Manolo is my favorite restaurant in all of Argentina. Also it happens to be located 2 blocks from where I live. I first came across this restaurant after I had moved into the San Telmo neighborhood, or so I thought it was the first time. I first went alone and then began to bring people there. If there is one restaurant for which to bring any visitor to Argentina, I take them there. It didn’t occur to me after visiting Monolo several times that it also happens by coincidence the first place I ever sank my teeth into a bife de chorizo, for me the best cut of Argentine beef. It is not as pricy as lomo (loin) but I think has a much richer flavor and more interesting texture.

I was visiting Argentina for the first time on July 4, 2004. That night my Argentine friends from New York, Lucio and Fernando, took me to Manolo and for the first moment I felt welcomed to Argentina. And I still remember how my first Bife Argentina tasted.

Manolos is a place witht a lot of history. It is classic porteño. I describe it as a restaurant full of soccer banners aand jerseys. The waiters are very professional, but just formal enough. They are also my friends when I go there. The menu is very classic Argentina offering every type of Argentine dish I can imagine aside form pizza. Most unusual here is that there are a wide assortment of chicken dishes prepared with all sorts of sauces. It is all very good. And inexpensive. I have gone there with 2 friends and the three of ate very well for 20 pesos (or US$7 total). I have also lived it up with larger groups and bottles of wine to roll up a bill of an astounding 50 pesos (US$17).

Manolo himself is a fixture in the restaurant. He is there a lot sitting at a free table (which there almost never is during the night) or hanging out at the counter. You need to have patience to eat here because the wait for a table can take an hour some times for dinner, but knowing that you may find it worthwhile. This place is run very efficiently I think due to Manolo’s presence and possibly him demanding the most of his staff no matter what the conditions. And they all manage to hold it together every lunch and dinner.

Well, signs on the windows of Manolo announced last month it would be closed the month of January for vacations. Not an unusual thing for an Argentine locale during the summer. I thought that seemed just considering how hard the staff works all year. However as I passed tonight at midnight while walking Clyde, I could see Manolo there supervising renovations to the interior of the restaurant. After chatting with Manolo a minute I learned that the futbol banners will not be back, but instead romanesque wall murals. I lament the change, but he called it an improvement. However it changes there is too much character in that restaurant that it will never be lost.