We all know that Buenos Aires boosts some great restaurants but sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. All the travels guides point you to the same restaurants in Palermo Soho and driving up and down the streets you are overwhelmed by a grand collection of Parrilla’s, Pizza Joints and Empanada stands. Besides some obvious well known delicious restaurants, how are you supposed to tell one place from another?

If you are looking to brush up on your Spanish and see what Porteño’s think of their city’s restaurants, head over to Guía Oleo, where you can read reviews and search different restaurants based on different criteria.

If you are from the USA, think of Guía Oleo as the city’s equivalent to Yelp, but with a focus solely on restaurants. Restaurants are rated by Porteños using Food, Service and Ambiance as criteria.

It is existential to get out of Palermo and hit some of the cities true restaurants, where large quantities of quality food can be eaten on the cheap. Guía Oleo should be able to give you a head start.

For a great article on Bogedones de Buenos Aires, read Stephen Metcalf’s account “Cocina Confidential” from the New York Times.

Whats a Bogedone you ask? From Metcalf’s account:

………It is also, as many parrillas are, a type of bodegón, a simple neighborhood restaurant started by and for immigrants, traditionally of Spanish or Italian descent. Taken together, bodegones form an unofficial institution in Buenos Aires, places where true porteños — as residents of Buenos Aires, a port city, are called — go to enjoy mass quantities of comfort food on the cheap.

If you are interested in some further reading into the Authentic restaurants of Buenos Aires, try “The Authentic Bars, Cafes, and Restaurants of Buenos Aires” by Gabriela Kogan.