Buenos Aires Cafe Galleria — Restaurant in Bee Cave

Had to call the Bee Caves Police on the husband owner of the restaurant who aggressively came up to our table, took the receipts off the table as my husband was looking at it and crumpled it up as he said, "No Pay, you go". We were startled and our 9 year granddaughter was scared. We had no idea who he was at first and I had my pepper spray out and ready to deploy in case he threatened us further.

Backstory: It took over 30 min to get our terrible tasting empanadas and the kids food/order was forgotten. I asked my husband if we could leave, and he said the woman said it would be "Just one minute", which of course turned into 10, 20 minutes more for the kids to get their meals. Plus we had no utensils with which to eat with. Then they held our credit card hostage and we didn't want to leave without it. There was some confusion about the charges on the receipt to which the wife (owner) wanted to explain and I didn't want to hear her explanation. I just wanted to pay and go. I did say to the wife in a conversational tone that I would be writing a less than favorable review (a thought I should have kept to myself) and I believe that is why the husband came over to our table a few moments later and acted in such a childish and brutish manner.

Wife did try to give a half-hearted apology for her husband's behavior, but later outright lied to the police officer falsely stating I was the aggressor. I already anticipated this would probably happen as they told "their side of the story" and indeed, it was not a a truthful reflection of what actually happened. Video did show the male owner grabbing the receipts off of the table as my husband was trying to fill it out and sign it, but there's no audio. And because my husband was not hurt in any way, we can't press charges of any kind. So, the best I can do is write this review, understanding justice often never arrives in this lifetime.

Hope this serves as a lesson for that Argentinian male restaurant owner to not behave that way in the future and hope this serves as a warning to others. I'm glad for the experience however, because I learned something more about difficult people and human behavior. If you have a bad feeling about a place or a person, listen to your gut and leave as soon as possible. It's interesting how aggressive and defensive the owner's responses are to the poor reviews from other patrons. Quite funny actually.

The photo is of our 9 year old getting up from the table after...

Based on my first experience here (which is also my last), I don't know how this place has so many good reviews.

My small party walked in wasn't acknowledged for a few minutes. When we were acknowledged, it was by the owner (the server told me this later), who started showing us to our table, then stopped us in our tracks without saying anything so she could show other people—who walked in after us—to their table.

We waited at least 15 minutes for anyone else to say anything to us after we sat down, even though the restaurant was only about half full, if that. The server finally came over, and we ordered waters, cocktails, and meals.

The meals came out in five minutes—obviously not freshly prepared. My cocktail took 33 minutes to come out, and this was after the others in my party had to remind the server we ordered cocktails. So he forgot my drink twice.

The owner walked by several times, and each time I made eye contact with her, she avoided it and ignored us.

The broccoli was barely cooked, the fried beef wasn't fresh and tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp, and the pasta tasted like Chef Boyardee.

We shared our disappointment with the server a few times. He kept saying they were short staffed and never offered to bring the owner over (the same one who kept avoiding us). The bartender was chatting with patrons at the bar for quite awhile without making drinks, and the server seemed more focused on organizing menus than anything else, so the short-staffed argument seems to fail.

This place is a disservice to Argentinian food and culture and people who haven't experienced it before.

Edit in response to the owner's response Most of our food was edible. Chef Boyardee is edible too, and it tastes fine, and at a fraction of the cost of our meal. Also, the responsibility shouldn't be on the customer to correct everything: We told our server a few times we were unhappy with the delay in the drinks, the uncooked broccoli, etc. It was evident that the owner, bartender, and server didn't care about whether or not anything about our experience was good. If someone had come over and apologized, or offered to take the much delayed drinks off our tab, or showed any kind of care, I wouldn't have written this review. Restaurants are hospitality businesses, and nothing about our experience...

We rec dined at Buenos Aires Café on a Friday evening after a business meeting ran into the early evening. We had a rather large group, with a prior reservation, and we added a couple of tables to that. The restaurant easily accommodated the additional numbers. Service was great, very attentive, but not hovering. From initial glasses of ice water to final payment of the bill, everything was smooth and efficient!

The restaurant has an extensive menu covering a wide variety of foods, from appetizers, soups, salads, beef, chicken, seafood, all presented with a South American flair. With such a variety available, we had a bit of a time trying to narrow it down. we settled on a split baby spinach salad as an appetizer, it was terrific. Super fresh spinach, and ample portions of all the veggies, nuts, and cheese, and a delightfully light dressing.

Our shared entrées included the Canelones Caseros, two spinach-filled crêpes, wrapped and topped with a delicious vegetable sauce, marinara, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. The dish was outstanding! Our other shared entree was the Gnocchi Quartet, which consisted of four different kinds of deliciously prepared gnocchi, blended in a medley of fresh vegetables, and a light cream sauce… also a winner!

The restaurant has a nice list of premium cocktails, and other libations, as well as a decent wine list. The wine list has a nice variety from around the world, but is rather limited, and that is just an observation not a complaint! We selected a very nice Pinot Grigio from the Torresello winery in Italy. It was served at the perfect temperature, iced in a bucket, and went exceedingly well with the meal we had selected.

All in all an excellent meal, start to finish, especially in light of the rather large group we had. Highly recommend Buenos Aires Café for a delightful and delicious...