Argentinian Restaurant Rooftop Asado in DTLA: Qué Bárbaro

If your search for an Argentinian restaurant near me lands you in downtown Los Angeles, the most theatrical answer sits eight floors above the street. Qué Bárbaro, at 1254 S Figueroa St on the 8th floor, is chef Ray Garcia's live-fire restaurant inside Level 8, the rooftop dining complex above the Moxy hotel a short walk from Crypto.com Arena. The draw is El Asado, a communal grill feast priced at $79 per person for tables of two or more.

Getting there is half the ritual. You ride up from Figueroa to Level 8, where a cluster of bars and dining rooms share the roof of the hotel. Qué Bárbaro is the live-fire room of the group, built around an open grill, with the towers of South Park and LA Live glowing around the terrace after dark. On game and concert nights the block below fills fast, so leave a few extra minutes to get upstairs.

Transit is easy: the Metro A and E lines stop at Pico station, at Pico Boulevard and Flower Street, roughly two blocks away. Driving means circling a neighborhood built for arena crowds, so rideshare drop-offs on Figueroa tend to be quicker than hunting for a garage. The restaurant books tables through OpenTable, and the main line is 213-789-7854 if you need to ask about a larger group.

El Asado is built the way Argentine families eat on a Sunday: everything arrives at once and nobody counts portions. The table chooses up to three items from the grill list, and the kitchen keeps bringing more while you eat. The choices are entraña, which is skirt steak, pollo a la brasa chicken thighs, flanken-cut tira de asado short rib, morcilla blood sausage, grilled mushroom brochetas, mollejas sweetbreads, pork chorizo and Kurobuta pork belly panceta.

For a classic parrilla spread, pick entraña, tira de asado and morcilla, the trio you would find on almost any asado table in Buenos Aires. If someone at the table does not eat red meat, swap one slot for the mushroom skewers or the chicken. Upgrades are priced separately: Caledonian prawns add $10, a lobster tail with yu choy and garlic broth adds $32, and a tamarind-glazed beef short rib adds $38 per order.

Two starters speak directly to Argentina. The empanadas are filled with wagyu beef, potato and pimentón, a richer take on the baked turnovers sold at every bakery in Buenos Aires. The provoleta is a slab of sharp provolone picante grilled until the edges crisp, then finished with chimichurri and San Marzano tomato and served with baguette for scooping. Order both for the table while the grill gets going, since the asado itself takes time.

The rest of the opening list leans toward the Pacific coast of South America. There is a kampachi ceviche in leche de tigre with chile manzano, sweet potato and plantain, and a hamachi tiradito with grilled pineapple, ginger and yuzu. A wedge salad with egg mousse, blue cheese and pancetta, and a Caesar dressed with chimichurri, cover anyone who wants something green before the meat lands.

Garcia describes the menu as a tour of South American live-fire cooking rather than a strictly Argentine steakhouse, and the specialties show it. Lomo saltado, the Peruvian stir-fry of beef tenderloin, tomato and onion with fries and rice, sits beside a dry-aged ojo de bife rib eye with crispy onions and salsa au poivre. Citrus-marinated coliflor frites with golden raisin agrodolce, king salmon and a lobster tallarín with Baja shrimp round out the list.

Sides are worth a look even with the asado on the table. The papa hasselback is a crisp fan-cut potato with garlic aioli, chimichurri and parmesan, the puré uses La Ratte potatoes with Vermont butter, and the yuca fritas are the crunchiest option. The menu was refreshed in June 2026, when El Asado became the centerpiece, so older reviews describing different dishes no longer match what you will be served.

The wine list is international, but the Argentine bottles are the natural match for grilled beef. By the bottle you will find Terrazas de los Andes Malbec from Mendoza and Bodega Chacra's Mainque Chardonnay from Patagonia, alongside Rioja, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and a page of Champagne that runs up to Cristal. Large-format bottles serve four, a sensible move for a group sharing the asado, and the bar mixes a cocktail list of its own.

Qué Bárbaro is a Thursday-to-weekend restaurant. It is closed Monday through Wednesday, opens Thursday from 6pm to 10pm, and runs from 6pm to 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Those short windows mean reservations matter, particularly when a Lakers, Clippers or Kings game or a big arena concert fills the neighborhood. Booking the first seating at 6pm usually means the calmest service, before the rooftop bars around the restaurant get loud.

Because El Asado is priced per person with a two-guest minimum, solo diners should order from the specialties menu instead. The format rewards groups of four to six, where you can cover all three grill choices and add an upgrade without overloading anyone. Level 8 also hosts private events, and its packages are handled through the same reservations team, so mention a birthday or a team dinner when you book.

Ray Garcia is an Angeleno who made his name downtown with Broken Spanish and BS Taqueria, both opened in 2015 and both built on modern Mexican cooking. Qué Bárbaro, which opened in 2023 as part of the Level 8 rooftop project from nightlife operators Mark and Jonnie Houston, shifted his focus south to the open fires of Argentina, Uruguay and Peru. The restaurant's name is Argentine slang for an exclamation like wow, which fits the asado's tableside reveal.

South Park has enough nearby to fill the hours on either side of dinner. The Grammy Museum on Olympic Boulevard is a short walk away, with four floors of exhibits on recorded music, and the plazas around Crypto.com Arena are busy with fans before tipoff. For a late drink afterward, stay on Level 8 and try one of the neighboring rooftop bars, or walk north on Figueroa toward the convention center and the hotel lounges along the way.

Address: Qué Bárbaro, 1254 S Figueroa St, 8th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90015, inside the Level 8 rooftop above the Moxy hotel. Phone: 213-789-7854. Schedule: closed Monday to Wednesday, Thursday 6pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 6pm to 11pm. El Asado costs $79 per person, minimum two guests, with lobster tail +$32, prawns +$10 and beef short rib +$38. Book through OpenTable, and the nearest Metro stop is Pico on the A and E lines.