At a ceremony held last night in the Santo Domingo del Cerro Convention Square, in Antigua (Guatemala), the ranking of the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America for 2025 was announced, highlighting Buenos Aires as the city with the highest number of restaurants in this prestigious list that recognizes the region’s most influential gastronomic institutions.
With eight places, Buenos Aires leads the rankings, followed by Lima with seven places and Santiago with five places. As for the podium, the restaurant that occupies first place this year is El Chato restaurant from Bogotá (Colombia), accompanied by Kjoli from Lima (Peru) in second place, and local accredited Don Julio in third place.
Craig Hawton-Butcher, Managing Director of the Top 50 organisation, commented: “We are extremely pleased to celebrate El Chato as the Best Restaurant in Latin America 2025. Our sincere congratulations to Alvaro Clavijo and his entire talented team for creating such a special space that has brought Colombian cuisine to the forefront of the international scene.”
Last year, Don Julio took first place in the classification, on a podium completed with Maido (Lima) in second place, and with El Chato (Bogotá) in third place. The rankings were prepared through a vote of 300 “independent experts”, including journalists, chefs and tourism experts.
Argentina’s best restaurant in the organization’s top 50, Palermo Grill, led by Pablo Rivero and with Guido Tassi as head chef, once again takes the country’s top spot on the list, after a year in first place. The restaurant is marked with a red star by the Michelin Guide, and is one of the best leaders in Buenos Aires cuisine, with one of the most relevant and best curated Argentine wine lists in Argentina.
“It is a restaurant that can be visited in any region of Asia, but by chance and in terms of taste and flavours, it was born in Palermo.” This is how the creators of Niño Gordo, chefs Germán Sitz and Pedro Peña, defined their restaurant on Thames Street, Palermo, an Asian grill that combines Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai flavors with Buenos Aires cuisine.
Rescued in 2019 by Pablo Rivero and chef Guido Tassi, El Preferido de Palermo follows the tradition of Buenos Aires still lifes, but with the same emphasis on traceability of Don Julio’s produce. Version 2.0 where the service is flawless and every detail is taken care of. The cellar deserves special mention. Charcuteriewhich is located on one side of the room, is filled with specialties handcrafted in-house.
Led by Chef Emiliano Yuletta and under the supervision of Pancho Prieto Cañi, El Mercado offers a traditional Buenos Aires cantina atmosphere, with a menu based on traditional dishes of our gastronomy. The fires provide additional seasoning (wood-burning grill, clay oven, rotisserie), which is where one of their signature dishes, the rib-eye steak, comes from. It is accompanied by an extensive wine list, with major Argentine celebrities, but also premium brands from large production regions, curated by Maximiliano Pérez, winner of the Best Sommelier award in this competition.
“We are very happy, grateful with Emiliano to be part of this team, and grateful to Alain Faena for his constant trust – commented Pancho Prieto Cañet, from Antigua -. The Faena market is a tribute to Argentina: to its producers, the land and our fire culture. We are proud, together with Maximiliano, of this award for his long career and his tremendous work in our cellar. The best sommelier in Latin America.”
“An exciting 18-course menu, which puts seafood first and foremost. And wine combinations, rest assured that all the brands come from Argentina.” This is how the Top 50 defines Aramburu, the only Argentine restaurant with two Michelin stars, and one of the best leaders in Argentinian fine dining.
Young chef Thomas Trichanski trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London, spent time in big European restaurants like Azurmendi (Spain), Frantzén (Sweden) or 108 (Denmark), and runs this restaurant set up in Villa Crespo, which seats only 10 people. There it presents an original menu of steps with many seasonal products and different techniques (emulsions, foams, crystallization, braised). Last year, he was already featured in the first edition of the Michelin Guide for Argentina, where he was awarded the Michelin Young Chef award and one of the coveted stars.
A pioneer in introducing Argentinian seafood products into the fine cuisine of Buenos Aires, Chef Gabriel Augerro takes over the kitchen of this fine dining institution in Buenos Aires that has been highlighted by the Michelin Guide with a red and a green star (for its commitment to sustainability). The ‘Puro Mar’ menu allows you to explore Argentina’s Atlantic geography through dishes in preparations that bear the distinctive stamp of their author.
“This has been a year full of appreciation,” Ogero commented. “As I always say, it is a pleasure to belong to a group of chefs who want to put Argentina and Latin America in a prominent position in global gastronomy with our products and our passion for cooking.”
This restaurant entered the rankings in 2022 (ranked No. 50). Led by Chef Julio Baez, Julia is a A small establishment with only 22 seats where reservations sell out every month within 10 minutes. In the words of its creator, “A mix between casual and fine dining.”
last month, The Top 50 organization announced the restaurants between 51st and 100th on the listAmong them are several Argentines: Buenos Aires players Nice (No. 64), Micheguini (No. 69), Gran Dabang (No. 70) and Alu (No. 77); Cordoba Papagayo (No. 78) and Mendoza Azafran (No. 97).
In addition, the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America ceremony provided space for the presentation of individual awards, both for individuals and gastronomic institutions. He was the first to announce it One to watchWhich rewards restaurants that are rising in popularity, which was in the hands of Ana restaurant run by Chef Nicolas Solanilla in Guatemala.
he Sustainable Restaurant Awardwhich rewards environmental sustainability, was this time by Oda, from Bogotá. Best pastry chef award in the region Best Pastry Chef AwardI headed to Bianca Mirabili, of the restaurant Evvai, which combines Italian cuisine with Brazilian accents; While Argentine Maximiliano Perez, El Mercado player, received an award Best Sommelier Award.
he Best Female Chef Award It was in the hands of Tasia Magalhaes, and Alejandro Chamorro, from Nuema (Quito), was the prize winner Chef’s Choice AwardIt is an award that is voted on by his colleagues. he Art of Hospitality Award It was Lagoli (Lima). Finally, Icon Award It was Rodolfo Guzman, owner of Burago in Santiago, who received this accolade “for his exceptional contribution to the gastronomy of the region.”