Puerto La Boca

Cute Lil unassuming spot. Stopped in for a quick lunch on the way to the airport. We had a nice cold glass of an Argentinian Savingnon Blanc, which was refreshing… and surprisingly very sweet! I don’t usually go for the sweet wines, but for day drinking in SD, why not? My gf had an empanada, which she ate and didn’t complain or rave about. I had pulpo, which is octopus. It was quite tasty. Not much more to say. Perhaps we’ll stop in again sometime in the future if in the area.

I went here with a party of 8 during restaurant week. They were busy and yet, they were on time and very attentive to our table.
BIG PORTIONS! My boyfriend ordered the 12oz. Maybe the metric system is hard but they definitely gave every person at my table a hefty portion of steak. It was enough to make 3 meals for the next few days.
I lived in Buenos Aires before and it was great to hear live tango music and the sound of the pianist voice was like an angel! Thanks for bringing me back. It was a great experience.

Went here for restaurant week and was sorely disappointed! Bland steak no sauce and cold mashed potatoes and veggies. The restaurant itself is nice and the server though busy did his best considering how busy they were.
My husband and I felt jipped were expecting much more.
I have tried other Argentinean steakhouses and they have been outstanding, however this one left much to be desired.

Decided to check this place out after purchasing a groupon — $ 40 worth of food for $ 25. I was looking forward to liking this place after reading the reviews and looking at pictures; however, things didn’t turn out this way. The service and food did not make it a pleasant experience.
+Service
It was a busy Friday night. My date and I arrived around 7 pm. We had to flag down their hostess upon arrival. None of the servers or cashiers who saw us waiting offered to help or even greet us. The hostess said it would take 20 – 30 mins for a table inside because they were full. I had no problem with waiting. However, after speaking to one of the servers, she said dining inside would take a «very long time,» and «she doesn’t know» when a table will be available and so offered us a table outside. It was raining and cold so I was a bit hesitant but ended up there anyways. Sad to say but the hostess did a very poor job of hosting. She was very confused, unhelpful, and rude. Our servers for the night did not check up on us very often if any at all — we had to flag them to order, refill water and get our check. I would give service alone 1 star.
+Food
My date and I shared the meant to be shared meat platter with fries for $ 50. We asked for slight pink, medium rare, but the meat came overcooked. Meat was dry. The steak skirt and short rib tasted better than the other meats because it had more fat to help with the dryness but nothing amazing. I was very disappointed because although the service was horrible, I still wanted to like the food here. This didn’t happen though. I don’t see myself coming back.
I did like the ambience — live music with bar. That’s about it.

Food = Seriously delicious! We loved everything we ordered!
Service = Sadly, it was poor. Our waiter was very dismissive and discourteous.
Atmosphere = Cozy.

Was looking to try something new, and a friend was visiting who wanted to go with a group of our friends so we got a groupon. This groupon is probably more worth for a couple, rather than a group as it was $ 20 for $ 40.
I ordered the Picana that is meant to be shared for 2. It comes with either fries or mashed potatoes, and a whole lot of meat ! It was pretty filling between the two of us and could probably even had shared with a third person. The flavor of the meat was pretty good, but I didn’t feel like it was incredibly unique. The mashed potatoes were so-​so. To pair with our meals, we got a pitcher of the Sangria which turned out to be very fruity and sweet as if it was straight up juice. It didn’t taste at all like there was wine in it, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on what you like. But we definitely caught a slight buzz from it, because we got excited and started with that on an empty stomach. We also got a beef empanada to share which was pretty good.
After splitting the bill, with everyone getting one meal, (or even the meal meant to share) and a drink, it was about $ 40 a person even with the groupon because we had 6 people.
Overall experience was pretty decent, food was good. Portions are big though, and I would say even the dishes that are not meant to be shared, they can definitely be shared between two people!

So you want some good food but also on a budget? Keep reading…
Found this gem on Groupon since we were craving steak! We went on a Tuesday at around lunch time and the place was pretty empty which was okay with us! (don’t like crowds or waiting, or waiting in crowds). Server was friendly and gave us some recommendations on what empanadas to order. His tip was if you’re going to order steak, don’t order beef empanadas. So we went with chicken & spinach/​cheese empanadas. Great flavor and size. We’re doing good so far.
I ordered the entraña aka skirt steak (even though I don’t like my steaks to wear any articles of clothing) with a side of mashed potatoes and my fiancé ordered the picaña with French fries (he gets fries everywhere).
I’m not going to lie, I didn’t set the bar high for this place. I went in with somewhat low expectations. But man oh man, that steak was BOMB. And the mashed potatoes were on point. Love me some good taters! I sampled (more like stole) some of my fiancés fries and they were delish! I was actually sad when I was about to finish my steak. I seriously started cutting smaller pieces to make it last longer.
But anyways, now that I’m depressed and have no more steak to eat… You should definitely stop by and try this place. We will be visiting every time we’re in San Diego!

Skirt steak was delicious, juicy but needed more seasoning. Beef Milanese was crispy and light but it was on the dry side. Overall with the help of more seasoning and chimichurri sauce the food is very good.
Empanada is a must try for beef and egg and ham and cheese, it’s flaky crust was like a hand pot pie

Came here on a weekday for lunch.
Beef Empanadas: The breading was almost perfectly golden with the right amount of crunchiness. The beef inside was juicy and overall this was a really good empanda for its price.
Octopus Appetizer (Pulpo): The octopus was really chewy but the sauce was lacking (almost had no flavor).
Spaghetti with side skirt steak: For its price, this was a joke of a meal. The portion was really small (almost felt like a kid-​sized meal) for what it was. The sauce was very average. This dish is nothing special and I would recommend others to avoid it.
Service was lacking or a nearly empty restaurant (took a long time to get our check). I’m not a fan of places that add auto gratuities, especially for lunch for a party of six in a slow restaurant.

This was the first time we visited this Argentine steak restaurant. My family loves to try different cuisines so I found the groupon deal and decided to take my parents and sister here. It’s a popular restaurant so I recommend making a reservation for weekend dinners using Unilocal SeatMe feature. We got seated right the way when we arrived at 6:30 pm and found the place was already packed! That’s always a good sign when you walk in a busy restaurant! The place is decorated as a more traditional and formal dinning place. I normally don’t eat at very formal restaurants now days so it’s nice to try a new place and also good place to eat with my family.
We started our meal with their complimentary bread. Nothing too special about it but we loved their homemade butter, which mixed with jalapeño to give a little spice. Also, we love their Chimichurri sauce!!! It is amazing! We can’t have enough of it. We finished the sauce with the bread even before the meat was served. The sauce is definitely one of their highlights. For appetizer, we had Pulpo La Ribera, which is marinated octopus sauteed with olive oil, garlic, parsley, potatoes and paprika. It was also amazing! I love the marinated octopus and cooked with small potatoes and paprika sauce. It was a very good start with this dish. Since there are so many reviews on their empenada, we had to try it as well. We decided to try their beef and chicken empenanda. The beed empenada was very good. The beef filling was well marinated and remained juicy even after it’s baked. The chicken empenada is lighter in flavor and more tender of the meat. I recommend to try at least couple different empenadas since it’s also one of their top sells.
For the main dish, we shared Parrillada El Conventillo, a combination of short ribs, skirt steak, flap meat steak, chorizo sausage, blood sausage and sweetbreads served on a sizzling platter. Although it states the dish serves two people, it is a lot of meat! I think it at least feeds 3 people if you also order appetizers. The plate was impressive! The presentation showed how many different kinds of meat can be served by the restaurant. It is a good showcase of their skills. However, the plate wasn’t quite sizzling when it came out and some of the meat needed some adventurous minds to try. I absolutely loved their short ribs, skirt steak, and flap meat steak! They were cooked to just medium rare as ordered. The steak was flavorful, juicy, and fulfilling. I like their seasonings they used for the steak because it is quite different than American steaks. However, the sweetbreads took me by surprise. It’s my own fault that I didn’t read the menu closely and noticed sweetbreads are included in the plate. However, it was very difficult to see how you are getting since the entire plate was dark and the lighting was dark too. I tried the sweetbread first and the flavor just did not sit well for me. So, fair warning to people who want to order the plate, make sure you pick the meat that you can tolerate. The sausages are quite good and I enjoyed them a lot. We also shared Entrana, their signature skirt steak plate. Again, the skirt steak is definitely one of best steaks. We loved how it’s seasoned and cooked perfect for medium rare. By the way, the best for those steaks is to add their magical chimichurri sauce! The flavor of chimichurri sauce balances out the greasiness of steak and adds another layer of flavor to the steaks. I recommend trying both of these dishes if you come as a group.
We finished the meal with flan and some regular coffees. The flan was so-​so. Probably doesn’t worth ordering if you are not craving it. Coffees were good and excellent finish after a big steak meal. Overall, the quality of food, service, and the experience put this restaurant at 4-​star for me. I will return for their empenada, steak and chimichurri sauce!

July: Now what a surprise. We were so lucky to just find parking right across from the restaurant. We arrived and was greeted immediately however the restaurant was super packed. It was really hard to just walk to our table. There were hardly any spaces between each table. I was sure thinking if I was a bit wider I’ll knock everyone over by just walking through. I’m not sure how they accommodate if someone was bigger or even pregnant.
Anyhow we sat there for a bit as our Server seemed busy. He did pass us by and say he will be right there. The busboy delivered our waters. Awesome, just what we needed in this tight, cozy atmosphere. It was great they have a coat hanger. I put my purse on it.
The reason why we came here in the first place was because we got a GROUPON. Yup the handy dandy coupon.
We were first given bread. Careful to not eat it all as we didn’t want to fill up on bread. We started with the Salad and Empanada. Yes only one as we knew the entrée we were going to order will be alot. The salad was a great starter and yes their empanada was delicious. Nice and perfectly flaky.
Our entrée was the big combo meat plate (see picture). It’s called Parrillada «El Conventillo» Oh my everything was all so good and we couldn’t get enough of their chimichurri sauce as well. The sauce went so well with all the meats. There were all kinds of meats on this plate from the beautifully cooked skirt steak, to the olé so juicy flap meat steak. The short ribs were my favorite. The blood sausage was interesting, I thought it went well with bread and of course more chimichurri sauce. More than enough for three people I believe. We even had leftovers.
This place really surprised us. I think I’ll come back here again. Sometimes good food is hard to come by so let go!

It’s going to be really hard writing this review, I hadn’t done it because this is my hidden gem. But I thought I would be nice and share this little piece of meat and empanada heaven with you guys.
This is my favorite place to eat steak and whenever I do come here, I have a tall glass of their house Malbec.
I practically drink the chimichurri and eat spoonfuls of their seasoned butter.
My favorite empanada is the corn.
My two favorites are the parrillada and the picaña for two.
Be a little but adventurous and try the blood sausage, spread it over your bread and drizzle (or bathe like me) with chimichurri sauce… You are welcome!
Great happy hour every day, but only at the bar area and patio.
This place is every carnivorous dream!
I’m not going to say any more because I don’t want it to be always packed with lines out the door. Shhhhh share only with your loved ones ;)

An amazing Argentinian restaurant.
A friend and I stopped in here for dinner and were very happy with our decision. The food was exceptional and the prices were well within reason. Anyone in your party would find something yummy on the La Boca menu as they have a wide range to choose from — everything from salad, beef, and chicken to sea food.
We had the empandas — the beef and chicken, the soup of the day which was cream of corn, Ensalada La Boca, and spaghetti with chicken. The Ensalada La Boca was a great combination of spinach, walnuts, roquefort cheese, with just a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar — Amazing.
My favorite was actually the bread, warm and fresh and came with a minced basil sauce and olives — the combination was an explosion of flavor.
Beyond the food, what stood out the most to me was the care and friendliness of the staff. They went out of their way to ensure that we experienced a great meal — to me that means a lot and it is the best kind of costumer service.
I am looking forward to going back and trying another wonderful entrée.

Sencillamente, ESPECTACULAR… como debe de ser, restaurante argentino atendido por un mesero argentino. Buena atencion y excelente comida. 3 veces en el año van que como aqui, y cada vez mejor. Las empanadas estan de pelicula, nada que envidiar con unas empanadas comidas en la misma argentina. Ojala sigan asi.
One Word SPECTACULAR… like it’s supposed to be, an argentinian restaurant, hosted by argentinians waiters. Excellent service and awesome food. I have been here 3 times this year, and every time tastes better. The empanadas are amazing, just as if you were eating some empanadas en Buenos Aires o Cordoba. Keep it up!

We came to this restaurant because we are from Argentina and haven’t been there for some months and were craving for this food. Puerto La Boca really fulfilled our expectations. It’s a great place for people who does or doesn’t know this food. Beef empanadas really recommended! And the lomito sandwich (medium rare, of course) is also a must. We came during Restaurant Week so we also had a good two course meal for a good price.

Una desilusión, el fettuccini 4 quesos estaba crudo en pedazos, los precios están elevadísimos para las pequesimas porciones de comida, las empanadas estaban comibles, la ensalada la boca fue lo mas agradable (una pequeñísima ración era claro) bueno. honestamente no recomiendo para nada este lugar.

Lo mejor en carnes, sus empanaditas son deliciosas, Happy Hour el mejor.
Un ambiente muy ameno y un servicio de lo mejor, musica bohemia en vivo. Verdaderamente el mejor restaurante Argentino.

La parrillada «el conventillo» rinde 3 comensales ;) sirven fernet y quilmes. Es autentica comida argentina.