Confitería La Ópera — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

It was a decent experience overall, but there were too many things that kept it from a higher review. For starters, and you will notice this before you even reach the door if you're coming for dinner: the lighting is way too bright. This does seem to be a thing with a lot of the restaurants in Buenos Aires, but not all of them, so I doubt it's (totally) cultural. Add to this (for our experience) , one of the decorative lighting fixtures was blinking and the waitress said it couldn't be turned off. Half of the lights could be turned off and the atmosphere would have been greatly improved.

On to our waitress, she was nice and attentive (by cultural standards. I say this because Americans seem to forget that not every country has service standards the same as in the US.) My problem with our service was when our wine came to us: she set the glasses down and two of them had several greasy fingerprints on them. When we pointed this out- rather than apologize and get new glasses- she looked at them, said they were just her fingerprints, and they were on the outside of the glass so it's OK. I mean, sure I get it, it wasn't a huge problem, but still... I was kind of taken aback.

The food: The meal was quite good. One of us got a daily special, Calamari risotto, which was perfectly cooked and loaded with calamari. High marks for the special, and probably high marks on any other dishes with calamari. The other of us got the Canaloni from the standard menu. Not as good, but still tasty. It was supposed to have chicken, but we didn't notice any. We didn't complain because it WAS loaded with spinach and broccoli (we're on vacation and definitely aren't getting as much veggies as we should right now).

Final thought: It's definitely not a romantic date night (as some reviews have said) but I'd say it's a good spot for lunch or a...

First and foremost, Alexis was a fantastic server. He knew the menu, he was very friendly and helpful, and he was a genuine pleasure the whole night

As for the restaurant itself... I'm surprised there wasn't a line out the door. It's a charming environment that's not too crowded, and it has a nice classic menu as well that's good for Argentines and Yankees like me.

My wife's steak was perfectly cooked and very high quality beef (of course I had some haha). In all honestly, I put their Bife de Lomo above Don Julio, which seems to be the golden standard for a lot of people here. My Suprema was perfectly prepared, and the potatoes it came with were really cool! They were like little pillows that were very crunchy like fried chicken on the outside and soft in the middle.

All in all, they know what they're doing here. You'll likely have to add salt, but that's the case with most places I've been in Argentina. Too many times I've gotten something that was improperly cooked or poor quality, but everything here was perfect.

I don't often go back a second time when I'm taking a trip, but I would definitely come back here.

TL;DR It was all so good I didn't have time to think about taking a picture because I was already stuffing...

La Opera is a classic restaurant with top-notch decor and wait staff. Love the history dating back to 1928 and big open-seating ambiance. The appeal here is in the details, like finer-quality paper napkins with art-deco text and impeccable wait staff in black-and-white classic vestments who give fine service with flair. It’s also very clean. The front glass doors are even staffed, opening it for arrivals and offering disinfectant/cleaner for the hands. Blocks from the theatre district, it’s well-located on the corner of main avenues of Callao and Corrientes. A perfect place to take a seat by one of the big windows and people watch. I thought La Opera had more affordable prices than some other restaurants in the area. The Caesar Salad with extra salmon was top notch, although Caesar salads are a tad different in taste than what used to in the US, having tried another one at a different restaurant a few days ago that tasted more like tuna! This one was delicious and fresh all around. The meal came with a nice assortment of fresh breads, including wheat, as well as with a tasty relish. The olive oil was of finer quality. You could really taste...