El Pobre Luis Restaurant Belgrano.

On a recent trip to Buenos Aires, I was walking through Chinatown in Belgrano. That is where I saw the famous restaurant Pobre Luis. In English it means Poor Luis. This restaurant has been mentioned in many travel guides like Fodors and Lonely Planet. It has also received an award from Tripadvisor as one of the best restaurants in Buenos Aires.

[dropcap bg=”#2da5da” color=”#ffffff”]T[/dropcap]he owner of the restaurant is a man called Luis Acuna and he is originally from Uruguay. In 1986 Poor Lou, as he is called opened the restaurant in the Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

What makes El Pobre Luis so special?

His Núñez parrilla has become one of the city’s most legendary and he was also credited with bringing the first ofasado style asado or grilled meat from Uruguay to Buenos Aires. In a nutshell, his restaurant is famous for parilla or asado.

The restaurant is not very far from River Plate soccer club and the impressive collection of sports memorabilia and autographed soccer jerseys is an attraction on its own. Many famous soccer players have visited the restaurant over the years including Pelé and Diego Maradona. Their autographed jerseys can be seen here.

El Pobre Luis, Restaurant Buenos Aires, Belgrano Buenos Aires, Parilla Buenos Aires, Chinatown Buenos Aires — El Pobre Luis Restaurant in Belgrano, Buenos Aires.

Poor Luis serves delicious food and many people recommend the pamplona. It is grilled meat, vegetables, cheese and spices rolled into a wrap. The Ojo de Bife con Fritas is also delicious. The stunning parilla (grill) takes center stage in the open kitchen, with beautiful cuts of sizzling meat being carefully tended to.

The restaurant is very popular but expensive. Food is good but people often complain about the service and say it is too slow. The atmosphere is good and if you have the time to wait then this restaurant comes highly recommended when in the Belgrano neighborhood.

Unfortunately the restaurant only opens at 9pm and when I visited it in January it was closed for the holidays. I did speak to a couple of people who recommended El Pobre Luis.