Desnivel

Fantastic! Truly authentic Argentine Parilla experience. The steak was so good, I had to come back a second time. Friendly and helpful service, and old school decor that takes you back in time. I highly recommend a visit to this establishment for anybody who wants a taste of Argentina!

First time coming here in 5 years, post pandemic. It never disappoints. The super bife de chorizo feeds two adults and a hungry toddler without issues. Service has always been one of the highlights. This hasn't changed.

A really lovely place to have your first steak in Argentina! The food and wine were excellent and the service is great. The waiters are all very nice and helpful, they made the meal a great experience.

Good meat, typical and with Fair prices! If you focus is a traditional Argentinian “parilla” this is a good place: meat done as it should be and so the side dishes. Environment and decoration is old, not well cared, some thigh, bathroom a disaster. Service is really depending on the mood of the day.

It was a good experience with argentinian cuisine. I can absolutely recommend that place. Homely atmosphere. Waiter who stook care of us (I think his name is Marcello) was really nice and helpful. I’ve ordered steak with mashed potatoes and it was really tasty. One little minus - I ordered steak medium well and I’ve received medium rare but still it was good because of quality of meet.

This place is identified as a classic and you can see why. We read about it in a review on great steak joints and figured it was worth a try. Got a seat no problem but we were likely early by Argentinian standards! Food is good if not extraordinary, but the service is so enthusiastic and available to make the night great, the place delivers on everything you need. Great wine, too, thanks to the help of the staff! A real winner 🙌

Desnivel is my absolute favourite restaurant in Buenos Aires. Went there twice, and would go there forever. It's about everything: you see the grill as you enter the place, it's cosy, simple, the walls are full of photos, symbols, scarves. The servers are the best, they make recommendations as if they knew you before, they will write you down the name of the best dulce de leche on the nearby supermarket, and they will point out also the kiosko for the best alfajores. Then - the food. 🥩 We chose two different cuts for our grilled meat - Ojo de bife (rib eye) and Bife de Chorizo. Both "al punto", because you trust this people to treat meat properly. Amazing quality and preparation, perfect portions. 🧀🍅 I also wanted to try the Milanesa Napolitana (sounds very Italian) somewhere in Buenos Aires. I chose to do it here, and did not regret it. The portion is huge! It's a breaded fried thin steak, with ham, lots of melted cheese and tomato. It's so so good! 🍮 The best way to end. I had seen pictures of this pudding sided with two spoons of dulce de leche. I had to. If you come to Desnivel, ask for it. This will make the best long lasting memories of Buenos Aires, and this is probably the moment you decide that this is the best place. I will miss Desnivel for ever. Thank you for this amazing experience!

Very great service. The waiter came up and explained every cut of meat they serve. He ever brought a platter with them all raw so we could see what we were choosing and also recommend what we should get. Great local vibe, I highly recommend it. Also the chips 👌

Desnivel's food was just okay, which was disappointing, since I had expected it to be quite good from the reviews. The bife de chorizo was very tough to eat, very chewy. The spinach side dish was okay, nothing special but fine. For dessert, the flan was fine.

The quality of the meat is exceptional, and the staff couldn't be friendlier or more attentive. The wine selection is great, the ambiance is perfect, and the neighborhood is absolutely lovely

Don't miss out on this place! I was looking for a great steak and Des Nivel definitely delivered. I went in around 8pm on a Saturday and was seated right away. Marcel waited on me and was just incredible. Shia English was good enough to get me through ordering. He was attentive and funny. When my food came there was enough for two people! The garlic on the fries was amazing and the steak cut like butter. I got the tenderloin and it was seasoned just perfectly. This is definitely a must try if you are looking for an incredible steak.

All good and not expensive. Waiters are awesome. Dishes are big and meats cooked prefectly

Food was good! Wine was excellent but Jorge made our evening fun!! Recommend you stop in for dinner!

My wife and I were in town for a cruise, so we met up with some friends and enjoyed what might've been the best steak experience I've had in a while. Of course, our server spoke little English, but I spoke enough Spanish to get by. We enjoyed the heart of palm salad and a filet that was large enough to feed two. Rare (rojo), of course. And, our server kept bringing the fresh bread and amazing wine from Mendoza.

Good food with a great price. It's not fancy at all like some of the other steak places. But the food is simple and good. Recommended you order and share meals.

Wow. Just wow. I went early before the locals but had a fantastic Ribeye for 4500 peso which is about $12USD if paying cash on the blue rate. I'll eat here every time in BA.

So I almost passed by this place walking around the are since they had these outdoor markets of artisanal crafts. But happy I stopped by to get a choripan. There was a line for the tables as well as getting food to go. I opted to get the choripan to go since I left my husband at a brewery while I explored. You order at the counter and they give you a ticket to bring to the area where they are grilling the meats. You give them the ticket and you wait for your food. The choripan as usual is bigger than what I expected, and they have the toppings to put on it on a table for self service. It can get messy so don't forget napkins!

Excellent Service! Food was great! Place was still closed but they let us in and have wine and empanadas! Empanadas we're amazing! Bottle of wine, 2 steaks, 1 salad, 4 empanadas plus flan total $48 bucks!

Over the years, I've eaten there probably a dozen times, and always had a very good meal. We split an entraña, hanger steak, certainly big enough for two to share (500 pesos). Asked for and received, rare. Properly seasoned, virtually no gristle, everything an entraña should be. A couple of side salads because, a) we wanted different salads, and b) we'd forgotten how big they are. But hey, packing in the greens is not a bad thing. My lunch companion got a mixed salad with added beets, I got one of my favorites, radichetta and parmesan. (120 pesos each - a steal - since you could make an entire lunch out of just the salad.) Remains as one of my recommended spots!

I wish I could teleport here right now. Had two memorable meals here while in BA on business. A friend and I loved the food and our server from the first night - who seemed a bit brusque at first but wound up being super helpful and even a bit funny by the end of our meal. Get the provoleta to start! Skip the bread, it's not worth it. I think I had a ribeye one time and the rump the second - my friend got different steaks each time too and they were all excellent, not to mention huge. Order a bottle of Malbec to help wash down the meat. The creamed spinach was excellent but unnecessary. Split a salad, it's enough, and enjoy their homemade chimichurri. I loved the bustle and the food and would love to come back again one day.

Great service - seated right away and with Home made Chimichurri sauce and bread. Food - ribeye, butterfly tenderloin and skirt steak. Fries and creamed potato. Cooked very well, medium. Grilled and seasoned. Price - reasonable and priced right

BIFE DE CHORIZO I'm still dreaming about the steak that I had here a few weeks ago! I couldn't believe how big the steak was for only 180 pesos (under $13usd). The menu is overwhelming!! So many options! If you can't decide on a steak, definitely get bife de chorizo (a punto - medium rare)!!! You won't regret it!! On the menu I saw a "super bife de chorizo" that was 900grams for 390 pesos! Probably it'd take at least 3ppl to finish it! haha This place is homey, nothing fancy. Service was good! I couldn't believe our server was able to remember our whole table's order (6 of us)!

This place is very low key, reminded me of a French bistro where everything is going fast and chaotic. The service is great, the price is cheap and the quality is good. It's just not fancy, so if you don't care about this, then you are in for a treat because the food is excellent!!! I stuffed myself with all the possible meat, the empanadas was so fresh, the meat was cooked perfectly and the chorizo was melting in my mouth. I'm so glad my friends brought me here, it felt like true Argentina restaurant less touristy. I would recommend it to anyone!!!

Came here for lunch. When I came Buenos Aires last year, I stopped by to have a choripan which was good. We came to dine in this time. It was around 3:00pm and the restaurant was still fairly busy. We sat down, and the server brought us the menu. There was English as well, so it was easy to understand. My husband ordered rib eye with French fries and salad and I ordered tenderloin garlic sauce with French fries. The server came back with complimentary bread, then our food 15 minutes later. The portions are huge! My steak was tender and cooked well, but it wasn't my favorite. French fries were fresh. My husband had to send his steak back because his steak was too rare. He said it was okay, not the best. Service was slow. The prices were okay.

Excellent informal steakhouse in a nice neighborhood. Much better and cost effective way to eat great food vs a tourist steakhouse. This is not dry-aged or gamey beef. Also pork isOrdered a bottle of wine, dinner ribeye steak (includes salad and fries) and a la carte ribeye, fries and salad all for US$35. Excellent steak cooked on a grill in the front of restaurant. Forget formal steakhouse with tourist prices! This is how to eat in BA! Courteous staff and most speak English. Bi-lingual menu. Here are my tips: waffle fries includes with steak are not great... soggy and taste like oil although I suspect that is just the Argentinian way. Best to order your dinner separately. Order a Ribeye or Tenderloin, cooked Rosa or medium. In BA, done-ness is one level less than US. For example, well done here is US medium. Medium is rare, etc. Best to order your steak by temperature or specific color. (Blue, Red, pink, blackened). Order the regular French fries, and ask for cooked crispy. Order a salad - Arugula looked the best, but Romaine and even Russian also available. The salad tomatoes were very good. Again, best to order separate items vs the steak combo. With a party of four, each should Order their own sides and get a plate of meat cuts to share. The deserts are out of this world! Real dulce de leche and cream accompaniments to flan and many other options. Don't miss that add-on. Enjoy! It's cheap and really good. ********came back a few days later for lunch. Get here at 1pm... they were full at 1:30. My earlier comments that ordering separately holds true. The tables were full of locals. And people were happy to chat about the food, menu and all things Argentinian. . Short Rib, Sirloin in garlic sauce, French fries and arugula salad. Bottle of Norton 2017 Malbec.... Light and smooth.

Another local hole in the wall that is a favorite among locals. Excellent steak, homemade chimichurri, and good service. The steak was far more than one person could eat and cooked to perfection as ordered!

Right in the heart of San Telmo, in the middle of all the action, and in all the guide books, so expect to wait in line to eat at Desnivel. We went at around 2 pm on the day of the Sunday market, so there was a line out the door. Luckily, we waited less than 10 minutes since we were only a party of two and the others around us had large groups. The menu is large and overwhelming, so I decided to go with the Chicken Desnivel which was under their "recommended items" section. I had no idea what it was going to be, but it had the restaurant's namesake so I figured it had to be good. What I got was a piece of chicken smothered in what seemed to be cream of mushroom. Surprisingly, the chicken itself wasn't that good. I expected a delicious piece of grilled chicken but it was a kinda blah piece of chicken. I'm not even sure how they made it.. was it baked? boiled? It was tasteless enough that it could be either. I guess that's why they needed so much sauce with it, but I personally wasn't a huge fan of the sauce. But, that's what I get for ordering something without knowing what it is. The side salad was also nothing special... just some carrots, beets and onions thrown on top of some lettuce. My bf had the ribs with fries, which were probably better than my chicken, but they really looked more boney that meaty. I think maybe we just didn't order properly, since people seem to really love this place. The sausages, I have to admit, did look pretty phenomenal.

I came for dinner as part of an international group of 15. We had a large table upstairs. I ordered the bife chorizo rare, but it came medium rare at best. It was a very thick cut, so the butterflied version might have been better for getting rare. Still very flavorful. My companions all enjoyed their dinners. We shared several bottles of a very nice malbec.

Last evening in BA and so disappointing. Service is/was slow. But hey, after two weeks, we get that's the "costumbre". No worries. No hurry. With La Finca Linda Malbec to carry us through our dinner we could chill with just about anything. Well-- until the very disappointing Ojo de Bife for 680 pesos showed up. Cheap for Bay Area standards so this review has nothing to do with price point. Solely here to review the most horrible rib eye steak served during our two week stay in Argentina (Iguazu, BA and Mendoza). Inedible. What a waste of food :((. So not impressed. The wine was the saving grace. And other items ordered were mediocre at best: milanesa de pollo and caprese salad. Wish we could have had rave reviews but it just wasn't good. At all!! :((. Que lástima.

If you get the house wine, they serve it in a ceramic bird shaped pitcher!! Love the gigantic steak sandwiches! I prefer bife de lomo, juicy and thick with extra fat. Great place to sit down and enjoy lunch or dinner too. Lots of locals and a large list of wines. Waiters are very nice too. Parrilla is in the front, you can see all the good stuff they have to offer.

Located in the San Telmo neighborhood in Buenos Aires, this casual typical Argentine neighborhood grill for a large offering of local favorites. The three guy friends in my group loved their steaks. Preferred beef cuts, sausage, and roasts are the mainstays. I feel there are better options and nicer places to eat in Buenos Aires. Given enough wine, however, made this restaurant a part of a fun night for all. The restaurant closes at 1 AM.

Very good food, generous portions. Reasonable prices and friendly staff. I'll definitely come here again.

Touristy, yes... but a fun, classic parrilla! Don't bother with the combined meat + potatoes dishes on their "specials" list. Instead, you should order cuts of meat separately and then any sides to share. We learned this the hard way when two plates of beef drowned in mysterious gravies arrived at our table. The beef was overcooked, and I knew Desnivel could do better just by seeing the gorgeous slabs of grilled meat being sawed into at a nearby table. The bread was what I've come to understand is default in this country: pale, cold baguette with a soft, fluffy crumb and slightly chalky exterior, baked to a little point on the ends. They bring a bowl of chimichurri for dipping. None of this bread is worth eating in this state, but it's totally standard for Argentina. Out of curiosity, we also ordered the "veal stew" listed under the "sauces" section of the menu, and it ended up being a huge plate of veal chunks in tomato stew. I know it's gauche to wrap up leftovers in Buenos Aires, but this "sauce" became our breakfast the next day. The menu is fully translated into English, half bottles of wine are available for not very much at all, and the restaurant is lively into the night, which cancels out its unpleasant fluorescent lighting. Worth a visit? If you want an entirely casual Argentinean parrilla with zero steakhouse pretensions, Desnivel is as good as any, and probably the best choice in San Telmo. Go all out, and remember to only order from the list of plain meats!

Very nice place. Relatively clean with helpful waiters, even with my poor Spanish. The filets are huge, and were tender with good flavor - and at a very good price. Both were overdone a little, but not too far off. Medium-rare was more medium, and medium was closer to medium-well. I've heard this overcooking of meat is typical in Argentina.(It has been true for me 4 out of 4 times, including gaucho cooking on the pampas.). The steaks at DesNivel would also benefit from a little more crust. They were a bit pale on the outside. Potatoes were good, but not great. Bread was a little dry and did not have much flavor. The steak was the centerpiece, and it was very good.

Delicious option for lunch and dinner. They serve up traditional Argentinian food like steak. My wife ordered the rib eye with fries and I got the steak milanesa. The food was delicious although I favored my wifes rib eye over the steak due to the fact that i felt the milanesa was pre-breaded. The service was excellent my only complaint was that the restaurant could use a bit of cleaning. But as far as price was concerned versus the food you recieved it was excellent.

Such a good restaurant. Had the weekend special which was the lamb and was in Love. Super tasty and tender and a garlicky sauce. I will have that again. Had the pepper steak which was very good and a Lomo for 4 people which was so much there was some leftover. It's a great place to eat.

My friend and I came to the very crowded Desnivel on a Sunday, during the San Telmo street market. It's a parilla restaurant, but you can also do takeaway for their asado, which is very popular. At the front of the restaurant, you can see the fire grill with TONS of meat cooking. I ordered a choripan, which is a piece of chorizo sausage on bread and my friend who is a vegetarian, ordered the provoletta, which is a giant piece of cheese that they grill for you and also put into a sandwich. The choripan was AMAZING. One of my favorite snack foods to eat in BA. Make sure to put the chimichurri sauce on top of it to make it even more delicious. The provoletta is also really good. We took our takeaway food outside of the restaurant and sat on the curb to eat and people watch, which was already really fun. My friend explained to me that the restaurant is called Desnivel (which means "uneven" in Spanish) because the if you look at the street that the restaurant is located on, you can kind of see that it's not level. I wanted to come back and eat here one more time for another choripan or for the bife de chorizo, but alas, I ran out of time! If you're going to the feria San Telmo on Sunday, be sure to check this spot out for a delicious meaty snack!

This place is like a family Italian restaurant. There is no pretention, no white table cloths, just friendly wait staff who openly joke with you and make you feel like your at home. The butterfly steak I got was so good I had to come back for it a few days later, and I'm not even a steak fan!! The staff also remembered me, probably because I eat like fat girl at Thanksgiving. I highly recommend this place over the other fancy places around because the quality of the steaks is so good and the feel is completely relaxed.

We had a lovely affordable dinner. The complimentary bread and olive oil to start out was delicious. The steak was cooked to perfection and affordable. The chicken with garlic and cream sauce was excellent. We were not disappointed.

Small, hole in the wall type of place with delicious food. I had the ribeye and my husband had the steak Milanesa. Both were very good. Their chimichuri was good too. Waiter was very friendly and welcoming. It seems to be a popular place so it would serve them well to clean it up a bit on the inside. The walls were covered in old pictures, paintings, and article clippings and the walls were dirty- literally- like stains of splattered god knows what which could probably be easily cleaned. If I didn't have a list of so many other places I want to try I would go back.

Great steak, service was prompt and the waiter didn't mind me knowing little Spanish. Atmosphere was friendly, mostly local diners. Liked the interior, not pretentious but certainly not shabby. Excellent experience!

Even though all the guidebooks recommended this place, I didn't enjoy it at all. The interior is in this bright white eatery, and it was not a memorable meal. The quality of meat was just average compared to the all the other steaks we had that week The meat was OK. I had better meats at many other places,and this probably ranked lowest for medium tier restaurants. The salad was also disappointing compared to the other salad mixto we had at other places including Parilla Pena (which I prefer). The space is probably good for larger tour groups in the busy streets of San Telmo. not for me.

This is a hole in the wall beef-centric grill house, in a Bohemian neighborhood. The dining room is in a two century old building and starch pressed white pressed table clothes drape half century old two top tables and none of the chairs match - except in approximate size. The salads and side dishes I ordered were as delicious as my perfectly grilled Texas-sized entree. All of the wine is from Mendoza; the beer from Patagonia, Italy or Mexico. I left in a dreamy meat induced coma, after a double espresso and a chocolate cake desert. I think the servers make their career here too - they appear to be very well fed. No reservations required, but by 8:00PM, every seat is occupied.

Out of all our steak places in our rather short time in BA, we really liked El Desnivel. Definitely go "early" i.e. regular US/UK dinner time and you won't have to wait like everyone else. We walked right in and were shown directly to a table. Midway through our meal (we were sat around 7:30/8:00pm) the crowd started to grow, and there was most definitely a wait. Yes, this place is not La Cabrera or La Brigada around the corner, but it's definitely "home style", and the price indicates that too. We had a lomo (tenderloin - and why would you get anything else?!) for £10 and a reserve Malbec from Mendoza for £12. Totally worth every penny/pound. The char on the steak was excellent and they did medium rare just right. Beware, the waiters barely speak English, so most definitely brush up on a little bit of Spanish before you go. We were very glad we went and would be happy to have gone back again.

Do yourself a favor and just get the takeout. It's cheap and fast - as opposed to their sit-down service. I've been waiting for the check for about half an hour. The provoleta was dry and burned. They didn't even clean my table or give me a napkin and only brought me bread halfway through my meal after I had to ask for chimichurri. But yet I still have to pay for cubiertos?!?!

There is only one reason that you come here, steak and even then there are a few options which you should steer (pun intended) clear of. Bife de Chorizo is what you want. A big thick bit of steak washed down with a glass of San Telmo was a great representation of a good Argentinian asado. The steak was cooked "a punto" which is the equivalent to medium-rare. My partner ordered one of the dishes from the recommended section in the overwhelmingly large menu. What came out was a thick bit of cardboard with a creamy sauce. She wasn't very impressed. In terms of the service, don't expect michelin star service, but I guess you're not paying michelin star prices. Table service was quick and efficient. People will recommend that you need to get in early to get a table. But because Argentinians eat so late, getting in early means anywhere between 6 and 8pm. We arrived at 8:30pm on a Friday night without a reservation and walked straight in. The restaurant was only about half full.

This is better place than La Brigarda. Steaks is better and price is half . It's still a crowded cozy place. All kinds of people come here and enjoy good food. The locals recommend it too.

Don't let the small mom and pop shop fool you. The steaks here are grilled to taste and are really good. Will it blow your mind? Probably not, but your craving will be crushed with steaks from here. Also, the staff are amazing, helpful, and friendly.

Scam, bad food, the service is poor and way over priced, you can get a much better food for less in any joint near, definitely I don't recommend this restaurant.

Excellent meat dishes at reasonable prices. Their menu is pretty extensive and includes pasta and lots of chicken options too, plus a not exciting celiac menu. Casual and fun experience overall!

Table for ten, no reservation, walk-in, no problem! Bife de Lomo with chimichuri, accompanied by house red, salad and patatas espanol was the most popular order. Great friendly waiters who were not bothered by us waiting for late comers before we ordered. A delicious and fun restaurant in historic San Telmo.

Had a wonderful dinner here on our stay in San Telmo. My husband ordered the rare Bife de Chiriso with a salad, which was huge but a little tough. I had the tenderloin / lomo with green onions rare, which was extremely tender we also enjoyed the house wine. We were seated at the round table right past the grill which was great for people watching. I'm looking forward to trying their sandwiches to go soon.

Excellent! My husband had the ribeye & I had the Lomo with mushrooms, both were so delicious, juicy & cooked rare as ordered. Also incredible value for price! Enjoy!

The ambience was painful -- cramped and stuffy -- our waitress -- abrasive and unhelpful -- but the bife chorizo was delicious -- and somehow worth the experience. Overall, a far more satisfying meal than 'top 50' South American BA steakhouse La Cabrera.

I really don't know how Desnivel got so popular. It's a very average parrilla with an elevated price that only LP travelers think are cheap. Pay a few dollars more to go for the nearby La Brigada or save the money and hit any neighborhood parrilla.

Lomo sandwich (beef sirloin?) was excellent! Tender and flavorful. Came with two chimichurries and a pica de gallo. 140 pesos - easily split between two of us. We ordered another for our flight back to the USA! They were very accommodating with wrapping it up to go! We have little/no Spanish, but we got by! The empanadas are deep-fried- but good - the paper bag gets greasy! Went with a big group that included a vegan- he couldn't find any sandwiches to eat on the menu, so got a lomo sandwich too! And finished it all!

We ate here and found the place to be value for money. Especially 3 Aussie men. Service was available in English which was a help. The service overall was good, the food was good and pricing was reasonable. I would recommend this place to try out. We also had desert , plenty of options to choose from. Wine from Malbec area too which was priced well.