Short answer: The five Argentine dishes not to miss are asado at a parrilla, empanadas, milanesa, locro and anything with dulce de leche, with a glass of Malbec at dinner and a round of mate during the day. Eat steak in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, empanadas and locro in Salta, lamb and king crab in Patagonia, and finish the night with ice cream.
Argentine food is built on two things: the beef of the Pampas, the vast grasslands around Buenos Aires, and the cooking of the millions of Italian and Spanish immigrants who arrived from the late 1800s, which is why pizza, pasta and milanesas are as Argentine as the asado. The Andean northwest adds corn, squash and slow stews from older Indigenous and colonial traditions; Mendoza and Salta add wine; and Patagonia adds lamb, trout and seafood from the cold South Atlantic. Meals run late, portions are big and the grill is never far away. This guide covers the 15 dishes and drinks we would order first, where in the country each one is best, and how to eat well on any budget. For the bigger picture, start with our Argentina travel guide.
From the grill
1. Asado
Beef, sausages and offal grilled slowly over wood or charcoal embers on a parrilla (grill) by the asador, the person in charge of the fire. It is the national ritual: a long Sunday lunch with family and friends. In restaurants (also called parrillas), order cuts such as bife de chorizo (sirloin), ojo de bife (rib eye), vacío (flank) or entraña (skirt), and say how you like it: jugoso (rare), a punto (medium) or bien cocido (well done). Steaks are large; one cut and a salad can easily feed two.
2. Choripán
A grilled chorizo sausage split open in a crusty roll and spread with chimichurri, the sauce of parsley, garlic, oregano, chili flakes, oil and vinegar. It is the classic starter at an asado and the street food of football matches, fairs and the riverside grills of Buenos Aires. It is cheap, filling and best eaten standing up.
3. Provoleta
A thick round of provolone-style cheese grilled on the parrilla until the outside is crisp and the middle melts, sprinkled with oregano and chili flakes. It comes to the table sizzling at the start of a meal and is the vegetarian’s best friend in a steakhouse, along with grilled vegetables and salads.
Everyday favorites
4. Empanadas
Baked or fried pastries filled with beef, chicken, ham and cheese, corn (humita) or spinach. Every region claims the best: Salta’s are small, juicy and baked in clay ovens, Tucumán’s are cut by knife rather than ground, and in Mendoza the empanadas mendocinas come with olives and egg. Order by the dozen to share, and look at the pastry fold or stamp: it tells you the filling.
5. Milanesa
A thin slice of beef or chicken, breaded and fried, brought by Italian immigrants and now on every home menu and lunch counter. The milanesa a la napolitana comes topped with ham, tomato sauce and melted cheese, and it is usually served with fries or mashed potatoes. A milanesa sandwich (sándwich de milanesa) is a full meal on its own.
6. Locro
A thick stew of white corn, beans, squash and pork or beef, cooked slowly for hours and served with a spicy red oil (quiquirimichi). It comes from the Andean northwest and is the dish Argentines eat on the national holidays of May 25 and July 9, and on cold winter days. In Salta it is on many menus all year.
7. Humita and tamales
Two corn dishes from the northwest. Humita is fresh grated corn cooked with onion, squash and cheese, served in a bowl or wrapped in corn husks (humita en chala); tamales are corn dough filled with meat and steamed in husks. They are the food of Salta and Jujuy and the valleys of the north, and humita is a good vegetarian choice.
8. Pizza and fainá
Buenos Aires pizza is its own style: thick, soft and very cheesy, eaten standing at the counter of an old pizzeria, often with a slice of fainá (chickpea flatbread) laid on top. Fugazzeta, filled with cheese and topped with onions, is the local classic. Pizza and pasta are everyday food thanks to the city’s Italian roots.
9. Patagonian lamb and king crab
In Patagonia, whole lambs are opened out and roasted on an iron cross over an open fire (cordero al asador) for hours. On the coast and in Ushuaia, centolla (southern king crab), black hake (merluza negra) and mussels are the local specialties, and in the lake district around Bariloche smoked trout is on every menu.
Sweets and drinks
10. Dulce de leche
Milk and sugar cooked slowly into a thick, golden caramel spread. Argentines put it on toast at breakfast, inside cakes, crepes (panqueques con dulce de leche) and cookies, and on top of everything else. It is the flavor to try first at an ice cream shop.
11. Alfajores
Two soft cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche and coated in chocolate or meringue, or rolled in coconut. They are sold in kiosks, bakeries and specialist shops all over the country, and Mar del Plata is famous for them. Cornstarch alfajores (alfajores de maicena) are the lighter, homemade kind.
12. Medialunas and facturas
Medialunas are small, sweet croissants, either glazed and soft (de manteca) or plainer and flaky (de grasa). With coffee, they are the standard Argentine breakfast and afternoon snack (merienda). Facturas is the name for the whole tray of pastries at a bakery, many of them filled with dulce de leche, quince paste or pastry cream.
13. Helado (ice cream)
Italian-style ice cream is a serious business in Argentina, and heladerías (ice cream parlors) stay open past midnight in summer. Order by weight (a cuarto, a quarter-kilo, is plenty for two), choose two or three flavors, and include dulce de leche granizado (with chocolate flakes).
14. Mate
Argentina’s law declares mate the national infusion. Dried yerba mate leaves are packed into a gourd (also called a mate), wetted with hot but not boiling water and sipped through a metal straw (bombilla). It is drunk all day, at home, in parks and on road trips, and passed around a circle: the person preparing it, the cebador, refills and hands it to each person in turn. Say “gracias” only when you have had enough.
15. Malbec and Argentine wine
Wine is Argentina’s national drink by law, and Malbec from Mendoza is the house red in most restaurants. Look also for Cabernet Franc and Bonarda, the floral white Torrontés from Cafayate in Salta province, and Pinot Noir from Patagonia. Restaurants sell good wine at fair prices, and half bottles are common.
Where to eat: Buenos Aires and beyond
- Buenos Aires: parrillas in every neighborhood, especially Palermo, Recoleta and along the Costanera; Italian-style pizzerias on Avenida Corrientes; heladerías open past midnight; and the historic cafés, the “bares notables,” protected by the city for their heritage. For a market lunch, try the food stalls of the Mercado de San Telmo, and on Sundays walk the San Telmo street fair on Calle Defensa.
- Mendoza: hundreds of bodegas (wineries) in Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and the Uco Valley offer tastings and long lunches among the vines; in town, try parrillas with local beef, chivito (young goat) cooked over embers, empanadas mendocinas and olive oil from local presses.
- Salta and the northwest: empanadas, locro, humitas and tamales, goat cheese and Torrontés from Cafayate, and folk-music restaurants (peñas) where dinner comes with live music.
- Bariloche: the chocolate shops of Calle Mitre, smoked trout, Patagonian lamb, craft breweries, and cheese and chocolate fondue on cold evenings.
- Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn: king crab, black hake, mussels and lamb roasted on the cross.
- Iguazú: in Puerto Iguazú, river fish such as surubí and pacú, and chipá, the cheese bread of the Guaraní tradition.
Food etiquette and tipping
Argentines eat late. Breakfast is light, coffee and medialunas; lunch runs from about 1 to 3 p.m.; there is a merienda of coffee and pastries around 5 p.m.; and dinner rarely starts before 9 p.m., often later on weekends. Many restaurants do not open for dinner until 8 p.m., so arriving early means an empty room. On weekdays, many restaurants offer a set lunch menu (menú ejecutivo), the best value of the day.
In restaurants, a tip of about 10% is customary and is often left in cash. Some restaurants add a small cover charge (cubierto) for bread and service, which is not a tip. Our tip calculator helps you work it out, and our phrase cards have the Spanish for “the bill, please” (la cuenta, por favor) and “medium, please” (a punto, por favor).
If you are invited to share mate, accept; it is a sign of friendship, and everyone uses the same straw. If you are invited to an asado, bring wine or ice cream, and do not expect to eat before 10 p.m.
Eating on a budget
Numbeo’s October 2026 Buenos Aires figures, used in our Argentina trip cost guide, put a meal at an inexpensive restaurant at about ARS 28,800 (about $19) and a three-course dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant, without drinks, at about ARS 98,600 (about $65). Steak at a neighborhood parrilla and a bottle of Argentine wine are still good value by international standards, especially at lunch, when the set menu is cheaper than dinner. Empanadas by the dozen, choripán, pizza by the slice and bakery pastries keep costs low between meals. For a guided start, a food walk or an asado experience is a popular way to learn the cuts and the wines; browse food and wine tours in Buenos Aires and Mendoza in our tour finder.
Food and wine also shape when to go. March and April bring the grape harvest, and Mendoza’s Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, the national wine harvest festival, peaks in early March; our best time to visit Argentina guide covers the seasons and festivals month by month.
Plan your trip: our free trip planner can build a day-by-day plan around Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Salta with time for long lunches and winery visits. Then see our Argentina itinerary for 7, 10 and 14 days, and our top 10 places to visit in Argentina to decide where to go.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of Argentina?
Asado, beef and sausages grilled slowly over embers, is the dish most Argentines would name, and the national ritual of a Sunday lunch. Locro and empanadas are close behind, and by law mate is the national infusion and wine the national drink.
Is Argentina food spicy?
No. Argentine cooking is mild, seasoned with salt, garlic, herbs and smoke rather than chili. The heat, when there is any, comes from chimichurri’s chili flakes or the red oil served with locro, and you add it yourself.
What do people eat for breakfast in Argentina?
Breakfast is small: coffee with milk (café con leche) and two or three medialunas, or toast with butter and dulce de leche. Many Argentines also drink mate first thing in the morning. Hotel breakfasts are usually a little bigger, with fruit, cheese and ham.
Is Argentina good for vegetarians?
Easier than you might think for a beef country, especially in Buenos Aires, which has many vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Elsewhere, look for provoleta, grilled vegetables and salads at parrillas, empanadas of cheese, corn or spinach, humitas, pizza and pasta, and fresh pasta with cheese fillings.
What time do Argentines eat dinner?
Late, usually from 9 p.m. and often 10 p.m. or later on weekends. Many restaurants do not open for dinner until 8 p.m. If you are hungry in the early evening, do as the locals do and have a merienda of coffee and pastries around 5 p.m.
How is mate drunk?
From a shared gourd through a metal straw. The person preparing it fills the gourd with yerba, adds hot water, drinks the first bitter round, then refills and passes it to each person in turn, who drinks it all and hands it back. Saying “gracias” means you have had enough. Mate is caffeinated and bitter; some people add sugar.