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Argentine parrilla · San Telmo · Buenos Aires
La Brigada
1992, a small neighborhood grill in San Telmo; three decades on, the steak is still cut with the back of a spoon at the table.
OpenNot yet visited · facts from 6 sourcesNo paid rankings
By Hugo Ledger · Steakpedia editorial voice · Who writes
Why go
In 1992 Hugo Echevarrieta, a Mendoza native, opened a small neighborhood parrilla on Estados Unidos street in San Telmo; more than three decades later the house's own site calls it, as many do, a classic of Buenos Aires. Its reputation rests on a gesture: the waiters cut the meat with the back of a spoon, to show how tender it is, a custom recorded by Time Out, the city tourism office and The World's 50 Best alike. The room carries its own history, with soccer jerseys and pennants hung beneath chandeliers, a stained-glass ceiling and old photographs; the house lists visiting families, elite athletes, artists and the presidents of several countries among its guests.
What to order
- Ojo de bife
- Entraña
- Chinchulines de cordero
Not published: aging, fire, breed, grade, price.
01What to order
- Ojo de bifeThe cut most sources name; the city tourism office also lists the tapa de ojo de bife, the rib-eye cap.
- EntrañaThe skirt steak, given as the dish to order by Expats Argentina in October 2026.
- Chinchulines de corderoLamb small intestine, a house specialty in Time Out's 2025 list.
- MollejasSweetbreads, served, like everything else, a little at a time on hot plates.
- Asado especial de centro and baby beefTwo more cuts the city tourism office names, with empanadas to begin.
02The beef
No source states the breed, the feeding or any aging; the house's claim is tenderness, demonstrated with the spoon. An undated profile in Mercado magazine, written when Echevarrieta had run his own grill for about 19 years, listed asado de tira, asado especial, centro de ojo de bife, a buffalo ojo de bife, entrañita, veal sweetbreads, and the chinchulines and sweetbreads of young goat, with lamb and suckling pig as new additions that June.
03The fire
The fire, Time Out wrote in 2025, is lit at 9 am and lasts until 5 pm; it is never stoked, and no charcoal is added once it is going. Echevarrieta says he cooks with the heat of the irons rather than with the embers. Each item reaches the table at its own moment, on a hot plate.
04The story
The house and the city tourism office both give 1992 for the founding, and describe a small neighborhood grill that became a fixed address for Argentine beef. The founder's surname is spelled three ways: Echevarrieta by the house, Echavarrieta by Time Out, Chavarrieta by Mercado. The Mercado profile says he started out at the restaurant La Raya. It adds that he later bought the building next door and enlarged the house with a bar for waiting guests, an upstairs room and a patio, that his son-in-law Mauricio had taken over the grill, and that La Brigada, having once opened branches, had none. The wine grew with the house: the tourism office counts more than 60,000 labels in the cellar, where Mercado had counted some 30,000 bottles and lockers for regulars, and The World's 50 Best describes a list drawn only from Mendoza, with Catena Zapata vintages. Steakpedia uses the spelling Echevarrieta, as the house does.
05The practical
Estados Unidos 465, San Telmo. Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 3 pm and 8 pm to midnight; closed on Mondays (city tourism office). Phone 4361-4685; WhatsApp 11 3069-8361; email info@labrigada.com.ar. Mercado called reservations essential, and the house takes them by phone and WhatsApp. No source publishes current prices.
- Address
- Estados Unidos 465, San Telmo, Buenos Aires
- Phone
- +54 11 4361-4685
- Website
- labrigada.com.ar
- Directions
- Google Maps ↗
Why is the steak cut with a spoon at La Brigada?
Waiters cut the meat with the back of a spoon to show its tenderness; Time Out, the city tourism office and The World's 50 Best all record the custom.
When was La Brigada founded?
In 1992, by Hugo Echevarrieta, a native of Mendoza, as a small neighborhood parrilla in San Telmo.
What are La Brigada's opening hours?
Tuesday to Sunday, noon–3 pm and 8 pm–midnight; closed Mondays, per the city tourism office.
Where is La Brigada?
Estados Unidos 465, San Telmo, Buenos Aires. Phone 4361-4685, WhatsApp 11 3069-8361.
06In Buenos Aires’s selections
07Sources
timeout.com · labrigada.com.ar · turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar · theworlds50best.com · mercado.com.ar · expatsargentina.com
Last verified Oct. 29, 2026.
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