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All credit for this idea goes to The Wall Street Journal’s Mr. Raymond Sokolov. He wrote a beautiful article about his search for America’s Top Dog. Here’s Raymond’s standard:

I deployed an admittedly personal set of standards in choosing the country’s outstanding dogs. Basically, I was looking for excellent traditional hot dogs in excellent buns in establishments full of character and local color. I shunned almost all high-end, chef-centered establishments as well as ballparks, because places that have foie gras on the menu and mass-service major-league arenas clash with the true spirit of the great hot dog stand.

True hot dog stands are not chic, nor do they operate as part of a chain. They are one-offs, mom-and-pop spots. And, most important of all, their success stands or falls on their classic hot dogs. Sure, some of my favorite places also served excellent bratwursts or other estimable sausages, but the center of their menus was always a basic hot dog in a bun.

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El Obrero is a parrilla located in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Now before getting into the restaurant let’s go over the La Boca neighborhood. To your typical tourist, La Boca makes us think of El Caminito (tourist trap) and the Boca Juniors Stadium (smells like piss). El Obrero is not located near either these two tourist attractions of La Boca. In fact, I wouldn’t say the part of La Boca where El Obrero is located is an area with much photo opportunities and forget about the tango dancers. I wouldn’t say that one should fear for their life in this area but just know that it’s rather poor and in some respect, the hood. Taxis don’t make their rounds over here. The only way out is by having the restaurant calling a taxi for you or having your own car. With that said, let’s talk about El Obrero.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

Located in Puerto Madero, Cabaña Las Lilas is widely considered the best parrilla in Buenos Aires. The main reason is because of their beef which they raise themselves; it is considered the best. However, I’ll have to admit that I wasn’t impressed. Argentinian beef is amazing either way you look at it and so unless these folks at Cabaña Las Lilas are doing something different with their beef (like feeding, bathing, and massaging their cows in a combination of red wine & chimichurri or something far-fetched like that) I can’t really justify paying such a higher premium for theirs.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

On a whim, I ended up walking through the Córdoba Sunday street market to the San Martin farmers market. From a distance I could see smoke from a grill and had a feeling I’d be coming across a choripan stand. To my delight I came across this family operation of choripan. The father cooked, the mother put the choripan together, the daughter got the bread, mayo, lettuce and tomato ready for the sandwich while also collecting money while the son topped it off with the chimichurri.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

Solar de Tejada is a restaurant located near the Plaza San Martin area of Córdoba. I know I’ve been pretty fair with my restaurants that didn’t meet my expectations but I can honestly say that this restaurant really sucks and is a tourist trap. The restaurant is located near all the iglesias and I ate here because I couldn’t really find any other place to eat in Córdoba. The food was mediocre, at best, and the service was terrible; straight terrible. You think I’m going to recommend this place? Yup, I’ll recommend for you to stay the hell away from this place.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

Bandola is a trendy-looking restaurant located in the Palermo Soho neighborhood. Surprisingly I went to a restaurant that had low-lighting and fancy place-settings. Actually I stumbled upon this place because it was lunch time and I was hungry and by this point I just wanted to go to any restaurant but refused to go to any of the restaurants along Plaza Serrano. What I ended up having was a very satisfying 3-course meal and discovering a unique restaurant that interested me to see how the nightime crowd was when the tango show ensued.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

La Chacra is a parrilla located in the Retiro neighborhood near Av. 9 de Julio. I went here based on a recommendation by my friend who’d eaten here several times on his vacation to Buenos Aires. He told me that this place had the best chimichurri he’d ever tasted and that I needed to order their “Bife La Chacra”. I did both things and I left disappointed, very disappointed. In short, this place is an over-priced tourist trap.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

El Desnivel is a parrilla restaurant located in the San Telmo neighborhood in Buenos Aires; more specifically Capital Federal. I’ve eaten here twice and have encountered both ends of the spectrum in terms of service and overall dining experience.

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Photo taken using Canon PowerShot SD850 IS

Christophe is a fine-dining restaurant located in Palermo Hollywood. After eating at many parrillas I figured that I should take advantage of the types of cuisine that Buenos Aires has to offer; Palermo Hollywood being the perfect area to try different unique restaurants. However, I think I would’ve been happier going to just any parrilla instead of this restaurant. Maybe my taste is not sophisticated enough for Christophe’s fusion of flavors but for what you pay and what you get I didn’t think the restaurant was exceptional in my Buenos Aires restaurant experiences.

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