Suarez 396 (corner of Av. Almirante Brown), La Boca

[Also has branches at Av. Corrientes 1300 (City Center), Av. Rivadavia 5401 (Caballito), and Av Pueyrredon 123 (Once)]

Pizza is a serious business in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires was largely built on huge amounts of European immigration around the turn of the 20th century, with the large majority coming from Italy, not Spain, as many would believe (they came in second). In fact, according to a Yale essay on Argentine Immigration:

“Between 1857 and 1958 the main source of immigrants to Argentina were Italy and Spain accounting for 46 and 33 percent, respectively, of the total. The rest of the immigrants were made up of different nationalities, including French, German, British, and Irish.”

This amounted to almost 3 million Italians in that period, most of which arrived in the massive rush between 1880-1916. I never thought I would be quoting a Yale essay while talking about a plain old Pizza joint, but there you go.

The Italians and La Boca

Most of the Italians arrived into the port of La Boca, and they liked it so much, they stayed there. La Boca has since then been the main Italian community in Buenos Aires. In fact, the famous football team that plays here, Boca Juniors, has “Xeneizes” written on its shirt, which means “the Genoese” (people of Genoa, Italy), in an old Genoese dialect.

What do Italians love to eat? Pizza, pasta and ice cream. All of which, of course, are abundantly available throughout Buenos Aires. Some of it, arguably…controversially, better than back in the homeland (I can’t really comment, as I have only been in Italy once for a week, and Argentina for two years, but I have at least definitely had better ice cream / gelato in Buenos Aires than I did in Florence or Rome). And where better to sample Italian food in Buenos Aires, than in the main Italian community here, La Boca…

So, first up in my series of reviews of Italian food in Buenos Aires is Pizza, and a place in La Boca with a lot of history: the Banchero Pizzeria. As the tag line on their napkin pictured above says:

“Today a lot of places make Pizza. We created it…”

Quite a dramatic claim. Of course, it isn’t strictly true: Banchero in fact invented a type of Pizza that has since been popular in Buenos Aires.

The history of Banchero Pizza

Don Agustin Banchero arrived from Genoa to Buenos Aires in 1893, to try his luck in Argentina. He soon became one of the first people to sell Pizza in Buenos Aires, starting a little bakery with his son Juan in calle Olivarria, where the “Fugazza Con Queso” was born! (Fugazza was a Genoese invention of a sauceless pizza topped with caramelized onions, oregano and seasoning. It tastes nicer than it sounds! Banchero added the cheese, and this version is now more widely known as the Fugazzetta).

This was surely one of the defining moments in Argentine culinary history! And I say that without a hint of sarcasm, readers. Pizza is that important here.

Son of a Pizza maker

Agustin’s son, the Don Juan of the Argentine Pizza world (literally, that’s his name, Don Juan Banchero), soon took over the dough mantle from his father, and on 28th March 1932 opened the traditional Pizzeria Banchero here in La Boca, which he ran with his sons Tito and Antonio. The Banchero family are all about the Pizza. Note how I am using Pizza with a capital P!
Pizzeria Banchero soon became famous for it’s heavenly slices of pie, and yet more famous after stars like Argentine singer Tita Merello and ‘national-institution’ painter Benito Quinquela Martin began to hang out here on a regular basis.

It is still in the Banchero family, but has since ‘branched out’, adding three other locations, including a branch near the Obelisk on Av. Corrientes 1300.

But what about the Pizza?

Well, the Pizza is great. Deep dish, with LOADS of lovely gooey mozzarella cheese. I didn’t go for the Fugazzetta this time, because I wasn’t feeling particularly Genoese. What I did have instead was a ‘Chica Calabresa’, which is an individual sized Pizza topped with lots of mozzarella, tomato sauce, tomatoes, slices of calabresa sausage (a bit like Argentine chorizo sausage, only a little spicy, and interestingly with a faint hint of aniseed to it) and green olives. Have you ever seen a Pizza in Buenos Aires without olives?

It came in at a reasonable 15 pesos, and was way more than enough for one person. Here it is, in all its gooey mozzarella glory:

Nice prices…just don’t ask for Coca-Cola

There are also cheaper options if you are with company, for example at 17 Argentine pesos for the Grande Muzzarella, you will have more than enough for two people. Throw in a couple of AR$1.50 slices of Faina, a chickpea based pie that is eaten on top of a slice of Pizza here in BA, and you are set. Now, what to drink…?

Most groups of porteno friends like nothing better than a few large mozzarella pizzas washed down with a few litre bottle of Quilmes beer. Quilmes are one of the sponsors of Boca Juniors, so that is also a very safe choice of beverage in La Boca, where they are CRAZY about their football.

If you want a soft drink, you need to be a little more careful. Whatever you do, DON’T ask for Coca-Cola. See, one of the other Boca Juniors sponsors in Pepsi. And Coca-Cola just happen to sponsor their arch rivals in the north, River Plate. There is no love lost between these two teams and their supporters. Trust me, they want each other’s blood.

So, be warned. Asking for a Coke in La Boca is tantamount to slapping the waiter’s lovely old Italian grandmother in the face. If you value your life, do the sensible thing and choose Pepsi. Or a mineral water. Don’t believe me? Have a look round the cafes, bars and restaurants of La Boca and see how many serve the more famous alternative to Pepsi Cola, whose name shall not be spoken in those parts…!

A strangely eerie restaurant

So, some lovely cheesy Pizza and a Pepsi Cola, great. And the restaurant itself…?

Always deserted.

At least when I’m there, anyway. Most of La Boca has a sad, run-down, ghost-town quality to it these days, aside from the small touristy area around Caminito, as a result of there being very little work on offer in this area. Banchero adds to the deserted feeling; it’s like walking into a restaurant in a seaside resort during off season - and you wonder how, or why, they are still open. Maybe it’s because they feel they have a duty to continue the family tradition of providing the highest quality Pizza to the Argentine public. Or, less romantically, maybe the city center branch is where the profits are made, with the La Boca location kept on for authenticity’s sake.

All in all, Banchero is a great place for some top quality Pizza in Buenos Aires. It is one of my favorite Pizzerias, but not out and out my favorite - I can think of at least two others that probably edge it for that crown, which I will of course be reviewing sometime soon.

Banchero Pizzeria: the verdict

• Service: (4/5) As there is never many people to serve, the waiters are very attentive and friendly, and the service is extremely quick. Though I hear that the opposite is the case in its busy city center location.
• Food: (4/5) Delicious thick slices of Pizza topped with loads of lovely gooey Mozzarella cheese…mmmmmmm…
• Atmosphere: (2/5) About a dead as a River Plate fan that forgot where he was and asked for Coca Cola in a La Boca restaurant…the waiters are nice though, so they get some points for that.
• Value: (4/5) At 17 Argentine pesos for a mozzarella Pizza that easily feeds two, it is very good value for money.

Buenos Aires Travel Guide Special Tip

If you go late at night, which I would probably advise against, make sure you get a Radio taxi, because it is dangerous to walk around La Boca at night, especially for tourists. Probably best to be safe and go here for lunch, when it is just as safe as the rest of Buenos Aires.