Loading page
Preview data: all rankings, scores, votes, refresh labels, methodology, testing and editorial-process statements in Top 49 are illustrative demo content, not live measurements or documented reviews.
Rank 042Up 2
#4 in Best Steakhouses
of 16 ranked entries
Don Julio
Buenos Aires, Argentina · est. 1999
A neighbourhood corner parrilla that grew into one of the most internationally recognised steakhouses in the world without changing its basic format — grass-fed Argentine beef over live coals, minimal seasoning, no interest in reinventing itself. The wine cellar wall of empty bottles signed by regulars says more than any review could. Recorded specifics: city Buenos Aires, opened 1999, avg. steak 35. Panel highlighted grass-fed Argentine beef with genuine, distinct character from grain-fed styles, live-coal grilling handled by cooks with real, visible expertise and exceptional value relative to steakhouses of similar international standing. The reservation on record is no reservations for walk-up tables means real waits at peak hours.
Parrilla
Score breakdown
How Don Julio earned 91.4
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Best Steakhouses.
- Meat quality & ageingweight 35%
- 89.3
- Cooking techniqueweight 25%
- 94.2
- Value at priceweight 20%
- 92.1
- Atmosphere & serviceweight 20%
- 90.7
“The empty-bottle wall now runs the full height of the dining room, added to one shelf at a time by regulars over more than two decades.”
— Top 49, on Best Steakhouses
On the record
Recorded detail
| City | Buenos Aires |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1999 |
| Avg. steak | $35 |
| Rating | 8.9 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- Grass-fed Argentine beef with genuine, distinct character from grain-fed styles
- Live-coal grilling handled by cooks with real, visible expertise
- Exceptional value relative to steakhouses of similar international standing
Where it gives ground
- No reservations for walk-up tables means real waits at peak hours
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
Ranked alongside it
Rank 01Editor’s pickPeter Luger Steak House
Brooklyn, New York, USA · est. 1887
No menus for the porterhouse, cash preferred, waiters who have worked there for decades and will tell you what to order whether you asked or not. Still dry-ages and grades its own beef in-house, a level of control almost no steakhouse this size still bothers with.
96.5/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
Rank 02Editor’s pickAragawa
Tokyo, Japan · est. 1967
A ten-table restaurant that sources a specific bloodline of Tajima beef in quantities so limited the restaurant will simply be out of steak some nights. Grilled over binchotan charcoal by the owner’s family, largely unchanged since the 1960s.
94.2/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
Rank 03Editor’s pickCUT by Wolfgang Puck
Beverly Hills, California, USA · est. 2006
Puck’s answer to the classic American steakhouse comes with a modernist dining room and a beef programme that runs from Midwestern prime through Japanese Wagyu on the same menu, priced accordingly. A genuine power-dinner room in a city built around them.
92.8/100 Top 49 score2Down 2
Rank 05Editor’s pickHawksmoor
London, UK · est. 2006
Brought the American steakhouse format to London and built its own supply chain of native-breed British beef rather than importing American product, dry-aged on-site for weeks. Expanded into a small group without losing the sourcing discipline that made the first location work.
89.5/100 Top 49 score—No change
Rank 06La Cabrera
Buenos Aires, Argentina · est. 2002
Portions arrive with a small parade of side dishes — chimichurri, creamed corn, mashed potato, apple sauce — that most parrillas skip entirely, turning a simple cut into something closer to a full spread. Palermo’s most consistently packed steakhouse for a reason.
87.1/100 Top 49 score3Down 3
Rank 07Smith & Wollensky
New York City, USA · est. 1977
A green-awninged Manhattan institution that helped define the modern American steakhouse revival in the late 1970s, and expanded into a group without diluting the sourcing at its flagship. The dry-aged strip remains the order regulars actually make.
87.0/100 Top 49 score—No change
Rank 08Fogo de Chão
Porto Alegre, Brazil · est. 1979
Southern Brazilian rodizio format — skewered cuts carried tableside continuously until a card is flipped from green to red — turned into a genuinely different way to eat steak, less about one perfect cut and more about range and pacing. Expanded globally without losing the format’s core discipline.
84.7/100 Top 49 score—No change
Rank 09Nusr-Et Steakhouse
Istanbul, Turkey · est. 2010
Built around chef Nusret Gökçe’s viral salt-flick fame more than most steakhouses would ever admit, but the Ottoman-style beef and gold-leaf-topped tomahawks are real, and so are the prices. A genuinely theatrical dining experience whether or not that is what you came for.
83.4/100 Top 49 score3Down 3
Explore more of Top 49
Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.