Best Restaurants in Mendoza Argentina

Home of the Malbec, wine capital of South America. Mendoza, Argentina has been known for years as a wine destination. What blew us away, was the amount of incredible restaurants available in a city of only ~1 million people. It rivals cities of 10X it's size from cheap eats, to fine dining. The options are endless inside the city and even more robust if you venture to the nearby vineyards in Lujon De Cuyo or the Uco valley. 

We spent over a month exploring Mendoza, leaving Compa (our camper) parked for most of the time and adventuring from an Airbnb located centrally near La Calle Aristides Villanueva, a central street with awesome bars, restaurants and nightlife. We highly recommend staying near Aristides if possible.

It was a great place to have as a home base to explore this area as we barely drove and were able to walk almost everywhere. Many people had cautioned us about safety in Argentina, but we had no issues and felt safe the entire time.  Be aware of your surroundings, hold your phone close and you'll be fine.  Mendoza was very safe. 

You could spend over a year in Mendoza and still not eat at all the best  restaurants in Mendoza.  While we ate out...a LOT, this list covers our highlights and we would love to hear your favorites too!  Send us a note on Instagram so we can add to our list for the next time we go back!

Many of the restaurants, especially at vineyards require reservations well in advance...which we were not prepared for so if you have somewhere you definitely want to eat (Casa Vigil, Riccitelli, Abrasado, Zonda, Piedra Infinita, 5 Suelos, the list goes on), get it booked in advance. 

Argentina and Mendoza is especially cheap for many foreign travelers.  There are some serious economic hardships that the local Argentines are facing so be very cautious about how you approach this while there, but suffice it to say, it makes it easy for anyone with USD $ or Euros to live lavishly. Please, tip very well and help infuse some money into an economy that desperately needs it.  If you haven't learned about it yet, check out our Guide To The Blue Dollar In Argentina.

In no particular order, here are some of the best restaurants in Mendoza. 

1. La Central Vermuteria $$
   1. Argentina has a lot of Vermouth, we weren't very familiar with Vermouth based drinks until Mendoza and it's worth a try while you're here becuase they have an abundance of options. 
      We ended up at La Central a few times as they are open for lunch and dinner. 
      The offer tapas style food that is great to share, we had most everything on the menu and were happy with all of it.  Even when the menu changed to new items. 
      Some of our favorite dishes were;
      Spanish Tortilla, Black Bean Hummus with artichoke, Burrata, Mbeju (our first time trying this traditional Paraguyan cake, typically Gluten Free)
      
2. Los Laureles $$
   1. This is a super interesting tiny restaurant that is a little hard to find right next to a barbershop then back through a gate.  They specialize in wonderful handmade pastas, great wine and an awesome vibe.
      We thoroughly enjoyed another Tortilla Española here. Jordan had a delicious pasta pomodoro with fresh basil & tomatoes.  Sarah had a nice salad w/ Chicken.  Definitely play a game of Jenga and leave a message on one of the pieces, maybe you'll find Sarah's Jenga cube....loser writes the message. 
      
3. Abrasado $$$$
   1. Having great wineries a short drive from the downtown area makes Mendoza really special. About 15 minutes from where we were staying, part of Bodega Los Toneles is the delightful, dry-aged meat focused, Abrasado.  They offer a tasting menu as well as a la carte options with some unique offerings.
      The steak tartare on top of a giant macaroon was deeeelicious! We got a massive T-bone and split it, it was carved table-side and cooked to perfection. 
      
      We really enjoyed a bottle of their Tonel 137, they only sell and serve it at the winery, you won't find it around town anywhere....trust us we tried. (If you buy wine in their shop they do offer discounts for purchases of 3 & 6 bottles)
      
      This is a higher end restaurant where you'll want a reservation. If you are on top of reservations, you could also coordinate dinner with a tour of the winemaking operation, we didn't do it, but it looks amazing and many people said was very nice. 
   2. As an added bonus, Los Toneles also owns Laur olive oil which won #1 in THE WORLD! You can do a tasting, buy olive oil or go visit the Olivicola (olive farm) a little further outside of the city to take your experience even further. 
4. Cocina Gardenia $$
   1. This was a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb hosts and we liked it so much we went back twice. It's much different than any of the other places on this list.  
      It's about 15-20 mins walking from Aristides. 
      Outdoor seating (probably not great on a bad weather day) Eclectic flavors from around the world. 
      Only about 7-10 dishes on the menu, but everything we tried was excellent. 
      They also offer a picnic option which is nice to take across the street, lay out the blanket and silverware they provide and eat on the grass by the train tracks. 
      Check their hours before planning to go, they are typically only open for lunch and days of the week are a bit different than normal.
      
   2. We ate some delicious items like Roasted pear with kale, creamy blue cheese and nuts.  Roasted carrots with pomegranate seeds and dukkah. A delicious Vietnamese style Pho soup. And many more excellent dishes.  They also serve some nice wines and the price point is really incredible for what you get.  
      
5. Matias Riccitelli Wines & Bistro $$$$
   
   
   1. We only did a handful of restaurants on vineyards, and most of them look amazing, so we can't wait to go back. Most of them have stunning views that connect you to the vines as well as the beautiful nature surrounding Mendoza. 
      
      Our meal at Riccitelli Wines was really outstanding.  The service was excellent, the view towards the mountains was beautiful, looking out on the vines is always amazing, we were there in late fall so many leaves were gone, but the remaining bright red leaves were beautiful. 
      
      They are not massive wine producers so our tour of their production facility, next to the restaurant gave us a great feel for the wines we tasted with lunch. They are using many different styles like concrete eggs, steel tanks and some barrels to ferment and age the wine.
      
      The tasting menu focused heavily on fresh vegetables, many from their gardens.  A few things we loved from the menu;
      Salad with Capers and Anchovies 
      Fennel and Blue cheese
      Duck with Cauliflower
      Stuffed Pasta with Brussels 
      Delicious bread with their own small batch olive oil
      To finish it off, the dessert was a delightful Chocolate Soup, poured table side, yum!
      
      Reservations and your own car are most helpful to get there and back.
6. Centauro $$$ 

1. 1. This was a restaurant in Mendoza we stumbled on when reading reviews before getting to town.  They are newer in Mendoza when Chef Diego Tapia left Azafran. No doubt they are a must visit in the local food scene. 
      
      The beautiful interior design of their space (the bathroom is awesome), depth of wine options, quality of service, unique cocktails (Fungi Old Fashioned) and delicious dishes had us coming back multiple times to Centauro and thoroughly enjoying each visit.
      
      For a high end experience their price point was very fair and made us feel like we could keep coming back, try a few different plates...and keep indulging on some of our favorites. Which we did a few times.
      
      They do offer a tasting menu with optional wine pairings, but we decided to do a la carte here on all of our visits and were delighted each time. One of the unique things about the Centauro menu is that they focus on taking you through different regions from the North to South of Argentina with their dishes.
       
      Some of our favorite dishes were:
      La Flor Del Desierto which was light and crisp blending zucchini, celery gazpacho, relish and creamy parmesan cheese
      El Reino De La Fantasia that sounded weird at first but was excellent. It's a pâté of mushrooms and kimchi with some other vegetables 
      The Rebelión beef tartare had a really unique flavor to it that we loved 
      And their Hechizo - Ojo de Bife (Ribeye) was cooked to perfection with a delicious side of potatoes that were worth ordering by themselves
      
      We also loved the desserts, you can't go wrong with any of them. 
       
      We highly recommend adding Centauro to your list for great food in Mendoza to see what Chef Diego Tapia and team are putting out, because it is top notch and you won't be disappointed. Since Diego cooked at the next restaurant on our list before opening Centauro, it makes sense why the quality is superb. 

1. Azafran $$$$
   
   1. If you've looked into eating in Mendoza, you've most likely heard of Azafran (Saffron in Spanish), as it's typically touted as the best restaurant in Mendoza.  After our delicious dinner there, we have to agree. If you are looking for a high end dining experience with incredible attention to detail and creativity with their dishes, Azafran is an excellent choice.  
      
      From the outside you'll see a single window looking into the wine cellar (which boasts a huge selection of awesome wines) with one large table for groups that looks like a great space.  Once you walk in, past the tall curtain you'll be greeted by their team and see the small number of tables around the restaurant with jarred vegetables lining the walls, beautiful black wood tables and green plants to brighten the dark toned interior.
      
      We went with their largest tasting menu option, the Azafran Experience.  They also have other options that are 3 or 4 courses if you're looking for something at a lower price point or just want less food, but the full Azafran experience was well worth it.  Wine pairings are also optional with all tasting menus, we did wine pairings, the pours were more than sufficient and we found some new wines we really enjoyed, especially the El Porvenir Pequeno Fermentations Naranjo from Cafayate. Let's just say we left the restaurant happy we weren't trying to drive anywhere. 
      
      The dishes all came out looking beautiful and almost all of them were a total surprise when you took your first bite.  Exploding with rich flavors that you wouldn't expect from looking. The flavors danced beautifully together, enhanced each other and brought out the best in the high quality ingredients. 
      
      We always love when a chef and their team can bring a level of creativity when the flavor profile goes well beyond what meets the eye. Sebastian Weigandt and his team have gone above and beyond to achieve this at Azafran. 
      
      Our first bite was a macaroon with goat cheese that was unlike any other macaroon combination we've ever tasted and was incredible. We could've eaten 10 of those.  
      The Tomaticon served inside an eggshell was a shockingly delicious blend of flavors layered on each other and was beautifully done.  Simple dishes that also let the wonderful flavors of the ingredients standout like a roasted tomato with micro-greens, fresh shucked oyster and smoked trout were all presented beautifully and tasted delightful. 
      
      As Argentina is getting more recognition for their culinary scene, we're looking forward to seeing them get a Michelin star (or two) and end up on the World's 50 Best lists. 
      
      These are some of the best restaurants in Mendoza, but as mentioned before, there are so many options we can't wait to go back, try more and update our list.  But after a month we can confidently say any of these restaurants will offer a great dining experience for whatever you are looking for!