El Sanjuanino

Reviews

• Mark H.

  star star star star star 17 June 2026

  My wife and I visited this establishment twice and loved the atmosphere.  The food was great, service great and most of all the community that flowed in and out the doors made us feel at home.  My wife and I wished we could take this place back to our home in Colorado.

• Marc Aka Max H.

  star star star star_border star_border 2 June 2026

  We tried El Sanjuanino our second day in BA. People rave and say it's the best empanada in BA. When we were there we were not overly impressed. But, we didn't have a basis of comparison. This review is being written after a week being in Argentina and having tried empanadas in every restaurant which we found ourselves, including a Hard Rock Cafe at the airport gate (amazingly juicy and tasty) the elegant restaurants at the Park Hyatt, and Francis Mallman's restaurant in Mendoza.
  
  Bottom Line, our initial impression remains unchanged. Lots of hype, little performance. The empanadas were barely warm and certainly not hot. They clearly were sitting around. We had a mixed salad and that was delicious. Our no label carafe of wine was good.
  
  Our waiter did not stop talking to us in English, apparently to impress us that he knew English and knew we were tourists from USA. I found him annoying and would have preferred if he spoke in Spanish and acted natural and not as if he had to entertain us. So I'd recommend you not wait on line to have their empanadas. They simply were not what they should have been. I can't comment on their food but did notice that many locals were eating full meals and not a plate of empanadas.

• Allen R.

  star star star star star 24 May 2026

  When I was planning my honeymoon to South America, I made a list of must-see/do things in each of the countries we were visiting. In Peru, it was majestic Machu Picchu and the Incan ruins around Cusco. In Brazil, it was big ass Jesus and Copacabana/Ipanema beaches. And in Argentina, it was straight up just empanadas, steak, milanesa, alfajores, and wine...and maybe a tango show if we could eat any of the above while watching.
  
  Through my research, I honed in on a visit to a well-rated empanada place called La Cocina, which happened to be in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires where we were staying. Well, my spouse's family happens to be Argentinian and two of my sisters-in-law live in Buenos Aires. So, not sure why I did any research at all, but when we decided to have dinner at my sister-in-law's place, she was like, cool cool La Cocina, nice, but we're getting take-out from El Sanjuanino. Who am I to argue with a local? ...uh, but take-out empanadas? Hmmm....
  
  Well, shut my mouth because these empanadas were DELICIOUS! Even as take-out! So I can only imagine how they taste dining at the restaurant! These were the only empanadas I tried during our short stint in Buenos Aires so I can't say they are better than any others, but I can say they are amazing. They are baked, not fried, and they have a great range of fillings, which you can see on their website. Of course my SIL ordered every kind and none of them failed. They have all your traditional fillings, but the one that stuck out to me most was the Empanada Capresse, which as you can probably guess was caprese salad in an empanada. I'm sure Nonna's Empanadas in LA has probably done this as they have something like 30 million types of fillings, but I've never tried it so it was a unique filling to me.
  
  I'm sure it's hard to go wrong with any empanadas in Buenos Aires, but this place (multiple locations) may not pop up on your search queries for the "best empanadas in Buenos Aires" as they don't focus purely on empanadas. But consider my recommendation and that of my local relatives-in-law, and give El Sanjuanino a try, especially if you're staying in or visiting the Recoleta district!!

• Patrice P.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  With a sample size of two, I can say that these definitely are *not* the best empanadas in Buenos Aires. They could not possibly have been more bland. Also bland mashed potatoes, bland chicken that was very rubbery. And the "salad dressing" was vegetable oil and white vinegar. It just was not good food.
  
  Cool atmosphere though.

• Betty C.

  star star star star_border star_border 21 May 2026

  Typical Argentinian food for locals - matambre various ways, empanadas etc. Kind of grimey, crumpled napkins on the floor and a bit tired and dirty looking, however the food was tasty. Certainly not a corporate look. Independent resto for sure.
  
  Ham and cheese empanada was toasty hot with good creamy monterey jack style cheese and a few chunks of ham.
  
  The Sanjuanino (picante) empanada was not spicy but very flavorful with finely chunked beef(not ground), onions, peppers and crazily enough green olives WITH pits still in them!
  
  We shared those two and a matambre especiale - which is the typical pounded flank steak rolled up with various fillings. This one had two types of cheeses and then roasted whole. They take a slice of that and then top it with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and brown it so it's sort of like a non-breaded version of a pounded, cheese stuffed and rolled flank steak, Italian style. It was served with eight decent pieces of a small French baguette. Unfortunately the matambre itself was not warm enough so the cheese was pretty solid in the center. The cheese on top was nicely melted and gooey. The tomato sauce had good flavor.
  
  Ask for tap water (agua de la pila) which is totally safe in BA, unless you want to pay 45 AR pesos ($2.50 US roughly) for a 300ml bottle of mineral water.
  
  While we were there a patron went out to smoke and proceeded to have his watch ripped off his arm by a passing moto robber. Do be wary. Best not to walk around with your smart phones out or wearing flashy jewelry. Petty theft is everywhere here.