How can the food here be so bad ?

[Flamingo]

Italian pasta can't compare to Italy. Not even close. Food has gotten better in BA but I find the food much fresher and more flavorful in Italy and most of Europe. The quality of flour and ingredients here is not as good as in Europe.

 

[jbeas176]

i really like don julio’s. the server explained they have their own ranches. they attribute the good tasting beef to slaughtering at 28 to 30 months instead of the usual 16 months. the french fries the best. just don’t ask for ketchup. they are very proud of their process. the cut the patato and freeze it. it goes into the fryer when you order it. crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. the best

 

[CraigM]

Italian pasta can't compare to Italy. Not even close. Food has gotten better in BA but I find the food much fresher and more flavorful in Italy and most of Europe. The quality of flour and ingredients here is not as good as in Europe.

We were in Italy last summer (Rome, Sicily and Amalfi) and thought the food was good but nothing special. We tried to eat at the best places too, they just weren't that great.

 

[Bharat]

i really like don julio’s. the server explained they have their own ranches. they attribute the good tasting beef to slaughtering at 28 to 30 months instead of the usual 16 months. the french fries the best. just don’t ask for ketchup. they are very proud of their process. the cut the patato and freeze it. it goes into the fryer when you order it. crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. the best

The fries at El Preferido are the best to me in BA.

We were in Italy last summer (Rome, Sicily and Amalfi) and thought the food was good but nothing special. We tried to eat at the best places too, they just weren't that great.

Really? I love the pasta en Italy.

 

[CraigM]

The fries at El Preferido are the best to me in BA.

I thought so too

Really? I love the pasta en Italy.

Yeah, my daughters were disappointed because everyone (meaning TikTok) said the food in Italy was "life changing" which is an almost impossible standard 🙂

 

[VINO]

We were in Italy last summer (Rome, Sicily and Amalfi) and thought the food was good but nothing special. We tried to eat at the best places too, they just weren't that great.

Interesting Craig. What wasn't good about the pasta? Just the texture, taste? I have found the food in Italy to be of high quality.

 

[CraigM]

Interesting Craig. What wasn't good about the pasta? Just the texture, taste? I have found the food in Italy to be of high quality.

It was good, but you can get good Italian here in the US without trying too hard. Sottovocce in Recoleta is very good and cheaper than anywhere we ate in Italy.

 

[VINO]

It was good, but you can get good Italian here in the US without trying too hard. Sottovocce in Recoleta is very good and cheaper than anywhere we ate in Italy.

American restaurants get a bad reputation but honestly every time I visit and go to nice Italian restaurants in the US the food is very good. I believe the gap between excellent Italian in many restaurants has been closed now that many restaurants are using quality ingredients and freshly made pasta. Sottovocce is excellent. You have good taste in food.

 

[Blockchain]

It was good, but you can get good Italian here in the US without trying too hard. Sottovocce in Recoleta is very good and cheaper than anywhere we ate in Italy.

I went there a few times too during my month stay. Mike recommended it to me and it was fantastic.

Overall I thought the food was overrated in BA. Now with the prices higher it's mostly the same price or more at nicer restaurants than in the US with the exception of wine prices much better in BA.

 

[Esposas]

It was good, but you can get good Italian here in the US without trying too hard. Sottovocce in Recoleta is very good and cheaper than anywhere we ate in Italy.

I think in the summer with such mass tourism in Italy sometimes restaurants just cut corners now. My Italian friend that owns a restaurant in Positano said that many restaurant owners now use cheaper products to save money. I don't know if this is the case over all in Italy now. I have good meals there but I think these days you can get great meals in most major cities. The gap between great Italian food in Italy vs. USA has closed.

 

[MikeRoss]

I have visited BA a few times now and I have had many great meals. A lot of great steaks but most of the best steak was not in a restaurant but at private BBQ where I got invited. It was much better than any restaurant.

I went to most of the highly talked about steakhouses like Don Julio, Madre Rojas, La Cabrera, Fervor and many others. They were good. The meals were much less than what I would pay at a high end restaurant here in SoCal. @fetch rover I went to Sotto Voce twice and it was one of my favorites.

I also had a great steak sandwich at La Rambla a few blocks away but I have to say it was not cheap. It was incredible how much food costs went up from my first trip to BA to my last trip.

Those steak sandwiches at La Rambla are killer good. But really expensive now. I find dining out very expensive now with poor quality at many places especially in touristy areas like Palermo. I noticed quality is going down and prices are going up. I saw that bagel place that some of you mentioned and they are really tiny portions and just piss poor compared to good NYC bagels. Ingredients seem shitty. Not sure how they stay in business at those prices and terrible service.