school Buenos Aires parrilla. It's busy. The tables are close together. The grill is right there. The waiters know what they're doing. You sit down and feel like you're eating in a neighborhood restaurant instead of someplace designed for tourists.

Then, at the beginning of the meal, they bring you an empanada.

It's lightly fried with a slightly flaky exterior, and inside is this incredibly moist, flavorful beef filling. Nothing crazy. Nothing reinvented. Just a fantastic beef empanada.

It's the first thing I look forward to when I go back.

And then you get to eat the steak.

Peña has been around for decades, and its fried welcome empanada is one of the restaurant's signatures. Local food critic Pietro Sorba specifically praised its lightly flaky dough and moist, flavorful filling.

2. Cabaña Las Lilas

Puerto Madero

Now let's go completely in the other direction.

Cabaña Las Lilas is in Puerto Madero. It's polished, beautiful and considerably more expensive than Peña.

And I love this place too.

Their empanada is excellent, but this is another place where the empanada is really the opening act.

The steaks here are fantastic.

Las Lilas has been serving Argentine beef in Puerto Madero since 1995, and today it's also included in the Michelin Guide's Buenos Aires selection.

Start with the empanada, order a great bottle of Argentine wine, and then get serious about the steak.

3. La Cocina

Recoleta

Now we're getting into places where the empanada is the reason you're going.

La Cocina is tiny, old-school and exactly the kind of place I look for.

They specialize in Catamarca-style empanadas, so you're getting something different from the standard empanada you see everywhere around Buenos Aires. La Cocina has been doing this since the 1970s and has developed a serious following.

Try the beef.

But you also have to try the Pikachu, filled with cheese, onion and some heat.

Don't expect a fancy restaurant. That's not the point.

4. El Sanjuanino

Recoleta

El Sanjuanino is another Buenos Aires classic, and it's a great example of why you shouldn't think of “Argentine empanadas” as one single food.

These are influenced by the cooking of San Juan, and the one I want is the fried beef empanada.

The dough gets light and bubbly when fried, while the inside stays juicy and intensely savory. It's been singled out for years as one of the restaurant's specialties.

This is also another place where you can keep going after the empanadas. There are regional dishes like locro, humita and tamales.

5. 1810 Cocina Regional

Palermo

This is where I'd go to try a Tucumán-style empanada.

1810 specializes in regional Argentine cooking, and its Tucumán beef empanada is one of the standouts. Current Buenos Aires food guides continue to include 1810 among the city's notable empanada stops.

And that's something I really recommend doing in Buenos Aires: try empanadas from different regions of Argentina.

They aren't all the same.

Different dough. Different seasoning. Different fillings. Different preparation.

6. El Hornero

Mercado de San Telmo

You're going to San Telmo.

You're probably going to the market.

So eat an empanada while you're there.

El Hornero is inside the Mercado de San Telmo, and this is exactly the kind of travel eating I love: you're walking around, exploring the neighborhood, you see something that looks good and suddenly you're eating again.

They prepare regional Argentine empanadas right there in the market, including beef versions baked or fried.

Grab one. Get some spicy sauce. Keep walking.

Actually, grab two.

7. La Imperfecta

Palermo

If you've been eating traditional beef empanadas for three days straight—and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that—La Imperfecta gives you something different.

It's much more creative.

Current Buenos Aires food coverage highlights the restaurant for unconventional combinations alongside its distinctive preparation.

This is where you stop worrying about what an empanada is “supposed” to contain and just order something that sounds good.

8. Fortín Salteño

Núñez

Now let's go to Salta without leaving Buenos Aires.

Salteñas are among my favorite regional styles because they're generally smaller and wonderfully juicy.

At Fortín Salteño, you're getting the northern Argentine tradition: beef, spices and the kind of juicy filling that makes you realize there's an actual technique to eating one without wearing half of it.

The place has long been known specifically for its Salta-style empanadas.

Get the spicy beef.

9. La Americana

Centro

Sometimes I don't want a restaurant.

I don't want a tasting menu.

I don't want somebody explaining where the cow grew up.

I just want an empanada.

That's La Americana.

It's an old-school Buenos Aires institution and one of those places that's perfect when you're downtown, hungry and want something quick. Its traditional beef empanadas—particularly carne picante—have long been part of the city's empanada conversation.

Walk in. Order. Eat. Continue with your day.

10. Sabores Express

Multiple locations

And finally, we need to talk about cheap empanadas.

Because you absolutely do not have to spend a lot of money to eat well in Buenos Aires.

Sabores Express is basically fast food.

And you know what?

Their empanadas are really good.

You'll see locations around the city, and it's one of my favorite recommendations when someone wants something inexpensive, fast and satisfying rather than another full restaurant meal.

They have all the classics—beef, spicy beef, chicken, ham and cheese, humita, cheese and onion—plus some less traditional choices.

This isn't somewhere I'd tell you to plan your evening around.

It's somewhere I'd tell you to stop when you walk past one and you're hungry.

And that's an important distinction.

Some of the best food memories when traveling aren't reservations you made three months ago. They're the things you grabbed because you were hungry and they looked good.

So Which One Is the Best?

I'm not going there.

Seriously.

They're too different, and that's part of what makes eating empanadas in Buenos Aires so much fun.

If you want regional empanadas, go to La Cocina, El Sanjuanino, 1810 or Fortín Salteño.

If you want something fast and inexpensive, hit Sabores Express or La Americana.

If you want the full steakhouse experience, start your meal with an empanada at Cabaña Las Lilas.

But if you ask me where I'm going?

I'm going back to Peña.

Give me that little fried beef empanada at the beginning of the meal, a good steak afterward, a bottle of Malbec on the table and a room full of people eating.

That's Buenos Aires.

And that's exactly why I travel.