Don Julio Parrilla — Restaurant in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

We heard about Don Julio while doing a Food Walking Tour of Buenos Aires (which was exceptional!). Everyone we chatted to seem to know of Don Julio and raved about it. As keen foodies, we thought it was a "must do".

We booked our table for our last night in Buenos Aires. On arrival, you have to stand in a line as everyone is booked for 7pm. A little silly to create "hype", but whatever. When booking, we were confirmed for a patio/outside table, and as the night was warm, we looked forward to it. We got to the door & the welcome is not the most welcoming you would expect from an establishment of such standard. We were told our table was inside. We followed the waitress inside, up the stairs to a tiny loft area with a massive extractor fan which goes over the tables. I mentioned that we had booked the sidewalk, and they did move us. I am mentioning this because if you do get one of these tables, I am most certain your experience will already be decreased.

Nevertheless, we ordered our wine & starters. They were out of Salami so we had the Artesian Cheese which tastes like shop-bought gouda or cheddar sliced onto tiny squares. The sausage we ordered was fine.

Our main disappointment was the steak. We had Strip Steak and Rump. Note that the steak portions are massive, so keep this mind if you do decide to go. My steak was incredibly salty. It tasted pan-fried and really not up to the standard I was expecting. We had the sides of the Green Salad which was drained in an acidic condiment of lemon or something, either way it was extremely sour and harsh. We had the beetroot, which is more like a beetroot carpaccio, swimming in olive oil. The trumpet mushrooms were really sweet and tasty, but perhaps lacked salt (may be that is why the meat was so salty?).

We mentioned our concerns to our waiter who spoke to the manager and they managed it fairly. They rectified the situation and our experience which we appreciate.

Overall, we feel this restaurant is overrated, and the food is not great. There are many steak restaurants that offer far more premium service and food.

We did have dinner at Fogon Asoda a few nights before, so perhaps we were comparing the two as they are the leading restaurants in the area: and our opinion is that Fogon Asoda is by far the better experience, taste and value for money with exceptional service to top it.

Don Julio has a reputation that will keep the masses of people coming, but if you have choice and limited nights in Buenos Aires, consider alternative...

“I remember this place when it was a hole in the wall” - my tour guide. Well, it’s come a long way as one of the most notable restaurants in Argentina. So many positives but it fell short for me due to execution of service. Given the volume this somewhat small restaurant handles you’re going to encounter YMMV : your mileage may vary. They were fortunate enough to expand their seating to alfresco due to the pandemic which I’m sure they’re paying the city handsomely for. Smiling staff pours you sparkling wine while you wait for your table - occasional empanadas appear for the eager tourists - which are superb - the line seems to move effortlessly given the amount of people waiting. I usually never wait in lines but wanted to experience this place so I endured - for the adventurous order the sweetbreads / chitlins / kidney degustation … grillled to perfection and oddly enough the most expensive item on the menu. Opted for short ribs (1/2 order - they’re kind enough to do half orders on many items) and entrecôte which is different than european entrecôte which is boneless in europe and with bone in Argentina / however waitstaff suggested boneless ribeye instead so I followed their suggestion. After enjoying my dead animal internal organs 😳 i had to ask for my salad which subsequently was returned to kitchen due to sand on the lettuce sadly. For some strange reason the piping hot “pommes frites” arrived next without the meat - a few minutes later the meat arrived and was sadly not hot. This is when things went south for me - while cooked properly it arrived basically cold to room temperature to the table. The waiter eventually asked how things were and I informed him, just for his own information and no other reason, the steak was cold. He of course asked if I wanted it replaced but I told him no, damage has been done and I don’t want to wait. Less than a minute later the manager came over trying to make things right which I appreciated greatly but told him it was fine, I don’t want to wait for new steak and I’m only informing him for their information for future guests. When the check came they comped the short ribs and gave me complimentary dessert. Clearly the staff cares and wants to please - given this is probably the most expensive restaurant in Argentina I was expecting more for my “Argentinian Steak” experience. I have had better Argentinian steak at half or one third the price in Lima and Rio. But...

Expectations could not have been any higher. Had been reading about Don Julio for ages and could not wait to go there. Unfortunately the experience was beyond disappointing. Even though we booked months in advance we were seated on the pavement. Chairs were not particularly comfy. Just the normal chair you would get on any bar. The lights were very bad. You could barely see what you were served. When you go to a special place you want to see in detail what you are eating. Having a single tiny candle is not enough. To begin the meal we were served a complimentary sturgeon flower stuffed with pistachio. While not bad it had no relationship with the food that is served in the restaurant. Possibly a tiny empanada or provoleta or even cheese would have been more appropriate for the occasion. The provoleta was very good. I'd say it was the best thing I had in Don Julio. We ordered a few cuts of beef to share. The quality of the beef was os expected very good. However every single cut arrived at the table warm on the border of being lukewarm. We don't know if they forgot the food on the counter or what else but that was not the temperature you would eat any BBQ meats. Also, all cut la were missing seasoning. Everything was bland and every single person had to add salt to their food. That was also very disappointing as when you add salt to beef once it's cooked the flavour is not the same as if you cook it already salted. Service was also very disappointing. Drinks were poured by the servers and we were not allowed to do it ourselves. I don't have a problem with that as long as servers are paying attention and I don't have to call them every time my glass is empty. We had to do that several times because servers were chatting with each other and not looking at the tables. Utensils were not changed between starters and mains. The table was only cleaned once so we spent pretty much the whole meal with a table full of crumbs. We were given 2 menus to use for 5 people. We had to ask for more. When offered desserts we looked at the menus and decided not to order anything. A few minutes later another server came to the table to bring the dessert menus again. There was no communication or coordination. Service was sloppy and distracted. The place does not live up to the expectations in any way. They are extremely overpriced and in my opinion it is not...