Argentinian Restaurant From the Pope's Chef: Buenos Aires

If you are in the East Village and searching for an argentinian restaurant near me, the most literal answer is also one of the longest-running. Buenos Aires, at 513 East 6th Street between Avenues A and B, is the grill house of chef Ismael Alba, who cooked privately for Pope Francis during his 2015 visit to New York. NY1 described it in 2025 as an East Village staple for nineteen years, and it still runs lunch and dinner seven days a week from a brick-walled room that doubles as a small Argentine market.

Alba grew up in a family of restaurateurs, and the restaurant's own story page explains that he opened Buenos Aires because he could not find a place in New York that tasted like the Argentina he knew. His most famous job came in September 2015, when he was chosen to cook for Pope Francis, the Argentine pontiff, during the New York leg of his American tour. NY1 reported that the grill Alba built for that visit now sits in the restaurant's backyard, so the same iron that fed a pope is still in use behind a tenement block on 6th Street.

The space is narrow and warm: exposed brick walls, dark wood tables and black-and-white photographs of Buenos Aires street corners. At the back there is a seat covered in cowhide, and behind the bar a full wall of Argentine bottles makes up a list the restaurant says runs past 100 labels. Soccer memorabilia fills the gaps on the walls, and in warmer months the patio is the calmer place to sit. There is a full bar as well, so a cocktail or a glass of Argentine red is easy to order while you wait for the grill.

Start with empanadas, sold as an order of two in any filling for $15.95. The carne cortada a cuchillo version uses hand-cut beef rather than mince, which gives the filling a chunkier, juicier bite. The provoleta argentina is a round of Santa Rosa provolone grilled until the edges blister, $18.95 on its own or $20.95 with tomato. House-made chorizo and morcilla blood sausage are $10.95 each, and ordering both is the classic way an Argentine asado opens: a little sausage, a little bread, a squeeze of chimichurri, before the larger cuts arrive.

The bife de chorizo, Argentina's name for the strip steak, is $44, and the ojo de bife ribeye is $52. For a long, bony cut, the corte rioplatense asado de tira is a 16-ounce short rib for $49, cut across the bone the way it is done in Buenos Aires. Groups should look at the mixed grills: the Parrillada Buenos Aires for two is $135 and the parrillada de carne for three is $170, each a board loaded with several cuts meant for slow, shared eating. If you prefer something breaded, the milanesa de corazón de cuadril, a cutlet made from the heart of the rump, is $34.95.

The dessert list is short and fully Argentine. Panqueque de dulce de leche, two rolled crêpes filled with the caramel spread, is $12, and flan comes with cream, dulce de leche or both for $12. For a smaller ending, a single alfajor, the sandwich cookie found in every Argentine kiosk, is $5. Splitting one panqueque between two people after a parrillada is plenty, and the flan mixto is the better choice if you like a contrast between cold custard and thick caramel.

For two people, a balanced first meal is one order of hand-cut beef empanadas, the provoleta with tomato, one chorizo, then the bife de chorizo and the asado de tira to share, finishing with a panqueque. That runs through the restaurant's greatest hits without committing to a full parrillada, and it lets you compare a lean strip with a fatty, bone-in short rib cooked on the same fire. Solo diners at lunch can keep it simple with a milanesa and a single empanada, which is the way many regulars eat here on a weekday.

Buenos Aires is also a shop. The restaurant's website has a butcher section and an Argentine market section selling imported beef and pantry goods, so the cuts that come off the kitchen grill can also go home with you. That makes the place useful before a backyard barbecue, and for Argentines in the city who miss familiar brands. Ordering a cut for later while you settle the bill after lunch saves a second trip.

The kitchen is open every day from 12pm to 11pm, so a weekday late lunch, after the office crowd has gone back to work, is the easiest time to walk in and get a table by the brick wall. Reservations go through OpenTable, and weekend evenings are when the room fills with groups sharing parrilladas. Takeout and delivery are offered through the restaurant's own ordering system, and the restaurant can be reached at (212) 228-2775.

East 6th Street between Avenues A and B is classic East Village: walk-up tenements, small bars and community gardens tucked between buildings. Two blocks north, Tompkins Square Park has elm-shaded paths, the Temperance Fountain and a dog run that is lively after work. Closer to the restaurant, the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden is a volunteer-run green space with flower beds, shady benches and a small stage, a pleasant place to slow down after a heavy steak lunch before heading back toward Avenue A.

Address: Buenos Aires, 513 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10009, between Avenues A and B in the East Village. Getting there: take the F to Lower East Side–Second Ave or the 6 to Astor Place, then walk east. Hours: daily 12pm to 11pm, serving lunch and dinner. Reservations through OpenTable, and takeout or delivery is available directly from the restaurant. Prices quoted here come from the restaurant's own ordering menu, so expect empanadas from $15.95 a pair and parrilladas from $135 for two.