Buenos Aires Vegetarian and Vegan Food
Where to get vegetarian & vegan food in Buenos Aires
A city that is known for its steak, Buenos Aires has not always been an exciting culinary destination for vegetarians and vegans. People who request meat-free options in restaurants are sometimes offered dishes with ham or chicken in them, because, after all, they didn’t contain any carne (beef).
However, over the past 10 years the culinary scene has changed, and there are now some excellent vegetarian and vegan options in Buenos Aires, if you know where to look.
Vegetarian and vegan restaurants & food in Buenos Aires
In San Telmo, Hierbabuena on pretty Av Caseros, is a reliable and long-standing option for vegetarian and vegan food and juices. It’s a great place for brunch or a lunchtime salad or sandwich (they bake their own bread). In Villa Crespo, Chuí offers a menu of high-end vegan and vegetarian food, including pizzas, tacos, sandwiches and small plates, served in an atmospheric leafy beer garden or their chic, warehouse-style dining room.
For organic vegan and vegetarian food, head to Bio in Palermo Hollywood, where the menu features raw food, macrobiotic and wheat-free options. They even offer vegan and vegetarian cooking classes. Nearby is Buenos Aires Verde, which is a good choice for soups, smoothies and cake. Another excellent option in Palermo Hollywood is Artemisia, a bright, welcoming dining room with a menu of beautifully presented and delicious vegan and vegetarian dishes, such as tofu milanesas, polenta with tomato and basil, and quinoa and potato pancakes, served with a range of salads.
In Palermo Soho, Fifi Almacén has a creative menu of plant-based dishes; its location on Gorriti between Armenia and Gurrachaga makes it a convenient lunch stop if you’re shopping in the nearby boutiques. One block west on Gorriti is a branch of the the vegan chain LovingHut, serving entirely plant-based meals.
In most neighborhoods, especially Palermo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita and Colegiales, you’ll find numerous health food shops with non-dairy milk, various grains, and freezers stocked with vegan burgers and other vegan produce.
Argentina’s vegetarian & vegan food options: what to order
- Buenos Aires has a strong Italian immigrant heritage, so pasta dishes are an excellent choice for vegetarians (and many are suitable for vegans too) – you will find acceptable al dente pasta dishes in many Argentine restaurants.
- Along the same lines, Pizza is an excellent choice here for vegetarians – some of the best available at Guerrin in the city center, Morelia in Palermo Hollywood and Banchero in La Boca. For vegans, cheese-less pizzas will be available at most pizzerias, in the form of fuggazza, a type of pizza made from just pizza dough, olive oil, oregano, and onions. But vegans should beware its close relation, the fugazetta, which also has cheese. In addition fainá, a fried chickpea dough, is an excellent vegetarian accompaniment to pizza (eaten on top of your slice).
- Despite sometimes lacking variety, salads are also a good option for vegetarians and vegans in Buenos Aires, and can be found in the majority of restaurants. OK, so many set salads include either eggs, ham or cheese, but in most places you will be able to armar (make/design) your own salad, from a number of choices, such as tomato, lettuce, onion, potato, green beans, carrot, avocado, palm hearts, and so on.
- If your meat-eating friends bring you to a parrilla (steak restaurant), check the menu for the parrillada de verduras, a selection of sliced vegetables cooked on the grill.
So there is some “food for thought” before you dine out as a vegan or vegetarian in Buenos Aires.
Reader interactions
14 Replies to “Buenos Aires Vegetarian and Vegan Food”
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Thanks for the link to my reviews – I’d also point out (just because I’m happy I did it) that I published an article on vegetarian dining in BA about 8 months ago: http://www.danperlman.net/timeout0702veg.htm
There’ve been several more articles this year, including one in The Guardian UK, and in The Boston Globe that also looked at what options there are for those who don’t think a steak is necessary to be fulfilled as a human being.
No, thank you for writing the great reviews Dan! 😉
That’s a pretty cool article you did in Time Out… I didn’t get that edition of the magazine, yet.
Off to search for those newspaper articles you mentioned now…
Cheers,
Alan
Oi! There are more vegetarians in Argentina than you’d think… well, at least three (my sister, her partner and I – and we all emigrated), but you know what I’m getting at 😉
I was born and raised in Buenos Aires and sometimes forced to eat meat because of the reasons you mentioned above. I was never a big fan of the taste and told my doctor I wanted to be a vegetarian when I was 10 years old, only to hear “go home and eat meat like everyone else!”… six years later I decided I was old and ugly enough to live without steaks and red meat in general, then I stopped eating poultry and fish (although I sometimes force myself to eat seafood as I realise the importance of omega 6).
When my boyfriend, who is also a vegetarian, visited Argentina for the first time he shared his concerns with me: he imagined it would be just like Spain (where ham is not considered meat?!?) and was pleasantly surprised to find so much pasta! I’ve never had any problems finding meat-free food but would imagine it’s not the best place for vegans.
Keep up the good work! 🙂
Cheers,
C
Hi Cieguilla,
Well, obviously I was joking a little bit about no vegetarians being born here, hence the 😉
I can just imagine a doctor here saying that… “go home and eat meat, and on the way, check in with your psychologist to discuss this strange vegetarian disorder you seem to think you have” 🙂
Anyway, thanks for the in depth comment, I wish more readers would come out of the woodwork and share like this!
Cheers,
Alan
PS – Q. Why did the Spanish pig cross the road? A. He was being chased by a Spanish vegetarian.
Great post–thanks for sharing the information, and I’m glad you found my post helpful.
BA is a great city, and we would definitely return. One thing that struck me was how helpful the chefs in fancier restaurants (like Sinclair) were–and how willing they were to make a dish to accomodate my diet.
Wish we had discovered your blog before we visited. Tchau for nau!
Hey urbanvegan,
Thanks for making the way over here after I bothered you i your comments 🙂 and glad you liked the post. It’s good to hear that chefs in Buenos Aires are happy to try to be flexible in this way.
If you come back to Buenos Aires, you could use my blog for info next time round 😉
Thanks again for writing your excellent post on your food experiences in Buenos Aires.
Cheers,
Alan
i don’t know if i missed something but did Cieguilla call herself old and ugly at the age of 16? Obviously a joke but that’s something that deserves a post.
My pleasure 😉
“Your psychologist” – how porteño is that?! 😆
…exnat, meet cieguilla…
…ciuguilla, meet exnat…
please feel free to discuss this ‘old and ugly’ thing between yourselves here in the comments section.
Hi! I’m a porteño-native vegetarian (and I’m not the only one, though you might think that it’s almost impossible}.
I read this review and I noticed that most of the places were quite expensive (except for Guerrin and Banchero). But, mind you, you forgot to mention (probably you haven’t checked them put) three great vegetarian and vegan restaurants, that are less expensive (actually, one of them is really really cheap):
Lotos: Av. Córdoba 1577
Only open at midday, it also has a great veggie market downstairs. I think it’s closed on Sundays.
La esquina de las flores: Av. Córdoba 1587
In the same block as the one above, this place closes early (I think around 8pm) and laso has a great veggie market. This one may also be closed on Sundays.
Los Sabios: Av. Corrientes 3733
This one is great! It’s a veggie/vegan all you can eat, quite cheap. Open Mon-Sun at midday and at night.
🙂
Hi Gerund,
This is exactly the type of comment I love to get on my blog – recommendations from people that have lived in Buenos Aires for a long time. Thanks!
I haven’t checked out any of the vegetarian / vegan restaurants that you mention personally, but I will add them to my list, as generally I only eat in cheaper restaurants unless it is a special occasion!
Thanks again for your helpful alternative (and more economic!) suggestions 🙂
Alan
Thanks for the posting, Dan, as well as all of the other comments. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for me.
First off, I am vegan and will be traveling to Argentina for a month beginning July 29th for a training session for my work. To make things even more difficult, I will actually be staying in Campana, about an hour and a half outside of BA, at the Howard Johnson Inn, and will only have access to BA on the weekends. Apparently, there is no access to a kitchen at the hotel and only some rooms even have a personal refridgerator in them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll luck out with one, but I can’t count on it.
I am already very concerned how I am going to make it an entire month there with my diet. I’ve checked with some of my coworkers who have already done their month long training session and they’ve said that practically all that they were fed was steak.
If anyone has any advice at all, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Ryan
You can probably get them to feed you pasta and salads for the month – but you may want to let them know in advance – but at least those are things that Argentines would consider “normal” outside of the steak world…
Not much to add to Dan’s comment really (thanks Dan) – it might be boring to stick to mainly salads and pastas for a month, but at least you know that these are almost always available in Argentina… and then you could try to pop to Buenos Aires city at the weekends to try out some of the suggestions above, for variety.
Or maybe we have a reader from Campana that could suggest something else for you?