Some meals call for a reservation and a long evening. Others call for a slice, a counter and very few distractions. This list has room for both.
Our five picks take you from spinach pasta at a welcoming neighborhood restaurant to New York–style pizza and a fugazzeta with enough cheese to become its own conversation. There’s a place for a romantic dinner, an inexpensive weekend lunch and a slightly more indulgent night out. Here’s where we’d go, and what we’d order.
If you’d rather settle in for one dinner, our La Alacena Trattoria review follows a Wednesday evening from crisp mollejas to veal ravioli and tiramisu.
Doña Cocina Tipo Casa
Almagro · Pasta · Casual
Bulnes 802 · Argentine
The name sets the expectation, and Doña Cocina Tipo Casa delivers: food that feels at home on a family table, with warm, attentive staff who make you feel part of the gathering.
For us, the pasta is the star. Start with the cintas de espinaca with carbonara sauce, or choose the fucciles al fierrito with parisienne. These are the dishes we’d build a visit around, though the menu also accommodates anyone leaning toward a milanesa or bife de chorizo. It’s an easy place to bring people with different appetites.
The prices are particularly appealing, making Doña a good choice when you want a proper sit-down meal without spending heavily. Finish with the flan mixto: caramel custard, dulce de leche and cream, tasting exactly as you hope that familiar combination will.
For visitors—and porteños who rarely venture into this corner of Almagro—Doña has the pleasure of a neighborhood discovery. The neighborhood itself, however, knows it well.
Reserve ahead for a weekend visit if you’d rather spend your time over pasta than waiting in line.
Read our full Doña Cocina Tipo Casa review for the two pasta orders, family-table welcome and flan mixto.
Il Bruno
Caballito · Pasta · Date night
Rojas 705 · Italian
Tomato cans and kitchen utensils become part of the decoration at Il Bruno, giving the dining room a playful, distinctly kitchen-inspired character. At night, it makes a lovely setting for a romantic dinner; over a weekend lunch, it works just as comfortably for a family gathering.
Our first choice is the sorrentinos filled with chicken, portobello mushrooms and green onion, served with Il Bruno sauce. They’re creamy and full of flavor—the kind of main course worth settling on before the rest of the menu starts competing for your attention.
Give the pizza bread some consideration, too. And if you’re torn between pasta and pizza, the gnocchi served in pizza bread brings the two together in one of the restaurant’s more unusual dishes.
Dessert requires considerably less deliberation. Order the tiramisu. It’s our clear pick here, and a good reason to leave yourself a little room after the sorrentinos.
Choose an evening for a date, or make it a family lunch over the weekend.
Read our full Il Bruno review for the sorrentinos, gnocchi in pizza bread and tiramisu.
Togni’s Pizza
Belgrano · Pizza · By the slice
Blanco Encalada 1665 · Pizza
Togni’s Pizza is already well known among locals. It earns its place here through flavor and consistency: knowing a place well doesn’t make its pizza any less worth recommending.
Our preference is for the New York–style slices, which make it easy to try a few different toppings across the table. The pesto and stracciatella combination, carbonara and classic pepperoni are our favorites. They offer three good directions for an order, whether you’re drawn to pesto, something richer or the dependable appeal of pepperoni.
The menu also includes a thicker rectangular pizza format, though the thin, New York–style portions are the ones we’d prioritize. This is a useful name to have saved for a more casual meal, especially when the group wants pizza and nobody wants to debate an unfamiliar restaurant.
Start with a few different slices to share, then decide which one deserves another round.
Read our full Togni’s Pizza review for our first round of slices and how to choose a pizza format.
Evelia
Núñez · Pasta · A special dinner
Campos Salles 1712 · Italian and Argentine
Evelia sits at the more expensive end of this list. It’s worth knowing that before you book, and the quality of the dishes gives the higher bill a convincing justification.
The agnolotti de carne and lasagna are our recommendations. Either makes a strong reason to choose Evelia when you want to give pasta the full dinner-out treatment. If you’re going with someone happy to share, ordering one of each solves the hardest decision on the menu and gives you both a chance to try them.
Then comes the tiramisu. Served in a large glass and generous enough to share, it deserves a place in the order from the beginning. Plan accordingly rather than discovering it after you’ve already decided you couldn’t eat another bite.
Among these five restaurants, Evelia is the one we’d choose when we’re happy to spend more on the meal. Go with time to enjoy it, choose your pasta carefully and keep a second spoon ready for dessert.
Budget for a more indulgent meal, and leave room for dessert.
Read our full Evelia review for the agnolotti, lasagna and a tiramisu for two.
La Mezzetta
Villa Ortúzar · Pizza · A Buenos Aires classic
Avenida Álvarez Thomas 1321 · Argentine pizza
At La Mezzetta, the main attraction arrives under a layer of onion and with a formidable amount of cheese.
This Buenos Aires institution has even featured on Netflix, but the reason to visit is straightforward: fugazzeta porteña, with all the generosity that description promises. The cheese is central to the experience, so come ready for a substantial slice.
La Mezzetta is the most unpretentious stop on this list. The setting is simple, the meal is inexpensive compared with many restaurant outings, and your attention stays firmly on the pizza. For visitors getting acquainted with Buenos Aires food, it’s an essential style to try. For locals, it’s a familiar pleasure that needs very little introduction.
Choose La Mezzetta when the craving is specific: onion, dough and plenty of melted cheese. Sometimes that’s the whole plan.
Come for a casual, inexpensive pizza stop with the focus firmly on the food.
Read our full La Mezzetta review for the fugazzeta, the pizzeria’s history and a simple first order.
Save the place—and remember the order
The restaurant name is only half the recommendation. It’s the cintas with carbonara, the sorrentinos with Il Bruno sauce or the slice you’d happily order twice that you’ll want to remember later.
Use Plateback to keep these places on your list, then save the dishes and photos from your visit. Next time someone asks where to eat, you’ll have somewhere to send them—and something good to tell them to order.
