Sinking Economy: A Restaurant Closes Every Day

[Davidglen77]

I think many places should close. I mean most places offer the same menu from one end of the city to the other. There's very little variety. Even the sushi places that spring up have the same bland cream-cheese tortured rolls.
Montreal has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else I think; the successful places stay in business because they have a specific niche. Here it seems the owners strive to stay as close to the programmed national diet as possible.
Interesting thing is that in 2004, I had the idea to open a starbucks-esque cafe; the Argie family said it would never work here... but look inside of any starbucks in BA now....... it's full of porteños, not foreigners. I think maybe some of the people here are getting bored with the usual milanesa suisa and hoping for an actual real fondu.

Gastronomy and food in general has evolved A LOT in the 7 short years that I have lived in Argentina. I think people (especially younger than 40) have different tastes due to having travelled outside of Argentina and having experienced really good food and learning that milanesas, pizza, pasta and asado are not the only things to eat. Also I think that the proliferation of the salad bar / tenedor libre restaurants have made people eat more vegetables, consumption of vegetables is still low here, I think it was probably 1% of the population and now it's maybe 10%. When I came here things like avocado, blueberries, cilantro, ginger, peanut butter along with the continued expansion of chinatown from 2 blocks to about 10 now, has really added a lot to the food selection here. For me it was a welcome change, the monotony of the food here really was a big complaint of mine, I mean when you get here the first couple of months you can't eat enough empanadas and asado, then reality sets in and you are craving other things.

 

[gpop]

I for one roll my eyes whenever I get into a situation where people come over, it's too late to cook, then the famous question come up: Pizza or Empanadas....... WHY NOT TACOS, SPANAKOPITA, SAMOSAS, EVEN A PIZZA POCKET?!?! sheesh.

 

[scotttswan]

Where is this exactly?

Junin

The one in Pasco is up for rent although they hadn't moved out last time i walked past it.

 

[Napoleon]

I think many places should close. I mean most places offer the same menu from one end of the city to the other. There's very little variety. Even the sushi places that spring up have the same bland cream-cheese tortured rolls...

Oh no you didn't just bring up cream-cheese sushi!

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

I pray every night that all the horrid US fast food and awful US coffee places close. Starbucks and all those other junk food places (starbucks is junk food for coffee with branding, fine if you like sweetened milk drinks) are poison.

No idea what a pizza pocket is, hopefully never have to find out. Sounds like dirt.

Good restaurants with diverse offerings are doing well, the herd is being thinned where the offering is over priced and poor.

 

[Matt84]

I pray every night that all the horrid US fast food and awful US coffee places close. Starbucks and all those other junk food places (starbucks is junk food for coffee with branding, fine if you like sweetened milk drinks) are poison.

No idea what a pizza pocket is, hopefully never have to find out. Sounds like dirt.

Good restaurants with diverse offerings are doing well, the herd is being thinned where the offering is over priced and poor.

Some things are best left unknown.
I agree about Starbucks disguising liquid candy as coffee, when I go to Starbucks (in USA) I ask for tea (no sugar) which I usually have to demonstrate how to brew.

btw gpop: there IS spanakopita in Buenos Aires, but it is pronounced "Pasqualina de Espinaca"

 

[sergio]

In fairness to Starbucks (I am not a fan), few places in Argentina know how to brew tea. A good cup of tea begins with tea LEAVES in a pot. Almost everyone in BA uses teabags nowadays though there are a few exceptions.

 

[Davidglen77]

Junin

The one in Pasco is up for rent although they hadn't moved out last time i walked past it.

Do you mean the Cámpora branch on Pasco between Rivadavia & H. Yrigoyen??

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Some things are best left unknown.
I agree about Starbucks disguising liquid candy as coffee, when I go to Starbucks (in USA) I ask for tea (no sugar) which I usually have to demonstrate how to brew.

There's another good reason to stay away from Starbucks: http://tinyurl.com/qbmen55

 

[Rich One]

I for one roll my eyes whenever I get into a situation where people come over, it'shahtoo late to cook, then the famous question come up: Pizza or Empanadas....... WHY NOT TACOS, SPANAKOPITA, SAMOSAS, EVEN A PIZZA POCKET?!?! sheesh.

SPANAKOPITA ..... !!!!!hahahhahaah and Tiropita....!!! Pascualina de Espinaca comes close but not quite