Argentinian Restaurant With a Butcher Counter: El Gauchito

Search for an argentinian restaurant near me anywhere in Queens and El Gauchito comes up for a reason: it has been feeding the borough's Argentine community from the same Corona Avenue corner for more than four decades. El Gauchito, at 94-60 Corona Avenue in Elmhurst, began as a tiny butcher shop in 1978, added a grill and three tables in 1979, and is now a family steakhouse, butcher counter and soccer shrine rolled into one building in the area locals call Little Argentina.

The founder, Mario José Civelli, was a boxer from Mendoza who emigrated to New York in 1968. Gothamist's 2025 profile of the family tells how he opened a small butcher shop in Elmhurst in 1978 and, a year later, built a grill near the front window and set out three tables. The name comes from Gauchito, the mascot of the 1978 World Cup that Argentina hosted and won, a detail amNY recorded in its own feature on the restaurant. Today his son Marcello Civelli runs the Elmhurst flagship, while the family has added El Gauchito 2 in Fresh Meadows in 2003 and El Gauchito 3 in Rockville Centre in 2023.

Walking in feels like entering a club. Guests line up along a narrow walkway hung with Argentine soccer jerseys for sale, which opens onto three distinct spaces: the butcher shop at the back, the original small dining room and a larger room added later. The walls are covered in illustrated tiles and hand paintings of Argentine heroes of cinema, tango and boxing, along with old family photographs and a 1968 boxing programme from Mario's fighting days. It is loud, bright and unpretentious, closer to a neighbourhood parrilla in Buenos Aires province than to a Manhattan steakhouse.

The menu is built around parrilladas, mixed grills that arrive sizzling and are sized for one person, for two, or as a meat-only platter for a bigger table. In Argentina a parrillada traditionally mixes short ribs, sausages and offal on one hot tray, and the special three-meat version here is the one to order for a bigger group. Entraña, the skirt steak, is also listed on its own for anyone who wants one cut done well. Start with a beef empanada and a grilled provolone, then let the parrillada do the rest. Matambre, the rolled and stuffed flank served cold with Russian salad, is a nostalgic plate many Argentine families only eat at home.

For those not in the mood for a full grill, the milanesa de carne, a breaded beef cutlet served as a plate, is a staple of Argentine home cooking and a solid order here. Desserts are traditional: vanilla flan and churros filled with dulce de leche, both of which suit a strong coffee after a heavy meal. Portions are generous, so two people sharing a parrillada for two plus one empanada each will rarely need a third dish, and leftovers travel well.

Tables of four or more get the most out of the place. Order the meat-only parrillada for the middle of the table, a round of beef empanadas, two grilled provolones and a matambre to share, then decide on milanesas once you see how much is left. Ask for chimichurri on the side for the grill and bread for the provolone. Because the meat comes from the family's own butcher counter a few steps away, the kitchen works with the same cuts a home cook in Buenos Aires would buy, and you can ask staff which of them to take home afterwards.

The grill restaurant is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 10pm, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 10pm. It is closed every Wednesday, which catches out first-timers more than anything else. Reservations are taken by phone at (718) 271-8198, and the family's own FAQ points diners to that number rather than an app. Weekend dinners and big Argentina match days pull the longest lines. During the 2026 World Cup, amNY reported that Marcello Civelli kept the doors open past the usual 10pm close for Argentina's late group games, so expect a crowd whenever the national team plays.

The butcher counter is what started it all and still deserves a visit on its own. It sells the house chorizo and morcilla, cuts prepared the Argentine way, and jars of chimichurri to take home. The counter keeps a longer day than the dining rooms, from 9am to 7pm, and it also takes Wednesday off. Buying sausages and a few short ribs here before a backyard asado in Queens is a long-standing habit for Argentine families across the borough.

Corona and Elmhurst reward a slow walk. North of the restaurant, the Louis Armstrong House Museum preserves the modest brick home where the jazz trumpeter lived with his wife Lucille from 1943 until his death, with its original furnishings and Japanese-style garden. Further east, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park holds the Unisphere, the Queens Museum and wide lawns left from two world's fairs. Visiting either before a late lunch at El Gauchito turns a meal into a full afternoon in this corner of Queens.

The 7 train along Roosevelt Avenue is the closest subway line, and from Junction Boulevard it is a walk south through the residential blocks of Corona into Elmhurst. The restaurant lists disability access on its site. Because the butcher, the small original room and the larger dining room all share one entrance, ask the host which room has space when you arrive rather than waiting in the jersey corridor.

Address: El Gauchito, 94-60 Corona Avenue, Elmhurst, NY 11373, in Queens. Phone: (718) 271-8198 for reservations. Restaurant hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 1pm to 10pm, Friday to Sunday 12pm to 10pm, closed Wednesday. The family also runs El Gauchito 2 in Fresh Meadows, but the Elmhurst original is the one with the 1979 grill story and the butcher counter in the back.