On 26 November 2024, in Rio de Janeiro, Don Julio in Buenos Aires was named The Best Restaurant in Latin America, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Owner-sommelier Pablo Rivero and executive chef Guido Tassi tell all about what makes their Argentine steakhouse special
An Argentinian steakhouse is The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024.
Owner-sommelier Pablo Rivero teamed up with family and friends to open the parrilla (typical Argentine steakhouse) more than 25 years ago on a corner of the Palermo neighbourhood. Today, he is still serving some of the best beef cuts, wines from one of the world’s most impressive cellars and authentic Argentine hospitality.
Embodying the idea of a ‘new luxury’ in gastronomy that nails the basics, Don Julio may be a steakhouse, but it’s also a family-run labour of love, an homage to the flavours and terroirs of Argentina and a temple of regenerative farming. There’s not a tasting menu or set of chef tweezers in sight.
Don Julio opened in 1999 as an elevated traditional Argentinian parrilla
Nearly everything on the restaurant’s menu comes from its own farm just outside of Buenos Aires. The juicy servings of Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle haven’t only been farmed according to sustainable practices, but are also butchered and aged entirely in-house. Rivero’s grandmother was a butcher, and his parents were cattle breeders, so the family legacy continues.
“We were really surprised,” says Rivero tearfully, fresh off the stage in Rio de Janeiro where his restaurant took home this year’s top spot. "We feel happy, so happy, thinking about our Don Julio family. I can’t stop thinking about the team, all 200 people working across all of our projects.”
Famous across Latin America as the restaurateur who brought Don Julio to vibrant life, Rivero also trained as a sommelier; he was among the first generation to graduate from the Escuela Argentina de Vinos in 2006.
As the restaurant has grown over the years, becoming even more popular nationally and internationally, Rivero started a tradition that would come to define it: whenever diners order a special bottle from Don Julio’s cellar – which now has more than 14,000 labels – they are asked to write a message on the bottle before it joins hundreds of others lining the walls of the dining room. The sommelier calls them ‘moments lived that are trapped here’ – a perfect representation of how for Rivero, wine is emotion, terroir and landscape.
Wine is just as important as a food offering for Don Julio's owner-sommelier Pablo Rivero
Speaking of the win, Rivero and Tassi don't take any individual credit. “I think the secret of Don Julio is the love everyone who works here puts into what we do,” says Tassi. “It’s the meat, cheese and wine producers. They are the ones who are bringing the world comes to Argentina, to Buenos Aires,” Rivero adds. “We are just the ones who put it on the table."
It's clear that Rivero holds his Latin American culinary colleagues in high regards, using his moment on-stage to also congratulate the teams behind the other listed restaurants. “I’d like to say congratulations to Micha [Tsumura] from Maido," says Rivero. "To me, that’s the best restaurant in the world."
No stranger to awards, Don Julio was named No.1 in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020, and two years earlier, it also took home the Art of Hospitality Award. Rivero himself was voted Latin America’s Best Sommelier in 2022 before receiving the same honour at the global level in 2024, earning him the status of wine royalty. In 2024, Don Julio has once again been named The Best Restaurant in Latin America.
Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024
Restaurants from 22 regions in 13 countries across Latin America make up the list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024. The top five features two restaurants in Lima – Maido at No.2 and Kjolle at No.4 – with El Chato in Bogotá at No.3 and Boragó in Santiago at No.5.
Eight restaurants from Buenos Aires feature in this year's ranking, such as the super-chic Trescha (pictured)
Buenos Aires has cemented itself as a true culinary destination, with eight restaurants on the list in total, including: Gran Dabbang’s vibey and laidback homage to Asia at No.18; Argentine-Jewish haute cuisine at Mishiguene (No.29); fine dining at Trescha (No.33 and winner of the Highest New Entry Award); playful Asian-Argentine fusion from Niño Gordo at No.34; micro-seasonal cooking from Julia (No.37); and high-end molecular gastronomy at Aramburu (No.46).
Tassi and Rivero’s other restaurant, El Preferido de Palermo, which serves traditional and accessible local dishes, also makes the list (No.31). The variety of restaurants in the ranking runs the full gamut from casual to fine dining, highlighting that a restaurant doesn’t necessarily need to serve a 40-course-tasting menu to be considered among the best in the region.
The list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, was announced on 26 November from Rio de Janeiro. Discover the 2024 list, including 51-100, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube.
