La Cervecería Chaltén — Restaurant in El Chaltén

Unfortunately, my partner and I had a negative experience.

We were both very much looking forward to eating at this restaurant as they offered a good range of dietary requirements including gluten free options (my partner is coeliac) which was rare in this town.

We put our names down for a table at 7pm and ended up having to wait 1.5hrs to finally get a table for 2. The waitress that addressed us at 7pm (on putting our names down), spoke very good and clear English, and we told her that my partner was coeliac and she was excited to eat here as there were many good gluten free options. She said that’s great.

We waited at a bar nearby and eventually went back when our table was ready. After sitting down and ordering drinks, we enquired about the gluten free options on the menu. To our disbelief, we were told that “as the chef who prepares gluten free options is ill, we do not have 99% of the options available” this included all pasta options (which she specifically wanted) and no gluten free pizzas or lasagne. They suggested “would she like a sandwich” for dinner? Umm, no.

It’s such a shame how this was handled as the place seemed very cosy and humbling, and the menu was exciting for my partner - as generally Argentina is fairly poor for gluten free options other than meat.

The waitress had the opportunity to inform us that all of these gluten free options weren’t available tonight when she took our details to wait for a table. Whether this was true or not who knows, the point is we were mislead and we could have just cut our losses and eaten somewhere else rather than be messed around to be told nothing was available an hour and a half later.

My partner ended up having to have vegetable soup, and I had a muzzerella pizza. The pizza was average, similar to what you’d expect from a microwave pizza. Too much cheese overcompensating for a poor cakey base which was too crispy like a biscuit. Certainly not authentic. The soup was watery and tasteless, not enough texture or flavour.

All in all, poor communication has ultimately let them down. When it comes to allergens, this is of paramount importance, and other visitors need to be aware if they have an allergy. Certainly ask for availability before sitting down for a meal (even if you’ve mentioned before...

Highly recommend this beautiful spot.

Traveling between different cities in Argentina and Chile I felt like La Cervecería really stood out with our dining experience.

Firstly, staff being knowledgeable and eager to discuss their house craft beer is always a great sign. Although they have a smaller collection of beer they are delicious! They allowed us a small taster before ordering a full pint.

I mostly appreciated the attention and teamwork of the bar and waiting staff. It is a quaint dining room and so the bartender was heads up and started making our drinks as he overheard us ordering them. It felt like drinks hit the table as our waiter left our table. It's a nice touch.

Food service and complimentary bread was no different. While traveling as a couple we love to order two menu items and share; to experience a bit of variety. After explaining we were going to order two dishes and likely share them we were served with two individual portions of the main dish! Being used to having to slide half onto each others plates and do the awkward plate sharing, we felt beyond cared after with this small but appreciated attention.

I know I have complimented the wait staff but having family who works in the gastronomy industry I need to comment that this experience truly feels like a product of great management and ownership. You can tell when wait staff is stuck between tough management and serving their guests with excellent service. In the case of La Cervecería, management clearly has a huge part to play in all the excellent service mentioned above.

Food was delicious, and we left more than happy for the reasonable dining price. This will definitely be our first stop when returning to El Chalten for more adventures!

We shared their house Locro with a side of...

Just to qualify this review, one does not come to El Chaltén for fine cuisine. Also, one does not come to El Chalten expecting to get a reservation. It’s first come first serve.

Having read so many good reviews about La Cerveceria here and elsewhere, of course we had to give it a try. So on our first night in town we showed up at 6:30 and were told it would be 60-90 minutes for a table. Too long a wait, and understandable why- they only have - and we counted them - seven 2-tops and two 4-tops in the place. It’s small. So we decided to eat elsewhere and come back two days later at 5:00pm when we were sat right away.

The food here is okay - their amuse Bouche - a small cup of curry flavoured soup I think was the best part of the meal. We followed that with the vegetable soup which was bland but we savoured the healthy aspect of it after so much beef in the days before. Then we had the spaghetti with marinara sauce which unfortunately was a bit soggy - reminded us of Chef Boyardee out of a can during our American childhood, and a pizza Napolitana which again… look - I know we’re not in Italy or NYC but this was just kind of like cheese on toast.

I think we just ordered the wrong things. The empanadas looked good, and the Patatas Fritas were good. And their home brewed beer was really good. I tried the pils and the amber lager - both were excellent.

But back to that wait after 6pm on the first night. Why not just take reservations with a ten minute grace period? And why not be more attentive to your seated tables? We could have been out of there and they could have turned our table 20 minutes earlier if the waiter, although very nice, had stopped...