Restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Salta's serious modern kitchen, OAD-ranked.
El Baqueno is one of South America's most consistently ranked modern Argentinian restaurants, appearing in the OAD Top 35 for three consecutive years (2023–2025). Led by Fernando Rivarola in Salta, it offers a northern Argentine culinary perspective and high-altitude wine pairing that Buenos Aires restaurants cannot replicate. Worth building an itinerary around for serious food and wine travellers.
If you are planning a serious food and wine trip through Argentina and want to understand what modern Salta cooking looks like at its most considered, El Baqueno is worth the trip. Chef Fernando Rivarola has built one of the most consistently recognised restaurants in South America, appearing in the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in South America every year from 2023 to 2025, peaking at #32 in 2024. That kind of sustained ranking is a more reliable signal than a single headline year, and it places El Baqueno in genuine conversation with the leading cooking on the continent. For a food and wine explorer visiting Argentina, skipping it would mean missing one of the few restaurants in the northwest that genuinely earns its regional reputation on merit.
El Baqueno is a modern Argentinian restaurant led by Fernando Rivarola, set on the Cerro San Bernardo in Salta, in Argentina's northwest. The address alone signals something specific: this is not a Buenos Aires dining room competing on slickness and urban energy. Salta sits at altitude, with a distinct culinary identity shaped by Andean produce, local charcuterie traditions, and proximity to the wine-growing regions of the Calchaquí Valleys. Rivarola works in that context deliberately, and the result is a restaurant that draws on a very different pantry than the steakhouses and European-inflected tasting menus that dominate the capital's fine dining scene.
For guests arriving from Buenos Aires, the shift in register is immediate. Where Aramburu or Trescha lean into technical precision and contemporary European frameworks, El Baqueno is grounded in a northern Argentine culinary vocabulary. That specificity is the point. If you are eating your way through Argentina, this is the restaurant that fills the gap the capital cannot.
The Calchaquí Valleys and Salta's Cafayate region produce some of Argentina's most distinctive high-altitude whites, particularly Torrontés, and some structured Malbec and Tannat at elevations that give wines a different profile from Mendoza. A restaurant with El Baqueno's regional positioning and OAD standing almost certainly takes its wine list seriously, and the Salta connection gives the cellar a natural focus that Buenos Aires restaurants cannot replicate without importing it. For wine-focused travellers, this is a meaningful differentiator: pairing regional Cafayate wines with Andean-influenced cooking at a ranked restaurant is an experience you will not approximate at Crizia or Anafe in Buenos Aires. If wine and food coherence matters to you, the regional integration here is a draw in its own right.
For broader Argentine wine context, Azafrán in Mendoza and Cavas Wine Lodge in Alto Agrelo offer deep Mendoza-focused cellars, while Agrelo in Lujan de Cuyo and Entre Cielos Luxury Wine Hotel and Spa cover the high-end vineyard dining experience. El Baqueno occupies different ground: urban Salta, high altitude, and distinctly northern Argentine in character.
El Baqueno is located at Cima del Camino Cerro San Bernardo in Salta, Argentina, not in Buenos Aires proper, which is the most important practical note for anyone planning a trip. Salta is a separate city in northwest Argentina, roughly two hours by air from Buenos Aires. If you are building an itinerary around this restaurant, factor in flights and accommodation in Salta independently. Our full Buenos Aires restaurants guide and Buenos Aires hotels guide cover the capital separately.
Specific pricing, hours, and booking method are not confirmed in available data. Given its OAD ranking and consistent recognition, booking ahead is advisable rather than walking in. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm reservations, hours, and any group arrangements. For wine and dining experiences elsewhere in Argentina, see our guides to Buenos Aires wineries, Buenos Aires bars, and Buenos Aires experiences.
Pearl practical summary: Ranked restaurant in Salta (not Buenos Aires), consistently in OAD South America top 35, Google 4.5 from 528 reviews, chef Fernando Rivarola, modern Argentinian cuisine with strong regional positioning.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Baqueno | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in South America Ranked #35 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in South America Ranked #32 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in South America Ranked #35 (2023) | — | |
| Don Julio | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Aramburu | Michelin 2 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Mishiguene | $$$ | — | |
| Roux | $$$ | — | |
| Elena | $$$ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between El Baqueno and alternatives.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in available records for El Baqueno. Given the restaurant's setting on Cerro San Bernardo and its OAD Top 35 standing in South America, this is a structured dining destination rather than a drop-in bar experience. check the venue's official channels before assuming walk-in bar access is an option.
El Baqueno is actually in Salta, not Buenos Aires, which is the key practical distinction. If you're based in Buenos Aires and want comparable modern Argentine cooking at a serious level, Aramburu and Elena are the closest points of reference in the city. For the wine-forward, regional-produce angle that El Baqueno offers, neither fully replicates it — that specific combination of high-altitude Salta ingredients and Calchaquí Valley wines is the reason to travel to the restaurant rather than substitute it.
Exact booking windows are not confirmed, but for an OAD-ranked destination restaurant in a regional city like Salta, booking at least 2 to 4 weeks ahead is prudent, and further in advance during Argentine holiday periods or wine harvest season in the Calchaquí Valleys. The restaurant is not in Buenos Aires, so you will need to coordinate this booking as part of a broader Salta itinerary rather than a casual evening plan.
Specific menu items are not documented here, so no dish-level recommendations can be made responsibly. What is clear from the venue's OAD Top 35 South America ranking across three consecutive years is that Fernando Rivarola's kitchen is built around modern Argentine cooking with a strong regional identity — Salta's producers, altitude-grown ingredients, and the wines of the Calchaquí Valleys are the thread. Trust the tasting format if one is offered.
Yes, if the occasion calls for a serious meal with a strong sense of place rather than a conventional celebration venue. El Baqueno has held an OAD Top 35 South America ranking since 2023, which places it among the most critically regarded restaurants on the continent. The setting on Cerro San Bernardo adds to the occasion, but this is a food-first destination — go because you want Fernando Rivarola's cooking, not primarily for the atmosphere.
The single most important thing: El Baqueno is in Salta, in Argentina's northwest, not in Buenos Aires. The address is Cima del Camino Cerro San Bernardo, which means it sits at elevation on a hillside — factor in travel time within Salta. The restaurant has ranked in OAD's Top 35 restaurants in South America every year from 2023 to 2025, so expectations should be calibrated accordingly: this is a destination-level meal, not a neighbourhood dinner.
Group booking specifics are not confirmed in available records. For a restaurant of this standing and setting, larger groups typically require advance coordination and may have constraints on private dining or format. check the venue's official channels before planning a group visit, and factor in that El Baqueno is in Salta — any group trip requires the full regional logistics of getting there.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
