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A Serious Eater's Guide to Buenos Aires and Beyond

A Totally Biased Guide to the Best Pizza in Buenos Aires

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Inside the pizza oven “YANQUI DE MIERDA GO HOME! VOLVETE AL PAIS DE LOS OBESOS MORBIDOS!!!!!”

That was the all caps lock love letter I received a few years ago after mentioning I wasn’t fond of Argentine pizza. Note to self: if you fuck with Argies and their pizza, they take it personally and may threaten your life.

_MG_1104Sorry Porteños, you will probably hate me and discredit anything I have to say since I know many of you think you have the best piksa in the world, but in my humble opinion, it’s much more common to find bad pizza in this city. I’m talking about all those Pizzerias los Hijos de Puta serving an abundant layer of cheap plastic queso that never seems to properly melt, flimsy can’t-get-it-up cardboard crust, Olympic pools of oil, dried oregano-sprinkled canned tomato “sauce” CONSERVATIVELY spread atop, and a skimpy selection of stupid toppings. Yeah, I’m looking at YOU palmitos, salsa golf, huevo duro and ham rubber. You’re a disgrace. nastypizza
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Fortunately, my hatred for the local corte has calmed, I’m able to accept Argentine style pizza in all its cheesy glory, and will honor a good pizza when merit is due. So, after lots of strenuous research, eating, crying, and lactose intolerant-induced stomach aches, I came up with a totally biased guide to my best pizza in Buenos Aires.

**And of course don’t miss my extensive porteño pizza guide/history lesson on Saveur Magazine and Pizza Conmigo episode on UN3TV.

SIAMO NEL FORNO – Costa Rica 5886, Palermo HollywoodIMG_1416The pizzeria lowdown: I’d be a happier person if I ate Siamo Nel Forno at least once a week. This is true Neapolitan style pizza, with the certification to prove it. The space is homey, rustic, informal and the star of the room is the wood fire oven that blisters and scorches the beautiful pie a la vista.

All about the pizza: Super light fluffy dough, cooked for less than two minutes in the XXXhotXXX oven, and topped with fresh ingredients and great tomato sauce. I always order the Margherita – it’s a joy to eat and really never fails me. Ask for the spicy chili oil, and order with beer or wine depending what strikes your boozy liver.

COSI MI PIACE – El Salvador 4618, Palermo SohoIMG_0252The pizzeria lowdown: A new edition to the 2016 Buenos Aires restaurant scene. Rodrigo Sieiro and Diego Fanti (acclaimed chefs of the late Nectarine) are the culprits bringing Roman style pizza to BA. They both know what’s up when it comes to how to make a great pie — besides being seasoned cooks, Rodrigo became a pizza connoisseur while living in NYC and Diego spent quite some time perfecting the art of pizza making while living in Rome. The laid back, casual atmosphere and communal tables remind me a lot of Roberta’s in Brooklyn. The rooftop terrace is home to an impressive urban garden project, and the Acunto Napoli wood fire oven was imported by boat via Italy.

All about the pizza: True thin crust crispy Roman style pizza. Rodrigo says the secret is simple: high quality ingredients and a kick ass oven. All of the pizza combinations are winners, you really can’t go wrong with your order.

ALBAMONTE – Av. Corrientes 6735, Chacarita_MG_1182
The pizzeria lowdown: It’s Chacarita’s bodegón pride and joy. Sometimes we all need that go-to family joint for good old fashioned Argentine comfort food. The menu is quite traditional – pastas, gramajo, tortillas, parrilla, milanesas, etc., and while most of the diners order the pizza as an appetizer before moving on to a main dish, I’m a strong proponent of making it the star of the show.

All about the pizza: Super thin crust, smothered in tomato sauce (ask for extra), and not drowning in prison cheese. Hot fatty tip: if you live in the barrio, pick up the pizza to go, bring it home, stick it under the broiler, and in a few minutes you have the provoleta-like cheese topping crust of perfection.

GÜERRÍN – Av. Corrientes 1368, Centro_MG_0292
 The pizzeria lowdown: The most popular pizzeria in the heart of Corrientes theater mania, Güerrin is arguably the city’s most beloved pizzeria. It even has a Wikipedia page. Pizza Fact: The wood fire oven at hasn’t turned off since 1932.

All about the pizza: I have a hate-love relationship with this pizza al molde. It’s definitely an Argentine style thick slice, but it’s where to go to get a dose of total porteña-ness: NAPOLITANA, eaten while standing and washed down with moscato.

BANDINI PIZZERIA– Aizpurúa 2899, Villa UrquizaIMG_6081The pizzeria lowdown: The best pizza in all of Villa Urquiza. The tiny corner spot that caters to mostly takeaway and delivery clients is all about making quality wood fired pizzas with a whole lot of onda. It’s the type of spot where you’d be a regular if you lived in the barrio, or you’d happily travel from afar and take your pizza box to the outside bench and eat curbside.

All about the pizza: What makes Bandini’s pizza so special? It has all the elements for a perfect pie: killer pliable non-greasy dough, quality toppings (with Las Dinas cured meats), and inventive flavor combinations. It’s as if an Argentine and an Italian pizza had a baby and took the best elements from each pizza variety, mastering the dough, sauce, toppings, without skimping on the cheese. And don’t forget to try the green onion fainá.

LA MEZZETTA – Av. Álvarez Thomas 1321, Villa OrtúzarFugazzeta La Mezzetta
 The pizzeria lowdown: Something about this dirty hole in the wall that brings both disgust and joy to my heart at the same time. It’s a classic standing room only space filled with an eclectic crew of all ages and incomes. I once saw a pizzero cleaning up trash with his bare hands before rolling empanada dough, but that only gives the masa more flavor.

All about the pizza: F-U-G-A-Z-Z-E-T-A! Argentina has the Cataratas del Iguazú, and Villa Ortuzar has the Cataratas de La Mezzetta, THE place to go for a greasy cheesy hangover fugazzeta cure. I channel my yearning for brunching on diner food and instead go for the second best: a dangerous slice of cheesyonion glooping fugazzeta.

EL MAZACOTE – Chile 1400, MontserratIMG_6478The pizzeria lowdown: A gem on the corner of Chile & San José (across from the legendary Gijón bodegón), El Mazacote serves up the best a la piedra slice in all of Buenos Aires: thin crust with flavorful tomato sauce and just the right amount of cheese. They offer delivery, but we all know pizza is way more delicious right out of the oven.

All about the pizza: This true Argentine style slice gets everything right: blistery thin crust that isn’t too greasy and the cheese bubbles and caramelizes in the grand pizza oven. Ideal for local traditionalists who crave standard pizza flavors, but also where you can take your favorite gringo who doesn’t understand local cheesy pizza greatness. Also, I got one word for you: FAINAZETA (fainá + fugazzeta).

SAN PAOLO PIZZERIA – Uriarte 1616, Palermo SohoIMG_0016The pizzeria lowdown: Gran pizzero and Naples native Maurizio de Roza (of Partenope in La Lucila) brings the verdadera pizza napolitana to Palermo. Maurizio knows his shit when pizza is involved — he comes from a family of bakers and pizza-makers, and even opened several pizzerias in New York City. This new pizza joint serves lunch and dinner, and at incredibly affordable prices (for now…), and even special $150 lunch menu & $200 dinner menu.

All about the pizza: What happens when pizza master teams up with a modernist chef? Dante Liporace of Tarquino joins San Paolo as executive chef to give two spins on Neapolitan pizza: traditional and avant garde. Still, the never fail order: Margherita Pizza.

PIZZERIA FERREIRO – Angel Gallardo, Av. 1001, Caballito.

Ferreiro-Pizzeria-1024x768The pizzeria lowdown: A total barrio dive that’s been around for what seems like forever. It’s probably the best pizzeria in the ‘hood with a classic bodegón vibe. Ferreiro does delivery, but it’s much more recommendable to scarf pizza + beers in house.

All about the pizza: Pizza a la Piedra, yo! On GuíaOleo, some trusty reviewers said it was malo because: “La pizza a la piedra es una tapa de pan arabe tostado, de las peores pizzas que comí” “casi no se ve de tan finita que es. Para lo que cobran, debería ser mucho mas suculenta. Nunca vi una pizza tan fina. No vuelvo.”  Thin crust pizza, you say?! I’m in! And it’s a good crust, solid cheese and has that perfect crispy bite that still doesn’t fall apart. (Photo La Mejor Pizzeria)

1893 Pizzeria – Scalabrini Ortiz 701, Villa Crespo1893The pizzeria lowdown: A pioneer in the pizza a la parrilla world in Buenos Aires, Danilo Ferraz opened 1893 in 1994, and named it after the year his casona on Scalabrini Ortiz y Loyola was built. 1893 is the older sister of the popular pizzeria mini-chain Morelia, although you’ll almost always find Danilo behind the grill at this Villa Crespo corner.

All about the pizza: It’s a rectangular or half moon ultra thin cracker crust, topped with tomato sauce and cheese, and then grilled quickly on the parrilla. 1893 also plays with fancy toppings: smoked meats, pickled vegetables, and even has a Roner to sous vide ingredients. (Photo by 1893)

ANGELIN – Av. Cordoba 5270, Villa CrespoCanchera2

The pizzeria lowdown: Angelín claims to be the creators of pizza canchera, the Argentine cheese-less slice that was served cold back in the day at fútbol games (cancha = soccer field in Spanish).

All about the pizza: I love Angelín’s version of pizza canchera because to me, it’s everything that most Argentine pizza is not: thin crust, no cheese, and a good helping of seasoned sauce.

LA MAS QUERIDA – Echeverría 1618, Belgrano & Carranza 1875, Palermo Hollywood_MG_1016
 The pizzeria lowdown: Pizza on the grill should replace thick crust as the national pizza dish. I have such mad love for pizza a la parrilla, and even more love for my beloved La Más Querida. The small spot feels like a little restaurant hideaway in some beach town. Buby Van Asperen, a self proclaimed ex-hippie and master at sporting a Hawaiian shirt, opened La Más Querida in 2005 to bring a quality pizza a la parrilla with fun toppings.

All about the pizza: Super thin crust, piled with great toppings: artichokes, gruyere cheese, mushrooms, onions, brie, pesto, roasted vegetables and más. It even comes with spicy dipping sauces on the side.

BONUS TRACK: 

NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA – Gorriti 5881, Palermo HollywoodFullSizeRenderThe pizzeria lowdown: A real New York pizza slice in Buenos Aires, say whaaaaaat?! This former pop up at salad-sandwich spot MEME has now taken for a lunch and dinner pizza partay.

All about the pizza: NY style pizza, sorta. You know, thin pizza, sold by the slice, and cut in a huge triangle so you can <hypothetically> fold and shove into your face before you shower it with red pepper flakes and parm. Real New Yorkers probably would disagree of its authenticity — mostly because of the non-foldable greasy dough — but the owner, who lived in the US, makes his own legit pepperoni.

Honorable Mention: El Cuartito for history factor, Palacio de la Pizza because it’s the pizza palace, La Guitarrita for the thin crust Nuñez folk, Pin Pun because it’s a few blocks from my house, Pizza Piola and Filo for being pioneers in non-Argie traditions, and La Locanda for whenever pizza is on the menu.

And the next pizzerias on my list to visit: PARTENOPE in La Lucila, JESOLO in La Plata, HELL’S PIZZA in Palermo, THE PIZZA on Avenida Caseros, and LUPO in Almagro.

Updated April 2017.

Author: ForkYou

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Comments

Comments

  1. Don’t worry another Yanqui here who agrees with you and I have tried EVERY place in my 13 years here. I love Siamo Nel Forno but it is getting a bit pricey for the size of the pie. Most Argy pizza consists of a lot of cheese and bread and very little sauce (for me the key ingredient) there are a few places you mentioned with decent pizza nowadays but you gotta know where to go.

    • Wow, now I see that all the “yanquis” (as you mentioned, hahaha) are trying to eat Italian/Neapolitan pizza in Buenos Aires. Well, so don’t go to a traditional Argentine pizzeria! I’m really puzzled why you (“yanquis”) insist on that. In an Argentine pizzeria you eat Argentine pizza! No more, no less. And yes! we use a lot of cheese. That’s the key of the Argentine pizza! We’re a cattle country, that’s pretty obvious, uh? The tomato sauce is secondary.

  2. Native New Yorker – 6 years living in BA, and I couldn’t agree with your overall assessment of pizza comun in BA. The vast majority of pizzerias have no understanding of the importance of getting each part of the holy trinity (cheese, sauce, crust) right. Having tried dozens and dozens of pizzerias, we go back regularly to two: Guerrin, and, our all time favorite – Pizzeria Angelin at Avenida Cordoba 5270 (Villa Crespo/Palermo SoHo border). When the pizzeros at Angelin are on form, the pies (or slices) are great, and they invented La Canchera – the sauce-only pizza, which actually is fantastic, though the description makes little sense to people who have never tried it (all about the seasoning of the sauce). In business for more than 80 years, Anglein is one of those old school porteno pizzerias, like La Mazzeta, El Fortin, El Quartito, that have great fanbases of locals, but unlike these others, Angelin gets the importance of sauce, and they use decent cheese – and not disgusting amounts of it. Their wood fired oven does crusts well, if not brilliantly.

    • Argetinian pizza is different, it isn’t like Italian/Neapolitan pizza. And yes, the combination is generally larger and spongy dough (“al molde” pizza), lots of cheese and not so much sauce. In few words: you’re just trying to eat something else!

      • Two Americans leave comments here, and you are saying, “all you yanquis”. Two people’s opinion does not make a valid survey sample. But, okay you say we are looking for Italian/Neapolitan pizza.” Why would we? We have a ton of very distinctive styles of our own. We are not “trying to eat something else”, we are simply trying Argentine style pizza, and finding it… not very good. Period. There are some very note worthy exceptions, Guerrin and Angelin for example, which I think really strongly represent Argentine style pizza, but the majority of pizzerias, in a city so crazy for pizza, make horrible pies. Low quality cheese, poor dough, and no attention to sauce. Being a pizza lover, I’ve enjoyed pizza all over the world, and discovered many styles of pizza that I’d never had before and really liked. So, it’s not that I will only accept the style of pizza I grew up eating, and nothing else – it’s just that most (not all) Argie pizza, is just very disappointing, because the owners don’t care enough to make a quality product. The people are used to eating crap, so they make crap to serve them. This, of course, is just my personal opinion.

        Oh, and by the way.. “We are a cattle country”. You know what, the USA produces 600% more beef than Argentina per year, and we consume, as a country, significantly more dairy products (cheese) than Argentina. We are a cattle country, too – and we are awash in cheese, but we learned (and did not forget) something from our Italian immigrants, that Portenos apparently did not – the importance of balancing the 3 key elements in a pizza: dough, cheese, sauce.

  4. Thank you for mentioning “La Guitarrita”. I´m a fan! (I´m not saying it´s the best pizzeria in Buenos Aires, but I love it for personal reasons, of course)

    • No te gastes, por lo que puedo parece que son estadounidenses buscando comer pizza italiana en la Argentina. Claro, ¡se van a llevar una decepción! Es raro igual ir a un país y querer que la comida de ese país sea como la de otro. En fin…

      • Perdón, los comentarios no tiene edición. Quise decir: “por lo que puedo leer”.

  7. I wasn’t expecting but hoping to see Lucio on this list . it’s not exclusively a pizzeria but I still think it’s the best. Go to Scalabrini Ortiz esquina Güemes and have a pizza de panceta y rucula. My 2 cents.

  8. I hope Partenope is as good as all the fake reviews they’ve been writing about themselves on TripAdvisor say they are! Thanks “Enzo from Napoli” who doesn’t speak Italian and “Sarah from New York” who doesn’t speak English! A little sad to see Angelín didn’t make the list…

    • I didn’t check that! But it’s strange, because the owner actually IS Italian, I’d imagine that if he posted a review he’d know how to write in his mother tongue!

  9. I shrieked in terror at those 3 pictures of disgusting pizza. Looks more like demented birthday cake. Thanks for the alternatives!

    • Esa pizza seguramente sea de “delivery” o alguna porquería que nadie compra. No tiene nada que ver con lo que se vende en las pizzerías tradicionales.

      That pizza surely is the “delivery” kind or some crap that nobody buys. It has nothing to do with what is sold in traditional “pizzerias”.

  10. Wow, your list almost mirrors mine (I gave El Cuartito a little more hierarchy) and you have a couple that I have not gone to towards the end. I like Partenope, but to me the top spot still belongs to Siamo Nel Forno easily and I love Albamonte. Also, Stew Beef is wrong on both, but especially hot dogs!

  13. I know how much it hurt you to write this article. Not only is Argentina pizza not “good” pizza, it’s not even pizza — in most cases It’s a casserole. (I’m going to miss John Stewart) Mostly it’s just gross, nasty-ass cheese and toppings that shouldn’t even be on a pizza. The greater Bs As culinary scene has come a long way over the past 15 years, but when it comes to pizza, they (mostly) refuse to evolve. And those pricks at Guerrin (might as well throw in El Cuartito in San Nicholas while you’re at it) are the nastiest fucks on the planet. Sons of whores all of them, and their pizza tastes like ass! -SM

    • No, the pizza in Argentina is Argentinian pizza. Period. If you’re looking for true Italian pizza, then look somewhere else. And yes, we have the tradition of pizza for decades. I guess there’s nothing to “evolve” (?). We just eat something different, a pizza with many other influences, not just Neapolitan. If you’re really interested in this matter, please, check some other article (there are plenty on the web, just google “la mejor pizza argentina”. As the writer said, this article is “biased”, it isn’t about true Argentinian pizza, I’m affraid.

  14. I agree with almost everything you said. If you liked Siamo nel forno, you’ll LOVE Partenope. It’s also Neapolitan style pizza with a different certification, I believe. It’s my favorite. Go for the Margherita, salud!

    • If you want to eat Neapolitan-style pizza… now, if you want to eat real Argentinian pizza, that’s another story. Here in Argentina we have a majority of Italian descendents (very hign porcentage), but the history of pizza was influenced by other types of pizza (and alikes) from other parts of Italy. Also the Spanish influence is important. So, for starters, you’re not eating Argentinian pizza if you go to a place with an Italian name. All traditional Argetine pizzerías has Spanish names. Go figure!

      • I personally prefer Argentine pizza a thousand times. But in terms of Neapolitan style, IMHO, Partenope is the best.