El Sanjuanino

Great service from all the waiters who were all very friendly and helpful. The first visit we ate empanadas: the picante was superb and so too were the Caprese, and the blue cheese. Those were washed down with a Quilmes Clásica, which is a great lager. We went back that evening for bife steak, which was an eye-opening and belly-filling delight: huge and cooked to perfection, with the chips being proper chips (like in England). The house red slipped down a treat (apparently, it was a small glass but in England it would be charged as a large!) For our third visit in three days (yes, the food really was that good), we enjoyed the locro and Milanese. Again, lip-smackingly good. The restaurant is really cosy, especially downstairs, and we will visit again the next time we're in Buenos Aires. Great quality and the prices are very reasonable.

Everything was nice, the ambient, the food, the portions are huge! Also a special praise to our lovely host who also converse with us in English, I would recommend this place to anyone

Great spot in the middle of Recoleta. Menu is unique (for me) and provided many items to give a nice break from all the steak everywhere. I had a fried empanada and lentil stew. The meat was so tender in the stew and the flavor was delicious. Didn't feel too heavy for lunch. The waiter I had, an older gentleman, was very charming and spoke English well. Menus have English too.

Bad food. Don’t come here especially if you’re used to American BBQ. Had to wait to long times to get hold of the waiter. Returned beef chorizo immediately on first bite because of the concerns but still paid for it.

Great service and amazing aesthetic. The food was good and came quickly, the waiter that supports United was very funny, just an unfortunate choice of a club.

Authentic empanada joint, for some portenos best in Argentina. Delicious, fresh. Enjoy with a litter of beer!

One of the best dinners we had in Buenos Aires, I would like to visit again. We recommend the Flan and Empanadas… Price was so much cheaper than most parrillas and they even give us a free bottle of Malbec. Highly recommended 👍🏼

Loved this place. Felt like a very local parrilla. Staff was friendly and service was good. Wide variety of options including empanadas, which made it great for both meat eaters and vegetarians. Prices were reasonable. Portions were average size for Argentina. Would highly recommend!

Great empanadas, especially the one with chicken! Definitely my favorite! The tomato wasn't my favorite, for some reasons it didn't feel ripe for the season, a little watery. But hey, if you come here you mainly come for empanadas!! And those are great! I tried both fried and baked, and I liked them both. Service was very nice and fun, we felt very welcome and cared for. We ate outside, and it was very pleasant, so I can't really say something about the ambience inside.

We came here twice for dinner during our week in BA but could have easily come here more. We found this restaurant during our research for trip but I can't remember where I read the recommendation except I did take note that their empanadas are highly recommended and the review is absolutely correct. We tried the baked and fried empanadas and both were juicy and flavourful but I'm partial to the fried one (Sanjuanino). We ordered fernet with Coke on both visits and we had a generous pour each time On our first visit, my husband ordered a choripán. As soon as I saw modongo (tripe stew) on the menu, I looked no further. I loved loved my big bowl of tripe. The organ pieces were tender but still retained their gummy texture and the flavour of the stew base was very pleasant. My husband said his choripán had very good flavour but was a bit dry (could have used a little more grease). On our last night in BA, we wanted to go somewhere homey with hearty dishes so came here again. My husband had a milanesa and fries and I went for the steak and fries. The attached pictures say it all and I don't think I need to put words to describe them. As a visitor, you will probably want to dine at Don Julio like everyone / every travel website suggests. However, if you aren't able to make a reservation there, you won't miss out much. El Sanjuanino will give you a more leisurely neighbourhood dining experience with equally good and authentic Argentine asado menu. Besides, El Sanjuanino will not burn a hole in your wallet. Some of the wait staff are more comfortable conversing in English than other but if you will be fine even if you have a very limited Spanish vocabulary. The patrons were about 50/50 locals and English-speaking expatriates.

Great food and service - prices better than most others in area. For two people we had 4 empanadas, two entrees, one dessert, one alcoholic drink and one soda for $14,000ARS, about $17-24 US/CAD. Empanadas were delicious and I enjoyed my choripan (not the best I had in Buenos Aires but pretty good). Flan with dulce de leche was GOOD. I also enjoyed my fernet (surprised at how big a pour it was - half a mug!). The waiter even added more fernet to my water glass so I had extra to use. Our waiter was super friendly and indulged my third grade level spanish. We sat outside as it was a warm night. We paid via credit card and tipped in pesos.

We were pretty excited about this spot and in the end it was worth trying. There are a ton of empanada choices and the ones we got were excellent. The table next to us got a steak which inspired us but would not recommend that dish, fairly unflavorful. The wine was cheap. But the best part was our waiter, who was just a delightful human being. Cool ambiance as you can tell it's been around for a long time. Was able to walk in but it was very crowded/full.

El San Juanino served me the best chicken breast I've ever had, period. So juicy and flavorful each bite. My wife and son ordered empanadas which were good but, I was not coming here to specifically try empanadas but the empanadas are fine. Better than average- I've been eating them my whole life. Loved having Alfredo as a server. He stays on the ground floor. 10 days in BA we returned there 2 more times.

Been there four times in less than 2 weeks! Best empanadas. The ambiance is fantastic, like going into 1950s Argentina. Price is always right.

Empanadas are delicious and so fresh. Dough is cooked too perfection and fillings are good. Washed down with Argentinian cerveza. About a 15-20m wait.

The word on the street is they have some delicious empanadas, they sell like hotcakes here too. I watched them out coming out in trays and droves, table after table. I had to try their carne picante. They were stuffed, piping hot, savory and yummy. I would have tried their pollo or queso but had enough carbs after eating a couple and they were filling too.

We tried El Sanjuanino our second day in BA. People rave and say it's the best empanada in BA. When we were there we were not overly impressed. But, we didn't have a basis of comparison. This review is being written after a week being in Argentina and having tried empanadas in every restaurant which we found ourselves, including a Hard Rock Cafe at the airport gate (amazingly juicy and tasty) the elegant restaurants at the Park Hyatt, and Francis Mallman's restaurant in Mendoza. Bottom Line, our initial impression remains unchanged. Lots of hype, little performance. The empanadas were barely warm and certainly not hot. They clearly were sitting around. We had a mixed salad and that was delicious. Our no label carafe of wine was good. Our waiter did not stop talking to us in English, apparently to impress us that he knew English and knew we were tourists from USA. I found him annoying and would have preferred if he spoke in Spanish and acted natural and not as if he had to entertain us. So I'd recommend you not wait on line to have their empanadas. They simply were not what they should have been. I can't comment on their food but did notice that many locals were eating full meals and not a plate of empanadas.

AVOID THIS PLACE. I never write reviews and usually just stick to reviews on my Instagram but I had to give an update and review on Yelp because I feel STRONGLY disappointed about this place as it shows a near 4-5 star review. Not only was the food terrible here, the service was terrible and rude AND the prices were way overpriced! I am very disappointed that there has been reviews raving on how good the empanadas here are as they were doubled the prices and you can get a really delicious empanada for a fraction of the price they are charging. First off, my husband and I ordered 6 different ones to try. I'm a foodie, so I like to take into an account different food, different dishes and the most recommended one when I go out to eat. When the empanadas came out, the server, Joseph, only gave us 5 empanadas and out of those 5, 4 were the correct empanadas. We tried giving him the benefit of the doubt since we did order quite a lot of empanadas but then when we ordered our drinks, he scoffed at us for being Americans. My husband ordered a soda and I ordered coffee but before I can try to translate it into Spanish that I wanted my coffee after my meal (I do not speak Spanish, hence my processing was very slow so I was trying to word it correctly) he already laughed and shook his head saying only Americans drink coffee with their meals. Even if I was to drink coffee with my meal, it's each their own preference dependent from your nationality (I'm Asian American with many families from France as well). The coffee also tasted like store bought or cheap coffee and would've just gone to the cafe down the block for coffee instead if I would've known. After that experience, it made the rest of my meal unpleasant. I may be biased towards the rest of the food we got, however, we have tried the local dish, Locro, from many different places in the barrio of Buenos Aires, but this by far was the worst. It looked pretty but the stew was bland and game-y. All you tasted was the smokiness of the corn and the meat they put in it, was just all fat and bones. I highly recommend AVOIDING this place because we ended up spending $25 when you can find really delicious spots for the same food and better quality for well under $10 (for instance, I prefer La Aguada or La Cocina to name a few). Joseph, the waiter, also never came back with our change so he ended up taking about 15% tip which is very high for tipping in BA and service was TERRIBLE. I would much rather use that money to buy a dozen empanadas down the street or another small meal somewhere else! If you're still reading, you can also take a look at other reviews and food spots on my Instagram @food.for.goons

The best empanadas. Good variety. A must stop when in town. We have been there multiple times over the years and the excellent quality/taste remain consistent.

Typical Argentinian food for locals - matambre various ways, empanadas etc. Kind of grimey, crumpled napkins on the floor and a bit tired and dirty looking, however the food was tasty. Certainly not a corporate look. Independent resto for sure. Ham and cheese empanada was toasty hot with good creamy monterey jack style cheese and a few chunks of ham. The Sanjuanino (picante) empanada was not spicy but very flavorful with finely chunked beef(not ground), onions, peppers and crazily enough green olives WITH pits still in them! We shared those two and a matambre especiale - which is the typical pounded flank steak rolled up with various fillings. This one had two types of cheeses and then roasted whole. They take a slice of that and then top it with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and brown it so it's sort of like a non-breaded version of a pounded, cheese stuffed and rolled flank steak, Italian style. It was served with eight decent pieces of a small French baguette. Unfortunately the matambre itself was not warm enough so the cheese was pretty solid in the center. The cheese on top was nicely melted and gooey. The tomato sauce had good flavor. Ask for tap water (agua de la pila) which is totally safe in BA, unless you want to pay 45 AR pesos ($2.50 US roughly) for a 300ml bottle of mineral water. While we were there a patron went out to smoke and proceeded to have his watch ripped off his arm by a passing moto robber. Do be wary. Best not to walk around with your smart phones out or wearing flashy jewelry. Petty theft is everywhere here.

When I was planning my honeymoon to South America, I made a list of must-see/do things in each of the countries we were visiting. In Peru, it was majestic Machu Picchu and the Incan ruins around Cusco. In Brazil, it was big ass Jesus and Copacabana/Ipanema beaches. And in Argentina, it was straight up just empanadas, steak, milanesa, alfajores, and wine...and maybe a tango show if we could eat any of the above while watching. Through my research, I honed in on a visit to a well-rated empanada place called La Cocina, which happened to be in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires where we were staying. Well, my spouse's family happens to be Argentinian and two of my sisters-in-law live in Buenos Aires. So, not sure why I did any research at all, but when we decided to have dinner at my sister-in-law's place, she was like, cool cool La Cocina, nice, but we're getting take-out from El Sanjuanino. Who am I to argue with a local? ...uh, but take-out empanadas? Hmmm.... Well, shut my mouth because these empanadas were DELICIOUS! Even as take-out! So I can only imagine how they taste dining at the restaurant! These were the only empanadas I tried during our short stint in Buenos Aires so I can't say they are better than any others, but I can say they are amazing. They are baked, not fried, and they have a great range of fillings, which you can see on their website. Of course my SIL ordered every kind and none of them failed. They have all your traditional fillings, but the one that stuck out to me most was the Empanada Capresse, which as you can probably guess was caprese salad in an empanada. I'm sure Nonna's Empanadas in LA has probably done this as they have something like 30 million types of fillings, but I've never tried it so it was a unique filling to me. I'm sure it's hard to go wrong with any empanadas in Buenos Aires, but this place (multiple locations) may not pop up on your search queries for the "best empanadas in Buenos Aires" as they don't focus purely on empanadas. But consider my recommendation and that of my local relatives-in-law, and give El Sanjuanino a try, especially if you're staying in or visiting the Recoleta district!!

Want to feel like you're in a true neighborhood restaurant in Buenos Aires? Step into this place. It's a classic, tightly packed, usually crowded place with a great selection of classic local food. The Recoleta location immediately feels like a neighborhood restaurant that's been around forever(50 yrs, apparently). It's very well known for its empanadas, but there's much more than that. I didn't check the beers, but we enjoyed a great malbec (of course). The service is great. And, even though it seems always crowded, this is Argentina: You're not rushed out; you stay and talk afterwards. We only ate at the Recoleta location, but apparently they do have other locations. Definitely on the list for my next visit.

The best place in BA for empanadas! When my husband and I came here for a late lunch, we noticed that the restaurant was packed. We had to wait for about 20 minutes before we could get a table. The restaurant looks quite tiny from the outside, but they have additional underground seating area as well. Their menu is vast with many choices of empanadas, tamales, chicken, steak, sandwiches, salads, desserts, etc. We ordered four kinds of empanadas: - Onion and cheese: The best - Caprese: Tastes like pizza; very good - Picante carne: Very good - Pollo: Least favorite We also ordered a meat tamale and loved it! Wound up the meal with a flan and dulce de leche on the side. Yumm, yummm! Must try here. Highly recommend stopping here for a meal. Oh and by the way, prices are quite reasonable as well.

Great empanadas at a fantastic price! First place we stopped off the airplane and within walking distance of our hotel in Recoleta.

After a long and pretty exhausting flight from New York to Buenos Aires, the last thing we wanted was a big and complicated meal let alone the famed Argentine steak dinner. Too tired. Our obliging hotel staff suggested a small local place which is famous for its local fare and empanadas. We ventured in jet lagged and groggy expecting to have a good meal. This small but busy neighborhood restaurant is by all means known for comfort food and copious amounts of very affordable Malbec to wash it down. We chose a selection of Empanadas, spicy meat, locro, chicken, as well as nice Ravioli. The empanadas were baked fresh, hot and succulent and simply among the best we ever had. Each one was something like a dollar. The whole meal with a bottle of good wine was under $30. And that's only because we probably ordered too much. San Juannino is in the chic Recoleta district and is primarily patronized by locals and Takeout. They can seat about 30 in a small but totally charming and typical Restaurant. If you are looking for a good, moderately priced and fun place, complete with typical Argentine background music, this is it. We returned two days later, wide awake, for more empanadas!

Great atmosphere great food A popular local hang out I'm privileged to be in. Friendly servers great local food. We had a piece of lean steak which was tender and favorable. Tripe was a hit and the empanadas was light and flakey. Very memorable.

With a sample size of two, I can say that these definitely are *not* the best empanadas in Buenos Aires. They could not possibly have been more bland. Also bland mashed potatoes, bland chicken that was very rubbery. And the "salad dressing" was vegetable oil and white vinegar. It just was not good food. Cool atmosphere though.

Good empanadas... We actually went here twice because the first time we didn't know what to get (and so we weren't as impressed). The answer: the fried empanadas are what these guys are known for. So good!

A must visit place in town. We stumbled across this place our first night in Buenos Aires. It's small, charming, and filled with regulars. Of course we had to try the empanadas; we started with the ham and cheese, spicy beef, and caprese, which were all fabulous. My fave was the beef, but the caprese got the number one vote from my friend. However, even better than the empanadas was the tamale. I kid you not, this was perhaps the best tamale I have ever had. Were our bellies not full of empanadas and malbec, we would have ordered another. We loved El Sanjuanino so much that we made sure to visit when we came back to Buenos Aires. Having learned our lesson the first time, we limited the number of empanadas to make room for the tamales. It was just as good as our first visit and we will be back whenever we're in town.

We were staying at the Four Seasons and one of the employees recommended this place as a favorite of the locals. We got there about 5 minutes before they opened and we were already in a line! This place is known for their empanadas and wine - we had a great experience! Definitely a locals favorite!

Amaze balls. Get the ham and cheese empanada. Also the caprese one was solid with the homemade Mendoza olive oil

Really good Empanadas. Especially with lemon squeezed on. (Chicken). Locro is great and served all year. Nice prices. Small place and it does fill up!! Good device.

Delish empanadas and good service... Started with the carne picante, pollo, corn and neapolitan empanadas and followed by 1/2 house steak... The beef empanada was the favorite, there was a bit of a debate whether chicken or corn came in second, and the Neapolitan was ranked fourth but in this ranking, there were no losers... The steak was cooked well and was pretty tender, but under seasoned and needed a healthy dollop of the (red) chimichurri. They also provided some kinda cold bread that was not touched... Overall would return for empanadas, lunch would be a solid bet, and the downstairs is big enough to handle big groups if needed

This is the place to go for empanadas. We tried the spicy meat, regular one and chicken. All were tasty and let us wanting more. We also ordered the tamale which was filled with pork and beef. It was perfectly seasoned. We also ordered the mondongo. It was great to have when on a chilly day. I would say these are my comfort food when I travel to Argentina.

This is the most horrible eats in the world , worst wine , uninspired, riding on the fact that they've been open a long time, it is high time they close for good ; terrible food and drink

I may upgrade this when I eat a proper dinner here. My pal Nicolas (a former denizen of Recoleta) told me these are the best empanadas in town. Of course when I got there, the barred gate was drawn... why must all businesses close in the early evening? I put my face to the space between the bars and pleaded my case with the owner. For my pathos, I was rewarded with a delicious meat and olive empanada, which he slipped through the bars, wrapped in a napkin. Deeeeeeeelicious. Whole olives, spicy meat... he knew I would be doomed to return, and bring friends. A savvy business move.

Come for the empanadas. Stay for the service. And if your waiter happens to be Joseph then you're in for a treat.

My wife and I visited this establishment twice and loved the atmosphere. The food was great, service great and most of all the community that flowed in and out the doors made us feel at home. My wife and I wished we could take this place back to our home in Colorado.

The service here was good and our food came very fast- but the food itself was pretty meh. These were among the weakest empanadas I had in my 2.5 weeks there, and probably the most I ever paid for them too. The house wine was also a little disappointing, but it was served in an old school penguin. The wifi actually worked. They do cramp people in here so expect a tight table. Very well located within the Recoleta neighborhood.

Best empanadas in town. Don't waste your time ordering anything else. The beef empanadas are great. I loved the spicy beef. Also big winners are the corn and the chicken empanadas. This food is very kids friendly too. My kids loved it. I hear about this place from everyone around town. Cheap food. Fast service. English speaking. Friendly staff. You can't go wrong here. Don't waste your time ordering anything other than the empanadas. I got the ravioli and it was not that great. Also the caprese little sandwiches were good too! You will leave this place stuffed so pace yourself and come hungry.

I found it by chance, looking for a place to eat empanadas nearby my hotel. A small restaurant, full of pictures and small decorations that shouldn't work together but surprisingly works. It had the same feeling when I am at my grandma house, I was at home. The waiter was probably as old enough to be my grandpa and certainly more active than me! He took our order without writing a single word, made no mistakes and was fast as a lightning. To start I order a beef empanada and it was exactly as I dreamed. Perfect! I've tried a cheese and ham one too, it is good but this feeling looks like more as a ordinary sandwich that you do at the middle of the night. They have a fried version of it but as a brazilian it looked like a ordinary "pastel" for me so I didn't tried it. They have a selection of wine but I had a nice and super cold beer. I love it and the only reason I didn't gave them 5 stars is the opening hours; I was in a business trip and had not much free time and only when I tried for the 3rd time I found it open.

Wonderful typical food and empanadas. Love the "locro" and the lentil soup. One of my favorite places ever during the cold wet winter months. Food to warm the soul.

The food was ok, not the most flavorful. But I had amazing service from our waiter Jose Luis. He kept flirting with me and said he always liked the morenas. I don't know if he was serious or not but he was funny & made our time enjoyable. The environment was welcoming & the people, both staff & patrons, were more friendly. I liked the San Juanino Empanadas but nothing to rave about. In my opinion, so far, any food around the main tourist area is not going to be as flavorful as you would find in the outskirts. I thought Palermo's Soho's restaurants were better as far as flavor.

Fantastic restaurant for empanadas Argentinas. It was recommended by my hotel concierge. They have such a variety of them than you don't know what to get. The deserts are excellent too

Very good empanadas. I recommend the one of choclo (corn), chicken and of course meat. I also tried the milanesa and it was very big and really good.

The chicken empanadas are delicious, way better than the common meat ones. But be careful, they are served hot & juicy :D

A traditional bodegón. Somewhat to many tourist that makes the thing a little artificial. In any case the bife de chorizo was spectacular!

Good place for lunch. For two people, we had 4 empanadas, a salad and some baked provolone and it really hit the spot. Servers are friendly and seem used to English speakers. Prices seemed super reasonable. Nice vibe in here too - lots of wood, lots of pictures of celebrities I don't recognize posing with the waiters.

I was staying at the nearby Recoleta Palace for work, and we were always looking for something quick and delicious for lunch or a late night snack. When I travel I always ask the hotel staff (not the concierge) what THEY eat on their breaks- and this came highly recommend. It's a teeny bustling little spot, so takeout is best....Just be prepared, the line is often long, moves fast, and you have to be able to speak enough Spanish to get across what you want. We did decide to wait for 20 mins one night to get a table and service was good. It's just crazy loud, but I actually enjoyed all the local energy. We tried every kind of empanada, and all were delicious. I will always go back here when I'm in town!

Super friendly staff. Wonderful empanadas. Great selection overall. The alfajores were home made with amazing Dulce de Leche cream inside.

Great for their empanadas. Everything seemed very homemade. Especially recommend the corn empanadas! But all the kinds we tried were great. Also tried their homemade ravioli with rosa sauce. It was amazing!! Would highly recommend this too!! Our favorite. Service was extremely friendly & fast. Very fun local place.

Horrible service, attitude, slow, non working wifi. The empanadas are good, but the overall experience is poor. Never coming back.

Cool little spot in recoleta. Service couldn't be better. Get the empanadas, steak could be better. But if you're hungry, you will leave the place full no matter what. Also if it looks full, there is some additional seating downstairs if you're feeling lucky. The waiters seemed to know all the locals, which was nice knowing that they have plenty of repeat customers.

This was the first restaurant we went to in Buenos Aires and it was an overall great experience! Our sever was funny and helped us with our Argentinian Spanish! We tried quite a few of the empanadas and they were all good!! The best one I had was the mild meat one. I definitely recommend you try out the empanadas here if you're in the neighborhood!

I really loved the locro here but know what you're getting in for: a hearty stew of corn and chunks of meat. This is simple classic comfort food and nothing like the nice cuts of steak you're going to get at Don Julio. Come here on a cold night for an intimate, non-pretentious dining experience in Recoleta. Also, great empanadas here but is there a place that makes bad empanadas in BsAs?

Ended up coming here two nights in a row on our recent trip to BA. This was right next door to our hotel, and we noticed a constant flow of locals in and out of the restaurant. Highly recommend coming and staying for a little while. Great selection of empanadas and wine. Also loved the lentils!

The locro (house specialty) is disgusting and the house wine (normally highly rated ) is very substandard. Maybe I came on a bad day.