Don Julio - Buenos Aires
February 12th, 2026
Today I scheduled an 11:00 tour in Colonia de Sacramento in Uruguay. There is a one and half ferry ride that will take you there from Buenos Aries. I looked at the ferry schedule and had to make changes to our plans. There is no problem getting there in time, the problem is getting back at a reasonable time. We have a reservation at Don Julios at 7:00pm and I did not want to risk being late or too tired to enjoy the meal. Don Julios is rated as the best steak house in the World. We tried getting reservations months before we left on this trip, but could not get anything. My new friend, Denis, (from our food tour on day one), was able to get us a table there.
Plan B - I booked a four hour city tour through GetYourGuide. Our guide picked us up at our hotel at 10:00am and gave us a driving tour of Buenos Aries. Many of the sites he wanted to show us, we had already seen, so we had him skip those (Recoletta Cemetery, the Opera House and such). He took us on a drive through an area with beautiful mansions. They used to be for the wealthy of Buenos Aries, but now most of them are consulates for various nations.
He took us to the Plaza of United Nations to see the Floralis Generica. This is a giant metallic flower that opens every morning and closes every night. It is huge! Made of stainless steel, aluminum, and reinforced concrete, the Floralis Generica weighs 18-tons, stands 75-feet tall, and spreads out to a maximum width of 105-feet.
Floralis Generica
He was a history major in a local university and said he had to memorize every monument and statue in the city. He seemed pretty knowledgeable, so I believe him.
Ava Peron Monument
We stopped at Plaza De Mayo where most of the important political institutions of the city and of Argentina are located. Here we saw the The Casa Rosada 'the pink house'. It is the presidents of the Argentine Republic’s official workplace. The characteristic color of the Casa Rosada is baby pink, and it is considered one of the most emblematic buildings in Buenos Aires. The coloring is not from the stones used, but is paint. The exterior was painted pink reportedly in order to defuse political tensions by mixing the red and white colors of the country's two opposing political parties: red was the color of the Federalists, while white was the color of the Unitarians. The tradition continues still.
We asked him to drive to LaBoca as we did not get to spend much time there the last time we were there. It was much busier this time around with many people and tango dancers everywhere! I picked up a painting I liked (to remember the trip) and few other souvenirs and had him take us back to our hotel to rest up for our big night out at Don Julio.
Bright colored buildings in La Boca
We rested, showered and got dressed up for our dinner. Our 33rd Anniversary is tomorrow, so we are treating this as our special anniversary dinner.
Denis told us to get to the restaurant 10 min early to make sure they held the table for us. We got there a half an hour early. The restaraunt does not open until 7, but I was able to talk to someone to confirm our reservation. We had time to kill, so we found a local wine bar down the street called El Piano Rojo. As expected, it had a red baby grand piano in the front and lots of cozy couches and chairs all around. We ordered some wine and relaxed to the smooth latin jazz music being played. One note is that the wine wa served from a cooler with a spigot. Bottles were in the cooler and were connected to the spigot. Now it makes sense as to why my red wine was always served chilled!
After our wine, we headed back to Don Julio. A line around the building formed and we got in line and waited. While waiting, servers came with glasses of prosecco and empanadas for everyone waiting in line. Not a bad way to wait! It did not take long until the doors were opened and we were seated.
Our server had us walk up to the bar where the meats were cooked and reviewed the cuts of beef available to us. We could see the color, marbling, thickness of each cut. This was to help us decide which one we wanted. This was a new experience for me. Behind the counter we could see the grilling station. The “V-shaped” grill is designed to ensure that no fat drips on to the embers to alter the flavor from smoke from the white quebracho charcoal. (charcoal made from White Quebracho Wood, one of South America's toughest woods known as the 'axe breaker'that provides long-lasting, intense heat without any smoke or sparks)
Our meat selection and the grilling station.
After much consideration (and Sandy reading best things to order), we decided on getting the T-Bone Steak. That way we would get two cuts of beef to share. Seeing the cuts of meat before we ordered helped with that decision. We also ordered the heirloom tomato lettuce and onion salad. (Sandy is really missing our fresh heirloom tomatoes I used to grow in our garden) and the mashed potatoes with Jersey butter. Not sure what makes it Jersey butter, I did not ask. But based on a recent search it is made from milk from Jersey cows.
Argentine Wine!
All the wines on the wine list were Argentinan. I asked the waiter for a recommendation for our dinner. He gave us a Malbec from Salentein Vineyards. It was fantastic. I will need to find some in Duty free before we leave!
All our food came at the same time. The steak was presented to us for approval. Then the waiter carved it up and placed it on our plates.
Dessert!
For dessert I ordered the Charolette Ice cream (made from Jersey Milk). It was so good! Hot fudge chocolate was poured over the ice-cream at the table. Presentation was great.
After dinner we strolled the neighborhood and came across an Irish Pub. This was a great opportunity for me to add to my Guinness Around the World blog and make and entry for Argentina. Needless to say, this Guinness ranks at the bottom. See my blog for details.
Sullivans Irish Pub.
After sampling our Guinness, we headed back to our hotel. This is our last night in Buenos Aires. We fly our tomorrow at 11:59pm, which still leaves us with a full day of exploring the city. We also need to pack our bags and get ready to fly out.
View from our hotel room.
This hotel had a great location. Always something happening. Here is a view from our window.
