El Sanjuanino Restaurant – The Best Empanadas in Buenos Aires

Yes, I am aware that labeling a restaurant in Buenos Aires home to the best empanadas in the city is quite a tall order. However, I can confidently say that with respect to empanadas, thus far in my experience, no restaurant, café, or pizzeria has compared to El Sanjuanino in Recoleta. Centrally located at 1515 Posadas, the restaurant is within a five minute walk of the Recoleta Cemetery, Patio Bullrich Mall, and Plaza San Martin. One might walk by El Sanjuanino dozens of times before stepping foot inside for the first time because of the lack of flashy or distinguishing characteristics visible from the outside. Unlike many places to dine in Buenos Aires, there are no gimmicks here, just great food.

For $1.70 pesos, a diner can choose between almost a dozen of the standard varieties of empanadas; choices include baked empanadas filled with meat, chicken, cheese and onion, creamed corn, spicy beef, spinach, tomato and basil, ham and cheese, as well as a fried meat, egg, and olive empanada called El Sanjuanino for $2.50. Also on the menu are offerings of tamales and locro (a traditional Argentine baked meat casserole), neither of which exceeds $10 pesos.

In addition to the almost unbeatable price, the empanadas are HUGE. I can usually pack away six empanadas in a sitting without trouble, but after four I was beginning to struggle. In fact, I was in a group of seven people and we ordered 36 empanadas and barely topped 30 before we called it quits. Just to reiterate, we spent about $21 dollars total between seven people for lunch and could not finish!

So if three dollars for a delicious lunch or dinner (plus drinks) sounds like your idea of a good time, El Sanjuanino is your best bet. Not only is the price unbeatable, but I dare you to find a better empanada in the city, or better yet, anywhere in the world!