Talking about Argentine restaurants in Barcelona is practically the same as talking about restaurants in Barcelona. One of the city’s largest immigrant communities has forged its own distinct identity within the city—and if you don’t believe it, just ask the thousands who gathered at the Arc de Triomphe to celebrate Messi’s Argentina team’s World Cup run.
Many of them would have appreciated (though they’re surely already familiar with it) this list of the best Argentine restaurants in Barcelona to grab a bite after the celebration. Grilled meat, tira de asado, vacío, chinchulines, choripanes, empanadas, pizzas… The names of Argentine dishes have already found their way into our vocabulary and onto our palates, and today every butcher shop sells entraña, and we all know that an Argentine pizza is thicker and cheesier than an Italian one.
But Argentine cuisine has even more to offer. From milanesa a la napolitana to lomito, not to mention the “bodegón”—that popular tavern serving traditional Argentine fare. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best Argentine parrilla restaurants so you can find a little bit of everything—and whether you’re Argentine or not, they’ll satisfy the hunger that’s set in for us just from writing about them.
9 Reinas
One of Barcelona’s classics. Even among restaurants serving immigrant communities, there are different tiers, and 9 Reinas tops this list. This Argentine “steakhouse”—as they describe themselves—is one of the most sought-after spots. Perhaps because of its location, near Passeig de Gràcia, or perhaps because of the reputation it has built by maintaining an Argentine grill with open-flame grills in the middle of the dining room and serving top-quality cuts that are prepared daily to ensure freshness.
Top-quality Argentine beef and the usual suspects: empanadas, chorizos, offal, and every part of the cow—all to the greater glory of the World Cup-winning nation. And yes, of course, the name refers to the famous blockbuster starring Ricardo Darín. And yes, the restaurant is owned by former Barça player Javier Mascherano.
📍C/ de València, 267, L’Eixample, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
La Cabrera
Those in the know understand that just any barbecue isn’t the same as an Argentine asado, and in Barcelona—a city where the Argentine community is one of the largest—there are several places where you can taste the difference between the two. Few, however, compare to La Cabrera, one of the best parrillas in Buenos Aires, which has just opened a branch in Barcelona.
The restaurant—named the best parrilla in Buenos Aires in 2018 in a city that boasts some of the world’s finest parrillas—isowned by parrilla icon Gastón Riveiro, a chef who doesn’t mess around: traditional parrilla, the cuts that matter, and precise preparation. Because you don’t come here to experiment, but to discover the secrets of a cooking style that has become the symbol of a country.
📍 C/ de la Diputació, 239, L’Eixample, 08007 Barcelona
Laurel
Source: Laurel
Anyone who loves the movies has stopped by Laurel, because the Argentine empanadas most famous among Barcelona film buffs are served right in front of the Floridablanca movie theater— and more than a few of us have indulged in them after a movie or even considered skipping the movie altogether after tasting those pastries stuffed with pumpkin and curry or eggplant with honey and ginger.
In the evening, they offer a combo of three empanadas, a salad, and a drink that satisfies any hunger and leaves us ready for whatever movie is coming up.
- 📍 Floridablanca, 140
The Branch
Source: La Sucursal
If grilled meat, empanadas, and pizza are the three points of the cross for any devout Argentine, the milanesa is the fourth point for any porteño who crosses himself while thinking about food. The milanesa is just breaded meat, some might say, but like so many simple dishes that certain countries turn into their signature dishes, the milanesa has its secret, and in Argentina it has been elevated to a culinary art form.
The one at La Sucursal, a Sant Antoni institution, is textbook-perfect : the meat is pounded thin to make it tender and coated in a thin batter, served with roasted potatoes and a salad. It’s as simple as it is delicious, but the magic happens when you order the Neapolitan-style milanesa, or the other combinations, which top the breaded cutlet with cheese, tomato, and ham (in the case of the Neapolitan-style) or other delicacies depending on the version—transforming that “simple” breaded cutlet into a work of art.
📍 Floridablanca, 115, Barcelona
Salta Food
Source: Salta Food
Anyone familiar with Argentine cuisine will be familiar with the concepts of the Argentine parrilla or asador, but those who have delved a little deeper will also be familiar with the idea of a bodegón—those traditional, down-to-earth taverns in Buenos Aires and other cities where the focus is on the food, not the setting. Homestyle food—hearty and flavorful—a lively atmosphere, and places that feed the soul. That’s a “bodegón,” and that’s Salta Food, a neighborhood “bodegón”… in Sants.
Don’t let the English-sounding name fool you. Salta (a province in northern Argentina) serves authentic Argentine food in a place that may lack glamour but is full of character. The menu features all the classics: empanadas, pizzas (including that divine Argentine invention, the pizza fugazzetta), sandwiches with beef or milanesas, which they also serve here “Neapolitan-style” (with cheese, tomato, and ham) or “a caballo”—that is, topped with two fried eggs so you’ll have everything you need that day. As I said, a working-class luxury.
📍Bassegoda, 31
El Argentino
Source: El Argentino
The simplicity of its name matches the boldness of its concept. There are no subtleties here— El Argentino is one of the city’s most classic Argentine steakhouses. Top-quality cuts (entraña, lomo, bife de chorizo, vacío, solomillo, or asado de tira), wines from Argentina to pair with them, and a menu of traditional Argentine dishes that never disappoints.
There are also cocktails at the bar and live music on weekends. Just be sure to make a reservation—it tends to fill up quickly.
📍 224 Aragón Street, Barcelona
Don Asador
Source: Don Asador
One of the city’s highest-rated spots. As they say themselves: “non-stop grilling.” What more could we ask for? On Don Asador’s ever-burning coals, the house-specialty grilled platters— which include everything— are cooked all day long. The classic platter features flank steak, skirt steak, short ribs, rump cap, boneless chicken thigh, chorizo, and criolla blood sausage, while the special features 1 kg of select meats, including sirloin, ribeye, skirt steak, short ribs, flank steak, Iberian “secreto,” chorizo, and criolla blood sausage. All, of course, served with chimichurri.
By the way , the barbecue platters can be ordered as individual portions, so if you’re feeling indulgent, you can treat yourself and finish off with those rich Argentine desserts packed with dulce de leche, such as pancakes, flan, or chocotorta.
📍Carrer del Comte d’Urgell, 111, L’Eixample, 08011 Barcelona, Spain
Choripa
It’s no surprise that when haute cuisine chefs team up with restaurants serving traditional fare, wonderful things emerge—like Choripa, a choripanería where they make their own homemade chorizo criollo, top it with their own homemade sauces (chimichurri and criolla, obviously) on bread that’s also homemade, and serve it with a Coca-Cola—which, by the way, they make themselves too.
Besides that, there are vacío sandwiches, pastrami sandwiches (homemade, of course), hot dogs, and not much else—because Argentine cuisine captivates more with its simple, hearty flavors, capable of bringing tears to your eyes just like the Albiceleste.
📍 Travessera de Gràcia 202, Barcelona, Spain 08012
