B.A’s culinary “it couple” Mica Najmanovich and Nico Arcucci opened Anafe as a showcase of their love for travel and combining global influences with Argentine heritage into showstopping dishes. A menu that’s designed for sharing features ever-changing, always-delicious items, like home-cured fish and sour cream or pâte served on a financier tea-cake with pear chutney. The food is high-brow, though the vibe is casual, with simple white furniture and an industrial-chic setting. The restaurant has been recognized on 50 World’s Best Latin America listings.

Gritty Constitución would seem an unlikely incubator for molecular gastronomy. Your taxista may need some reassuring, but don't let the dubious neighborhood deter you. Gonzalo Aramburu's kitchen turns out some of the city's most imaginative, sophisticated fare. His twelve-course tasting menu is visually spectacular, often interactive and (picky eaters, rejoice!) accommodating of allergies and dietary preferences.

Porteño power lunchers in suits sit next to American tourists plotting their itineraries on large city maps at this traditional Argentine parrilla. Even the most discriminating meat-loving locals are willing to turn a blind eye toward Las Lilas’ touristy reputation so they can feast on every single part of a cow perfectly cooked: mollejas de corazón (sweetbread), morcilla (blood sausage), riñones de ternera (veal kidneys) and more. Non-meat-eating dining partners will love the roster of salads, rich and creamy side dishes (potatoes and squash) and fresh fish, such as merluza negra (Chilean sea bass), Patagonian spider crab and salmon.

What better way to soak up the local culture than to enjoy a coffee in this historic café with its large outdoor terrace overlooking a Recoleta park. This corner coffee shop is over 150 years old, and on Sundays, it is particularly popular with locals who come to shop for artisanal crafts and tchotchkes.

This family-run San Telmo institution, helmed by the rakish Leandro Cristobal, has a great bistro vibe. Waiters scurry back and forth across the black and white checkered floor, ferrying chalkboard menus scrawled with Cristobal's winning interpretations of Argentine staples. Café San Juan is perfect for lunch after a Sunday morning stroll around the neighborhood's famous crafts market.

Yes, it is always filled with tourists but locals also adore Café Tortoni and the grand interiors are virtually as they were a century ago—and decades ago—when this was the haunt of the city’s great intellectuals. Founded in 1858, Café Tortoni celebrates traditions: the traditional cuisine and atmosphere. The churros and hot chocolate are incredibly rich and tasty, but skip the regular menu. Best as a coffee stop while touring the Plaza de Mayo.

Locals rejoiced when Club Frances reopened, on the promenade in Recoleta. The menu features traditional French cuisine, and well-heeled locals laud the professional wait staff and spacious layout of tables. Perfect for an older couple, less so for cool hunters.

This Recoleta standby specializes in the earthy cazuelas (casseroles) and locros (stews) of northern Argentina. Given its relaxed atmosphere and convenient location within walking distance of many of the city's best hotels, not to mention the extensive selection of empanadas salteñas, Cumaná is a brilliant low-key dinner option for families with young children.

Dadá’s martinis are the best in town and draw a young, cool crowd. The food is also good but the drinks and the scene are the real draw.

Travelers in search of an authentic parrilla, Argentine barbecue, should stop by Palermo’s Don Julio. Away from the tourist crowds, this low-key grill has excellent meat, well-trained waiters and huge wine list.

El Cuartito's crusts are thick and doughy, draped unapologetically in dense, oozy mozzarella and liberally spangled with jamón (ham) and morrón (roasted red pepper). Authentic Neapolitan pizza this is not, but you're unlikely to find a slice—or a setting—that's more categorically porteño. Tango memorabilia and photos of Diego Maradona cover the walls, which are painted a patriotic fútbol blue. The boisterous dining rooms are packed nightly until 1:00 am with families digging into the local favorite "Fugazzeta" (a white pie topped simply but unsparingly with onions and cheese) and abuelitos with pleading eyes, who gesticulate to the harried waiters as if they've been waiting for a round of Quilmes since the joint opened in 1934.

For a down-and-dirty, authentic Argentine parrilla experience (and the least expensive meal you’ll ever buy on vacation), do lunch or dinner at El Desnivel. It’s crowded, hot, badly lit and can be a bit rowdy, but you’ll enjoy some delicious meat and tasty organs that you’ll be glad you (and your waiter) can’t seem to translate into English.

Locals and in-the-know tourists (plus the occasional celebrity) flock to this old school eatery in La Boca. Owned and managed by the waiters, El Obrero is a good stop for an authentic lunch after seeing the neighborhood’s famous painted houses. Keep in mind that La Boca is one of BA’s tougher barrios, so if dining here at dinner, be sure to travel by taxi, not on foot.

This elegant, European-style bistro in Recoleta attracts an affluent crowd of locals, from bespoke-suited businessmen and bejeweled ladies at lunch to couples and families at dinner. Walking distance from the Recoleta hotels, Fervor is also a great option for visitors tired of a steady diet of steak; the fish here is fantastic.

This subterranean restaurant is one of the hottest - and most hidden - cocktail bars in Buenos Aires. Access to La Florería is through a flower and record shop, via a door in the rear of the store, and the scene is a mix of locals and expats, all young and gorgeous. Famed for its drinks, the restaurant also serves great food.

Tables aren’t easy to come by at this classic steakhouse in San Telmo. Reputedly a favorite of Francis Ford Coppola, the meat is excellent and the atmosphere authentic. Says an Indagare member: “This is a delicious restaurant. The steaks were great, although the waiter looked very alarmed when I asked if there were any ‘vegetables,’ and he had to say no, although he did point out some vegetable fritters. Again the wait staff did not speak much English, but we got by with an Italian/English/Spanish combination and had a great dinner.” La Brigada is an excellent choice for dinner before a tango show.

This is Buenos Aires’ version of the 21 Club in New York, and in fact, both were at one point owned by the Belmond Hotels company. So, yes, there is something historic and traditional about it but also a bit touristy. There are wonderful wood paneled walls and old leather club chairs that give the place the feeling of an old speakeasy or a gentlemen’s club. There are certainly more authentic places to experience old world Buenos Aires, but the food is delicious, and it can handle larger groups of family and friends traveling together. As at ‘21’, there is a great wine cellar and great private dining rooms.

Widely considered to be a less commercial alternative to the parrilla experience at Las Lilas, this perennially packed Palermo restaurant serves all the same parts of the cow, minus a bit of the theater. Go early as both locations (they are almost next door to each other) tend to fill quickly in the evenings.

Las Pizarras, which describes itself as "a warm place stripped of all artifice", has a cozy, unpretentious ambience and a menu to match. Beloved by the residents of greater Palermo, it has managed to become a neighborhood institution without conceding its low profile. "Pizarra" means "chalkboard" in Spanish, and the dining room walls are covered with chalkboards of varying sizes listing Chef Rodrigo Castilla's nightly specials. Always informed by his daily trips to the market, dishes are creative yet hearty and homey. Las Pizarras makes a lovely, low-key option on Sunday evening, when most of the city's culinary scene takes the night off.

Between the eerie, spot-lit paintings of little girls, entirely black walls, beveled mirrors and clandestine entrance (you have to ring a buzzer and wait for a staff member to let you in), this restaurant feels downright scary at first. Never mind that Little Rose must be the least Japanese-looking restaurant the world has ever seen: its delicious fresh sashimi, sushi rolls, generous combo platters and sake can stand shoulder to shoulder with those of bamboo- and paper-screen-adorned Japanese sushi bars anywhere.

In addition to sweets, Maru Botana's bakeries offer salads and savory tarts, but to eat here without ordering dessert would be missing the point. It would also require superhuman restraint. The celebrity pastry chef is famous for her indulgent tortas, often layered with dulce de leche and cream and topped with perfect peaks of snowy meringue. Her Belgrano shop, tucked between Victorian mansions on a leafy cobblestoned block, makes an ideal conclusion to an afternoon stroll through the picturesque residential neighborhood.

With its antique oak paneling, wood-burning fireplace and brown leather chairs, the Park Hyatt’s clubby bar lounge is a great place for an aperitif or nightcap.