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Uruguayan parrilla · Belgrano · Buenos Aires
El Pobre Luis
Quebracho lit at six in the evening, a grill bed of sand and earth, and the Uruguayan pamplona.
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By Silas Brand · Steakpedia editorial voice · Who writes
Why go
Quebracho. Lit every day at 6 pm, per Time Out in January 2025. Under the grate, no refractory brick: a bed of sand and earth, replaced each January. A cook told Time Out it gives a smokier flavor and adds heat. This is a Uruguayan-style parrilla in Belgrano, at the edge of the city's small Chinatown. The menu is from the Río de la Plata: pamplonas, sweetbreads, liver and kidney a la tela. Perfil, in June 2024, called its profile clearly rioplatense. The World's 50 Best calls the grill the focal point of the room. Hundreds of soccer jerseys hang from the ceiling.
What to order
- Pamplona
- Pamplona de pollo
- Mollejas
Not published: aging, breed, grade, price, year opened.
01What to order
- PamplonaThe house dish, from Uruguay: lomo, pork or chicken wrapped in caul fat with cheese, ham, roasted pepper and spices. About ten minutes on each of its four sides. Some 40 leave the grill each day (Time Out, 2025).
- Pamplona de polloThe version The World's 50 Best calls the signature: locally raised chicken breast stuffed with bacon and cheese, with garlic-and-parsley fries.
- MollejasThe sweetbreads that made the house's name, per the city tourism office. Time Out names the mollejas de corazón, the heart sweetbread.
- Hígado y riñón a la telaLiver and kidney wrapped in caul fat and grilled, a Uruguayan way with offal.
- Ojo de bifeThe rib-eye, on the menu Perfil listed in 2024, with chorizos and papas fritas confitadas.
02The beef
No source names the breed, the feeding or the aging. The menu leans on what Uruguay grills well: sweetbreads, liver and kidney, and lomo rolled into pamplonas. Pork and chicken go into pamplonas too. The World's 50 Best describes extra-large portions; Perfil adds grilled salmon and other Uruguayan specialties.
03The fire
Quebracho, a dense hardwood, lit daily at 6 pm. The fire bed is sand and earth, not brick, and it is changed every January. The pamplona turns four times, about ten minutes a side. Caul fat holds the stuffing and the offal together on the grate. Order the pamplona.
04The story
Luis Acuña came from Uruguay in 1986, and his love of meat and the grill pushed him to aim for excellence in the raw material and the cooking, per the city tourism office. He opened the parrilla in Belgrano. After his death his son Luis inherited it, Time Out wrote in 2025; the tourism office says his children run it today and keep its informal spirit and its soccer decor. The house's Instagram calls it a boliche de amigos, a friends' joint.
05The practical
Arribeños 2393, Belgrano, by the edge of Chinatown. Phone 4780-5847; WhatsApp through the house's Instagram, @elpobreluisparrilla, which takes bookings Monday to Sunday and posted on Oct. 6, 2026. The World's 50 Best lists dinner service. Prices and portions change: check the menu on the day.
- Address
- Arribeños 2393, Belgrano, Buenos Aires
- Phone
- +54 11 4780-5847
- Website
- instagram.com
- Directions
- Google Maps ↗
What is a pamplona at El Pobre Luis?
A Uruguayan dish: lomo, pork or chicken rolled in caul fat with cheese, ham, roasted pepper and spices, grilled about ten minutes on each of four sides (Time Out, 2025).
What wood does El Pobre Luis use?
Quebracho, lit every day at 6 pm, over a grill bed of sand and earth that is replaced each January (Time Out, 2025).
Where is El Pobre Luis?
Arribeños 2393, Belgrano, at the edge of Buenos Aires' Chinatown. Phone 4780-5847.
Who founded El Pobre Luis?
Luis Acuña, a Uruguayan who arrived in 1986. His children run it today.
06In Buenos Aires’s selections
07Sources
timeout.com · turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar · noticias.perfil.com · the50.com · instagram.com · expatsargentina.com
Last verified Oct. 29, 2026.
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