Clo Clo restaurant. A classy timeless tradition in Buenos Aires

Photo by Fabricio Portelli

There are many ways to experience a great city like Buenos Aires. Undoubtedly, tasting its cuisine is one of them. For sure you cannot be eating and drinking all day. So for tourists from here and there who love great food, planning the trip is basic.

Walking the city is all about senses and Buenos Aires is plenty of those inspirational places to visit. Luckily there is a restaurant with good food and better wine waiting in every corner for that sensitive break on your tour. That’s actually not a break, but an experience.

Clo Clo is one of the few modern – classic and classy Buenos Aires restaurants still standing. It is precisely because of its history which is not dedicated to be fashionable. Therefore it’s very difficult to read about it in magazines or websites where young people often leave their reviews. However this representative of the international cuisine with lots of Italian inspiration has recently received the major international award for quality of service and attention awarded by Global Trade Leader’s Club. This speaks to its essence as well as about its founder. Concerning on that ‘essence’ Victor Lozada (founder) has set up a spacious dining room from a huge house due to Italian tradition where receiving all the customers which over the years have became friends. So Clo Clo became one of the most popular family restaurants in Argentina.

Clo Clo’s riverside atmosphere

Surrounded by green gardens and close to the riverside of Río de la Plata, Clo Clo remains located at the same place since it was founded. Next to Buenos Aires city airport, Clo Clo is located where the most traditional and elegant grill restaurant used to be, this area is well known as Costanera Norte. Getting there is not easy, but it worth going. Picking a sunny day to stroll along the famous riverside pier would be a great idea. You can get there by taxi or bus from anywhere in the city, but the hop on- hop off touristic double-deck bus is the best choice to visit this unique corner in the city.

There are many attractions around to do before and after having lunch at Clo Clo such as visiting the Museo de la Memoria (Museum), Tierra Santa religious theme park or walking along the Paseo de la Costanera where enjoying the fishermen or being tempted with the choripan’s aromas coming from the traditionalcarritos (street food trucks). This has been the most visited areas for many years until late last century. Luckily it is now regaining its prestige.

Noisy outside contrasts with the peaceful indoor atmosphere. Clo Clo has several spacious areas, a lobby bar, a huge dining room for a hundred and fifty people and two private dining rooms for special events. All overlook the gardens, an unusual detail in Buenos Aires’ restaurants. One of the highlights of the place can be appreciated from the arrival and it’s all about hospitality. Fifty employers have been working there for more than twenty years. Karina Lozada (founder’s daughter) with her husband is now the CEO and they take care of hospitality as well as service. Ambiance and decoration have recently been modernized. Since the origin their commitment has been to make guests feel at home. And that is priceless for both local and foreign guests.

Sitting at Clo Clo tables means meeting Buenos Aires local traditions: you’ll find families with kids, business people and lovely couples enjoying the same experience at the same time. That is a great way to share and meet porteño’s lifestyle and local life (people from Buenos Aires city).

Clo Clo, a new generation

When you get to a restaurant where the chef has been working there for more than twenty years it assures an unforgettable experience. Raul Alvarez is the executive chef and he has evolving along the years due to the growing and vertiginous food world and local trends. As we know, Argentine families are mostly composed from Italian and Spanish immigrants and so that our food. In the beginning Clo Clo was a ristorante in all senses, with pasta as a specialty. Nowadays the menu mutated to international food with a hard focus on the product and its raw material. They produce their own organic garden where herbs and vegetables served come from. Colonial and classic with glass walls is the look and feel of the brand new wine cellar at Clo Clo restaurant.

Food & Wine recommendation at Clo Clo

A good starter at Clo Clo restaurant might be: Wrapped prawns in smoked salmon, ruccola and dill mayonnaise; Spanish octopus with mild olive and paprika or Loin Carpaccio, capers, olive oil and Parmesan (it is a classic for meat lovers). Argento Pinot Gris wine pairs nicely with any of those entries because it is a fragrant and refreshing white, but with body. Its vibrant palate is also consistent, adapting to those tastes and textures.

Photo by Fabricio Portelli
Photo by Fabricio Portelli

The menu is extensive and all the dishes are as generous as recommended. For those visitors who prefer a break from the grilled meats, the duo of pink salmon and tooth fish in oyster and ginger sauce is the best option. This dish is appreciated with an austere and elegant white, a wine that doesn’t play a main role because it is a pretentious dish: Argento Reserva Chardonnay is our recommendation. Another option may be the creamy mushroom risotto, an ideal meal to pair with a young Malbec: Fresh, lively and balanced in its fruit expression such as Argento Reserve. For meat lovers, the best is the loin wrapped in bacon, vegetables wok, alfalfa sprouts and braised endive, paired with Argento Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon.

Photo by Fabricio Portelli
Photo by Fabricio Portelli

The dessert menu is also extensive and representative; sharing a sweet tasting is hardly recommended. And if you dare, enjoy it with a glass of Argento Extra Brut; a friendly and fresh sparkling wine.


Photo by Fabricio Portelli
Photo by Fabricio Portelli

The end of the trip

Back home or to the hotel, with the sunshine of the afternoon hitting in the face; grab a room on the top floor of the bus; it will allow a break from the walk, even with the flavors of Clo Clo in your mouth. If you are lucky you will pass through some other corner of the city that will surely tempt you to your next culinary adventure.

We invite you to visit Clo Clo website.

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Fabricio Portelli
Fabricio is passionate about the wines and drinks, and fortunately lives in a great country producer. This allows him to further develop his passion and deep his knowledge about wines, especially the argentine wines. He has a Marketing and Communication Degree but also he is a Sommelier, so he find in “the wine” his perfect partner. Fabricio writes about wine, he has been writing for different magazines and also had his own: El Conocedor. Now, he runs his own multimedia (www.fabricioportelli.con & Lado V Tv) dedicated to the dissemination of the culture and nobility of the wine. And, as the same of wine, he believes that every new year he has the opportunity to renew his challenges, as every wine new vintage.


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