Street food
Choripán cart
Costanera Norte
Read moreGroup price check
Cheap asado in Buenos Aires: choripán, grills and buffets
Asado tasting at the grill, 9 courses
★ 4.9 · Rated by 975 guests
Compare 4 choices
Price a guided food outing for your group
Choose your party size to compare the lower-priced guided food outings.
- San Telmo street food3.5 hours · each person, from $69
≈
View - Rooftop asado2.5 hours · each person, from $77
≈
View - Asado and music3 hours · each person, from $79
≈
View - Grill-side tasting2 hours · each person, from $93
≈
View
Starting prices from GetYourGuide, converted at the ECB reference rate. You will see the exact price when booking.
You do not need a tasting menu to eat grilled meat well in Buenos Aires: sausage sandwiches from riverside carts, shared mixed grills, buffets and market counters.
Editorial team, buenosairesasado.click · Updated November 9, 2026 · A 7 min read
Essentials
- Riverside cartsChoripán and bondiola sandwiches on the Costanera Norte.1
- Share a grillA parrillada is often ordered for two or more people.2
- Free waterTap water in the city is drinkable.3
- Market patiosSan Nicolás market has eateries on its food patio.4
- Guided but lowerA San Telmo street food walk starts from $69.
What cheap asado means in Buenos Aires
Cheap asado in Buenos Aires is not a lesser version of the real thing; it is often the everyday version. Argentines get through around 50kg of beef per person in a year, by the city tourism board’s count, so beef is never far away.5 With that much meat on the national table, grilled food reaches every budget, from a sandwich at a roadside cart to a family lunch at a corner grill.
The savings come from format rather than quality. A guided dinner bundles a host, a sequence of courses, often wine and sometimes transport into its fare. A street cart or a neighbourhood parrilla sells you the meat and little else. If you are happy to order for yourself in a little Spanish and eat without ceremony, you can eat asado every day of your trip.
This page covers the main budget routes: the choripán carts by the river, shared grills at local parrillas, the all-you-can-eat buffets, market counters, and the small habits that keep a bill down. For a single special evening by the fire, our pages on prices and on the tasting explain where the money goes there.
Budget routes
Ways to eat grilled meat for less
| Option | What you get | Where | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choripán cart | Sausage or pork sandwich1 | Costanera Norte1 | Lunch or afternoon |
| Local parrilla | Shared mixed grill2 | Every barrio | Lunch or dinner |
| Tenedor libre | Unlimited buffet | Ask locally | Lunch |
| San Telmo market | Food stalls6 | San Telmo6 | Daily, more at weekends6 |
| San Nicolás market | Food patio eateries4 | The centre | Lunch |
| Mercado del Progreso | Meat, bars, pizzerias12 | Caballito12 | Daytime |
Prices at carts, grills and markets change often and are posted on site; ask before ordering and pay in pesos.13
Choripán from the riverside carts
The cheapest taste of the grill is a sausage in bread. Along the Costanera Norte, the green riverside strip on the city’s northern edge, the city tourism board points to the carritos, rustic food trucks selling choripán and bondiola sandwiches.1 You load your sandwich with homemade sauces and salads at the counter, which turns a simple roll into a proper meal.1
Choripán is chorizo, grilled until the skin splits, pushed into a crusty roll; bondiola is grilled pork neck in the same kind of bread. Both are standing-up food, eaten with the wide brown river in view. They make an easy lunch on a walk or a bike ride along the water, and an honest introduction to what grilled meat tastes like here before you spend on a sit-down meal.
Sauces are where the flavour is. Chimichurri is the green sauce you will see in every pot: sharp with vinegar, heavy on garlic and herbs.10 Spoon it on generously, add whatever chopped salads the cart offers, and carry a few small notes, since shops sometimes run short of change and welcome the exact amount.11
Time to eat
Guided food outings by length in hours
- Grill-side tasting2
- Rooftop asado2.5
- Asado and music3
- San Telmo street food3.5
- Palermo foodie walk3.5
Lengths from each GetYourGuide listing; street food walks spread their tastings over more time.
Neighbourhood parrillas and sharing a grill
The city’s steakhouses are simply called parrillas, and they range from homely family favourites to modern dining rooms.14 The homely end is where budgets stretch furthest. Look for a busy room full of locals, a short menu on the wall and a grill you can see from the street, and you are in the right kind of place.
The classic way to eat cheaply is to share. A parrillada, the mixed grill, is often served for two or more people, and it usually covers sausages, offal and a cut or two of beef.2 Add fries and a salad, which the city tourism board calls the most popular sides, and a table of friends eats very well for the price of a single tasting.8
Order the cut, not the experience. The prime cuts the tourism board lists, such as bife de chorizo and asado de tira, are standard parrilla cuts, and vacio and cuadril are popular alternatives.15,16 Remember that locals like their beef more cooked than many visitors, so ask for a notch less than usual if you prefer it pink.17
Your budget
Which cheap asado suits your day
Pick what you want from the meal, and see the cheapest route to it.
If I want a quick, cheap bite
A choripán cart
Sausage sandwiches with homemade sauces on the Costanera Norte.1
If We are a group of friends
A shared parrillada
The mixed grill is often served for two or more people.2
If I am very hungry
A tenedor libre buffet
A fixed price for unlimited food; check what drinks cost first.
If I want to browse while I eat
San Telmo market
Food stalls among antiques and crafts, open every day.6
If I want a guide but less spend
San Telmo street food walk
From $69 for 3.5 hours with food and drinks.
Tenedor libre asado in Buenos Aires
A tenedor libre asado in Buenos Aires is a buffet where a fixed price buys you as much as you want, usually with a grill counter alongside cold dishes and salads. The name means free fork, and the format suits big appetites and groups who want variety over refinement. Check at the door whether drinks and desserts are part of the price before you sit down.
To get the most from a buffet, go at lunch, when the day is long and you have hours to walk it off afterwards. Start at the grill rather than the salad bar, ask the cook which cuts have just come off the fire, and take small portions so you can come back for whatever looks best on the next round. A buffet rewards patience more than speed.
The trade-off is quality control. At a buffet you rarely choose how a cut is cooked, and meat can sit under heat lamps. If the steak is what matters to you, a shared parrillada at a good neighbourhood grill often beats an unlimited plate. If quantity and variety matter more, a tenedor libre is hard to beat on price.
A budget asado day
Eating grilled meat cheaply, morning to night
Late morning
Market browse
San Telmo market opens every day.6
Lunch
Food patio
San Nicolás market serves dishes on its food patio.4
Afternoon
Riverside carts
Choripán or bondiola on the Costanera Norte.1
Early evening
Craft beer
Palermo and San Telmo have a craft beer scene.7
Dinner
Shared parrillada
Late
Bus home
City buses run 24 hours a day.9
All-you-can-eat asado in Buenos Aires: timing and pacing
Timing is the quiet way to save at any all-you-can-eat asado in Buenos Aires. Restaurants open for lunch, then usually close until dinner, so plan your big meal for the middle of the day, when you have the afternoon to walk, and keep the evening light.19 Dinner service starts from around 8pm, and many locals do not sit down until 9.30pm or later at weekends.20,22
Pace yourself with the sides. Bread, fries and salads fill you quickly, which is good for the budget if you are sharing a parrillada and bad if you have paid for unlimited meat, so let the grill come first. Tap water can save money: the city tourism board says it is drinkable, so ask for a jug instead of buying bottles.3
A shared bottle of house wine or a craft beer in Palermo or San Telmo goes further than cocktails, and the city tourism board points to a booming craft beer scene in both neighbourhoods.7 Keep in mind that alcohol is sold only to people aged 18 or over, and that supermarkets may sell it until 10pm while restaurants and bars may serve it until 5am.23
Video
Eating in Buenos Aires from street snacks to fine dining
Mads Eats on YouTube · Nothing is fetched until you hit play.
rustic-looking food trucks offering classic sausage sandwiches (choripan) or pork (bondiola) sandwich which you can load with homemade sauces and salads.
Budget checklist
Small habits that keep the bill down
Money3
Market counters and food patios
The city’s historic markets are another budget route. The San Telmo market sells food alongside antiques, crafts, records and toys, and it opens every day, though some stalls open only at weekends, when the surrounding streets are busiest too.6 A lunch there fits naturally into a walk through the cobbled streets of the old quarter.
In the centre, the renovated San Nicolás market keeps stalls for fruit and vegetables, cold cuts, fish, cheese and meat, and several eateries serve dishes on its food patio, which makes it a handy stop between museums.4 In Caballito, Mercado del Progreso has traded since 1889 and mixes fresh meat, fish and dairy with bars, pizzerias and wine shops.12
Markets are good for the other half of an Argentine meal too. Empanadas, the folded half-moon pastries the tourism board recommends as a quick savoury snack, come with fillings from ham and cheese to chicken or vegetables.24 A couple of empanadas and a choripán make a cheap, very local lunch that costs a fraction of a sit-down meal.
When a guided evening is still worth it
Cheap eating and a guided experience are not opposites. A historical walk through San Telmo with street food and drinks starts from $69, takes 3.5 hours and keeps the group to 10 people or fewer. The route finishes at Av. San Juan 350 after setting off from Carlos Calvo 599, so you end the afternoon well placed for a cheap dinner nearby. It is a good first-day introduction that shows you where to eat cheaply for the rest of the trip.
Among the asado dinners, the rooftop asado with wine starts from $77 and the 7-course asado with live music from $79. The grill-side tasting this site books starts from $93. None is cheap, but each includes things a street cart cannot: a host, an explanation of what you are eating, and a seat.
A balanced plan uses both: street choripán and a market lunch for most days, a shared parrillada at a local grill for a relaxed dinner, and one evening by the fire where someone explains the cuts. That mix lets you taste asado widely without overspending, and the calculator above shows how a guided evening adds up for your group.
FAQ
Quick answers to quick questions.
Where can I eat cheap asado in Buenos Aires?
What is a tenedor libre?
An all-you-can-eat buffet.
A fixed price buys unlimited food, usually including a grill; ask whether drinks and desserts are covered before you sit.
What is choripán?
A grilled sausage sandwich.
Chorizo in a crusty roll, sold with homemade sauces and salads at the riverside carts.1
How can I save on an asado dinner?
Is tap water safe to drink?
Yes.
The city tourism board says tap water in Buenos Aires is drinkable, which saves buying bottles.3
Should I pay cash or card?
Carry some cash.
Bigger shops and hotels usually accept cards; corner places and carts may want pesos in cash.25
Is lunch cheaper than dinner?
Lunch is the easier time to save.
Restaurants open for lunch and close until dinner, so a big midday meal and a light evening suits a budget.19
What is the cheapest guided food outing?
A San Telmo street food walk.
It starts from $69 for 3.5 hours, with street food and drinks.
Sources
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Costanera Norte (northern riverside) ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Health and security ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Mercado de San Nicolas ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · San Telmo Market ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Getting around ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Mercado del Progreso ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Buenos Aires' famous steakhouses ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Getting around ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Health and security ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · What, where and when to eat ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Money ↩
Next read