FOOD · PIZZA · 2026
In Buenos Aires the best pizza is often eaten on your feet, elbow on a marble counter, a slice of fainá balanced on top. Six places still do it the old way.
Fugazzeta at El Cuartito. Photo: ProtoplasmaKid, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Forget what you know about Italian pizza before you land. Buenos Aires pizza was brought by Genoese and Neapolitan immigrants and then went its own way: thicker, baked in a pan, heavy on cheese, and eaten fast. The oldest pizzerías in the city were never restaurants in the sit-down sense. You walk in, point at a tray, and eat your slice standing at the counter while the city goes past the door. Porteños call it pizza al corte, pizza by the cut.
It is still one of the cheapest good meals in the city. These are the six old places that still sell by the slice, from 1932 to 1978, with what to order in each. First, the words you will need.
Before you order: five words
Muzza is muzzarella, the plain cheese pizza, and the benchmark every place is judged on. Fugazza is the onion pizza, the local descendant of Genoese focaccia; fugazzeta adds cheese, and fugazzeta rellena is stuffed, cheese between two layers of dough under the onion, a Buenos Aires invention credited to Banchero, a pizzería in La Boca. Napolitana here means muzza with slices of fresh tomato and garlic, nothing like a pizza from Naples. Fainá is a flat chickpea bread from Genoa: order it with your slice and put it on top, which is called eating it a caballo, on horseback. And to drink, the old-school pairing is moscato, a sweet white wine.
01 · PIRILO
SAN TELMO · SINCE 1932 · NO TABLES, NO CHAIRS
The smallest counter in San Telmo
A narrow shopfront on Defensa, the street of the Sunday fair, so plain that people walk past it. The Vizzari family opened it in 1932 and Juan Vizzari, nicknamed Pirilo, gave it its name; today his daughters run it. There are no tables and no chairs: you eat at the marble counter or out on the pavement, under pennants of Club Atlético San Telmo, the neighbourhood football club, with the wood oven at the back. The trays are the classics: muzza, fugazza with or without cheese, anchovies, and fainá.
When: closed Mondays. Tuesday to Friday it opens for lunch and again in the evening, but at weekends only in the evening, so if you come for the Sunday fair at noon, you will find it shut.
→ DEFENSA 821, SAN TELMO
02 · EL CUARTITO
RETIRO · SINCE 1934 · THE FUGAZZETA
A sports museum that serves pizza
The door of El Cuartito. Photo: ProtoplasmaKid, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The best-known of the six, now run by the third generation of the same family. The walls are covered in sports posters, photos and pennants, and there is a dining room if you want one. But the tradition is the counter by the entrance, where you can eat on your feet. Order the fugazzeta, which is what the place is famous for, with a slice of fainá. It is also on our Buenos Aires map, with directions.
When: Tuesday to Sunday from 12:30 to 00:30; closed Mondays.
→ TALCAHUANO 937, RETIRO
03 · LA MEZZETTA
VILLA ORTÚZAR · SINCE 1939 · THE STUFFED ONE
One pizza, and nowhere to sit
La Mezzetta has never had a chair. It exists for one thing, the fugazzeta rellena, a deep pizza with a thick layer of mozzarella hidden under the onion, and it sells about 150 whole pizzas a day. One slice is lunch. It sits on Avenida Álvarez Thomas, where Villa Ortúzar meets Chacarita, a short drive from the Chacarita cemetery. It is on our map too, and the counter also makes empanadas, which is why it appears in our guide to the best empanadas.
When: Monday to Saturday from 9 in the morning until midnight or 1 a.m.; closed Sundays.
→ AV. ÁLVAREZ THOMAS 1321, VILLA ORTÚZAR
04 · LOS CAMPEONES
BARRACAS · SINCE 1954 · THE MATCH-DAY STOP
Stone-baked, for football fans
Four football-mad friends opened it in 1954 and named it after the thing they cared about most. It still bakes in a quebracho wood oven, and the house style is a la piedra, a thin crisp pizza baked on the stone, though the thick pan version is there too. Boca fans stop here on their way to or from La Bombonera. The staff say the slices go fastest at lunchtime, between 12 and 3 p.m. If you are going to a match, our football guide covers tickets and getting there.
When: Tuesday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to midnight; closed Mondays.
→ AV. MONTES DE OCA 856, BARRACAS
05 · ANTONITO
BOEDO · 1970s, REOPENED 2026 · THE COMEBACK
A Boedo corner, back after thirty years
Antonito opened in the 1970s on the corner of Carlos Calvo and Avenida La Plata, closed, and stayed closed for almost thirty years. It reopened in April 2026 with the old formula: pan pizza, a lot of mozzarella, fainá, and moscato served with ice. According to TimeOut Buenos Aires, Luis Alberto Spinetta and Fito Páez, two giants of Argentine rock, were regulars while they recorded their joint album La La La at a studio nearby. The new owners have put the counter back at the centre of the place, and the classics are all there: muzza, napolitana and fugazzeta rellena.
→ CARLOS CALVO 4335, BOEDO
06 · EL PADRINO
VILLA CRESPO · SINCE 1978 · FREE FAINÁ
A slice of fainá on the house
It opened in 1978, the year Argentina hosted and won its first World Cup, in a small room on Honorio Pueyrredón. The founders' son Lautaro runs it now. It is counter only, with rock on the stereo, and it keeps a rare habit: a piece of fainá comes free with your order. At lunchtime it feeds the people who work in the area, and on concert nights it fills up with fans on their way to the nearby Movistar Arena.
→ HONORIO PUEYRREDÓN 1710, VILLA CRESPO
What a slice costs, and how to go
In late September 2026, Clarín's survey of these pizzerías put a slice of muzza between about ARS 3,500 (Pirilo, El Padrino) and ARS 4,800 (El Cuartito). Specialities like the fugazzeta rellena cost more. Prices in pesos change often, so take these as a guide, and carry some cash: these are old-fashioned places.
Three of the six (Pirilo, El Cuartito and Los Campeones) are closed on Mondays and La Mezzetta closes on Sundays, so plan a pizza crawl from Tuesday to Saturday. The six are spread across the city, from Barracas in the south to Villa Ortúzar in the north, and doing three in one afternoon is realistic with a car. If you only have time for one famous name, Güerrín on Avenida Corrientes also sells by the slice at its counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pizza al corte?
Pizza sold by the slice. The pizzería bakes whole pizzas in trays, cuts them into portions and sells them one at a time at the counter, where most people eat them standing up. It is the old way of eating pizza in Buenos Aires and it is still the fastest and cheapest.
How much does a slice of pizza cost in Buenos Aires?
In late September 2026, a slice of muzzarella cost between about ARS 3,500 and ARS 4,800 at the six pizzerías in this guide, according to a survey by the newspaper Clarín. Specialities such as the fugazzeta rellena cost more, and prices in pesos change often.
What is fainá and how do you eat it?
A thin flatbread made from chickpea flour, brought by immigrants from Genoa. In Buenos Aires you order a piece with your slice and lay it on top of the pizza, which is called eating it a caballo, on horseback.
Which day should I avoid for a pizza crawl?
Monday. Pirilo, El Cuartito and Los Campeones all close on Mondays, and La Mezzetta closes on Sundays. Plan it for a day between Tuesday and Saturday.
Eat standing up, like a porteño
There is something honest about these places. No reservations, no tasting menu, just a tray, a knife, a marble counter and people from every walk of life eating the same slice. Order a muzza, put the fainá on top, and stay a minute longer than you need to.
Plan your pizza crawl. Message us on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 2404-0448 or book a private car to take you from Barracas to Villa Ortúzar, one slice at a time.
