RFK Rankings · Buenos Aires
Best Restaurants With a View in Buenos Aires 2026
Restaurants with a view · Buenos Aires · 6 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 15, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Buenos Aires turned its back on the river for a century, so the city's one real water view is man-made: Puerto Madero, the redeveloped port where the old red-brick docks now front a row of restaurants along the dikes. The view is the still water of the diques, Santiago Calatrava's white Puente de la Mujer arcing across them, and the glass towers of the new district behind. It is not the Rio de la Plata proper, which stays muddy and out of sight, but it is the closest the city comes to dining on water. The hazard is the tourist-priced parrilla coasting on the postcard. The six tables below earn the dock.
1.Cabana Las Lilas
The benchmark Puerto Madero parrilla with a dock terrace; book it for a long lunch over the water.
Cabana Las Lilas runs along Alicia Moreau de Justo on Dique 4, the most famous of the Puerto Madero steakhouses, with a terrace straight onto the dock water and the Puente de la Mujer in view. The kitchen is built on Argentine beef from its own estancia, the bife de chorizo and ojo de bife the orders, with cold starters, river fish and a deep wine list, mains at the district's tourist-premium prices. Listed in the Michelin Guide to Buenos Aires, it is the dock's safe benchmark. Think of it as the Argentine answer to a harbourside grill in Sydney, the harbour a still port basin. Book a terrace table for a long lunch over the water.
Reserve direct; terrace table for lunch.
2.i Central Market
A market, bakery and grill on the dock at once; go for a daytime table over the diques.
i Central Market spreads along Macacha Guemes on Dique 4, part restaurant, part bakery, market and wine bar, with a glass front and terrace onto the Puerto Madero water. The kitchen runs an all-day menu of grilled meats and fish, pastas, salads and pastry from the in-house bakery, broader and more casual than the steakhouse row, with prices to match the district. It is the dock's daytime workhorse, popular with the business towers behind it, and the terrace puts the diques and the Puente de la Mujer in frame. It plays like a Buenos Aires take on a Borough Market grill with a waterfront seat. Go for a daytime table over the diques.
Reserve direct; daytime terrace table.
3.Sorrento del Puerto
An old-guard seafood and pasta house on the dock; reserve it for fresh fish by the water.
Sorrento del Puerto sits on Dique 4 in Puerto Madero, a long-running Italian-Argentine room known for fresh fish and handmade pasta with a dining room and terrace onto the dock. The kitchen leans seafood, the day's catch, a seafood risotto and pastas, alongside the expected grill, at Puerto Madero prices. It is one of the district's older names, a notch more formal than the casual market rooms, and the still water of the dique sits right outside. Think of it as a Buenos Aires version of a Genoese harbour trattoria, the Ligurian sea swapped for a port basin. Reserve a window or terrace table for fresh fish by the water.
Reserve direct; window table for the fish.
4.La Parolaccia del Mare
Handmade pasta and seafood behind dock-front glass; try it once for a window table at night.
La Parolaccia del Mare runs on the Puerto Madero waterfront with large windows facing straight onto the dock and the promenade, the seafood arm of a long-standing Buenos Aires Italian group with more than three decades behind it. The kitchen works handmade pasta and Mediterranean-style fish and seafood, the seafood linguine and grilled catch the orders, at mid-district prices a touch under the steakhouse row. The dock-front glass and the lit promenade carry the evening. It plays like an Argentine reading of a Venetian lagoon-side dining room, pasta and fish over still water. Try it once for a window table at night, when the diques and the bridge light up.
Reserve direct; window table at night.
5.AlPorto Ristorante
Pizza and pasta on a dock terrace with the bridge in view; pencil it in for a sunny lunch.
AlPorto sits right in front of the Puerto Madero dock, an Italian room whose terrace is among the most emblematic seats on the waterfront, the Puente de la Mujer and the still dock water directly ahead. The kitchen keeps it simple and well made, wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and antipasti, at the more approachable end of the district's prices. It is the dock's easy, sunny-day option, less occasion than the steakhouses but with the same postcard view. Think of it as a Buenos Aires harbour version of a Naples pizzeria with a water table. Pencil it in for a sunny lunch and a terrace seat.
Reserve direct; terrace seat at midday.
6.Happening
An upscale parrilla on the dock for the big steak night; fly in for it once over the water.
Happening holds a corner of Dique 4 in Puerto Madero, an upscale parrilla in the classic Buenos Aires mould with a dock-front room and terrace over the water. The grill is the point, prime cuts of Argentine beef, the bife de chorizo and ribs cooked over wood and charcoal, with cold starters and a strong wine list, at the upper, occasion end of the district. It is the dressier alternative to Las Lilas on the same stretch of water, a steakhouse that treats the dock view as part of the show. It plays the part of a Buenos Aires chophouse with a harbour seat. Fly in for it once over the water and order the beef rare.
Reserve direct; dock-front table for the grill.
Avoid for a view
The tasting room that closed
Chila. Chila spent years as Puerto Madero's serious tasting-menu room on Avenida Alicia Moreau de Justo, but it closed at the end of 2023. Listings linger online; for the dock view, book Cabana Las Lilas or Sorrento del Puerto instead.
Postcard prices, ordinary plate
Puerto Madero charges the city's highest prices for cooking that is often only ordinary. For the best parrilla in Buenos Aires you go inland to Palermo or San Telmo; come to the docks for the water and the bridge, and order simply rather than chasing a tasting menu.
Reservation strategy for a Puerto Madero dock table
Puerto Madero is laid out along four numbered docks, the diques, so book by the water rather than the street. The restaurant row runs mostly along Diques 3 and 4 on Avenida Alicia Moreau de Justo and Macacha Guemes, with Cabana Las Lilas, i Central Market, Sorrento, AlPorto and Happening on Dique 4 and La Parolaccia del Mare on Dique 3. At every one, the seat you want is a terrace or window table facing the dock and the Puente de la Mujer, so ask for it by name when you reserve.
Lunch and dinner each have a case. A midday table gives you the white bridge and the still water in daylight; an evening table trades that for the lit promenade and the towers reflected in the dique. Weekend tables fill first, so reserve several days out, and be honest with yourself about value: Puerto Madero runs the city's tourist-premium prices, so order the grill or the fish simply rather than the long menu. Getting there is easy by taxi or rideshare to the specific dock; the district is flat, walkable and well lit along the water after dark.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant with a view in Buenos Aires?
Cabana Las Lilas on Dique 4 in Puerto Madero is the dock's benchmark, a famous Argentine parrilla listed in the Michelin Guide with a terrace straight onto the water and the Puente de la Mujer in view. Order the bife de chorizo and book a terrace table for a long lunch over the dock. For seafood over the same water, Sorrento del Puerto is the old-guard alternative.
Where can you dine on the water in Buenos Aires?
Puerto Madero is the city's only real waterfront dining, a redeveloped port where restaurants line the old docks along the diques. Cabana Las Lilas, i Central Market, Sorrento del Puerto, AlPorto and Happening sit on Dique 4, and La Parolaccia del Mare on Dique 3, all facing the still dock water and Calatrava's white Puente de la Mujer. Ask for a terrace or window table facing the dock.
Is Puerto Madero worth it for dinner?
For the view, yes; for value, be selective. Puerto Madero charges the city's highest prices, and critics note the cooking is often only ordinary for the money. The docks and the lit Puente de la Mujer are genuinely the best water view in Buenos Aires, so come for that, order the grill or the fish simply, and save the long tasting menus for the kitchens inland in Palermo and San Telmo.
Where is the best steak with a view in Buenos Aires?
On the Puerto Madero docks, the two parrillas to book are Cabana Las Lilas, the Michelin-listed benchmark with beef from its own estancia, and Happening, the dressier upscale grill a few doors along, both on Dique 4 with terraces over the water. Order the bife de chorizo or ojo de bife rare, and ask for a dock-front table facing the Puente de la Mujer.
When is the best time to book a Puerto Madero table?
Both lunch and dinner work, so book to the view you want: a midday table for the white bridge and still water in daylight, an evening table for the lit promenade and the towers on the dique. Weekend tables fill first, so reserve several days ahead and ask for a terrace or window seat facing the water. Getting there is an easy taxi or rideshare to the specific dock, and the waterfront is well lit after dark.
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