View Full Version : El Yugo - Ayacucho 1629
Ayacucho 1629 I believe, almost on the corner of Ayacucho and Las Heras.
Ive been to this place a zillion times since its so close to my apartment. Its a basic parrilla (grill) restaurant.
I think the food has gone downhill. Ive gotten some poor steaks recently, including the scrawniest, most tasteless, quarter-inch-thin "bife de lomo" in the western hemisphere a few days ago.
They made a relatively minor price hike fairly recently which isnt surprising since their prices were quite reasonable (about p17 for a bife de chorizo).
I don't think I'm the only one who has noticed the decline in beef quality there. Recently I walked by the place (10pm Thurs) and it was 70% empty. Not so long ago there was often a line for dinner Thurs-Sat. 30 meters down the street, RodiBar was packed (I do not recommend RodiBar).
I believe the principal owner is the same guy, but his partner? changed a few months ago. I'm referring to the older guy I usually see at the cash register. I think the decline started around then. I used to always get "comped" somehow due to being a good customer - no charge for my coffee or afterdinner shot of gin or something. They stopped doing that.
Its too bad because El Yugo is kind of an old favorite of mine. Just a simple little place but the waiters are great and the bife de chorizos were usually good. I always drank more than I ate anyway.
I haven't been there in a couple of months but the last time it was still very good. I always thought the bife de lomo was better than the bife de chorizo. The salad bar is lame. The noquis are good.
Have to agree with all who posted. El Yugo is an excellent Parilla. The food is great, especially considering the price, and the service is also excellent.
For those who haven't been there, don't be nervous when you find the door is locked and you have to be buzzed to get in. I guess the owner, bald guy who sits by the door, is overly nervous. I have never seen nor heard of any problems there.
Suerte,
Stowe
Tonight I wanted a nice piece of meat, and tried El Yugo. It is convneiently located just around the corner from Jackson's apartment, and when I arrived around 10 pm, it was packed, full of locals (good sign - see El Alemán's first rule of good eating places) I had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.
I had an ojo de bife, and it was excelent. Tender, tasty, just as it's suposed to be. On par with what I have seen the other day on the plates beside me in La Gran Taberna.
Caveat: this is one of the few places where they cook your steak the way you order it. I made it a habit to alway order one point to the rare side than I really like it, because in 99% of all cases it gets overcooked. My precompensation has a high hit rate. Not necessary here!
Acompanied by half a bottle of a Weinert Malbec / Cabernet, then a coffee. And off to some more adventures to take care of tha lots of protein I just consumed.
Next stop for the night: Jaz Pub
I, too, follow El Alemán's under-ordering strategy in the US, at least in unfamiliar restaurants, but have found it totally unnecessary in Argentina. Most places get it right. I've previously commented on how I have never seen an incorrectly cooked steak at El Yugo. I always try to peek at my fellow diners' steaks, which may be annoying to some. Sorry.
Well how much can be posted about a parilla? Visited tonight and the bife chourizo was 18p. Ordered medium and arrived med rare, well over a pound, Not a problem for me as I enjoy all but rare or well done. The salad bar is modest and for me ample. Beats the same-o, same-o salada mixta at most places; priced at 7p. Carlos was my waiter and he has a certain entertaining flair and speaks ok English for those who know little Spanish and a good request for same. Clientele tonight was at least 50% what appeared to be wealthy Recoletta widows or a reunion of the Recoleta High cheerleading squad from the class of '37. Cubierto a mere 2p, a deal. The seats and tables suck esp if you're a big guy. No lemoncello gratis as per El Establo. The guy tending the register is a trip--everything served by waitstaff is passed by him for his OK before being served. Front door still locked and all need to be buzzed in.
Funny, that.
Had lunch there today and ordered the "oro de bife" as recommended by Pappa. Ordered it jugoso and it was just great, couldn't finish it as it was too large and I had overdone the salad bar. Total bill with salad bar and agua con gas was 28.5 pesos.
I ate supper last night with my fellow mongers Punter127, Sante Fe and Papa Benito! I normally get the Bife ala Pimenta and crema papas. I took Punter's suggestion and got the Ojo de Bife. It was REALLY tender and the salad bar is one of the best I have come across in all my visits to Bs As.
This steak has become one of my Argentine favorites. I have enjoyed it many times at numerous steak houses in town. I believe tha El Yugo has maybe one of the best. It costs $24 pesos and that encludes the crema papas. I added their salad bar and coca for less than $35 pesos and had a good supper with 3 fellow mongers.
Coach
Dined here recently. Salad bar, and a half order of lomo. One of the nice things about Yugo is the ability to get half orders of some popular cuts of beef. Not everybody can eat 400g of lomo at every sitting. Mine was flavorful and tender, and a relative steal at 14 pesos for about 200g. Ordered jugoso and came out apunto (medium rare/medium). On the other hand, my companion's medium rare came out rare. You could still see the whip marks from the jockey. But he loved it. And the difference in mine wasn't enough to complain about, though if you're the picky sort you should keep this in mind when ordering.
Friendly waiters as well. Recommended if you're wanting a basic meal in a basic neighborhood establishment in Recoleta. Two blocks away on Recoleta Restaurant Row the same meal will be at least twice as expensive.
El Yugo has become one of my favourates as well. It is the sort of restaurant one would love to have in his neighborhood anywhere in the world: unpretentious, reasonably priced, just plain good food. Not the place where you go for a fancy dinner, but the place where you go because you don't like what's at home in the fridge, but you are sure not to be disappointed.
It is, btw. Easy to spot these places: they are always full, and always full of locals.
Cut of my choice in El Yugo: the ojo de bife. Jugoso. Argentineans tend to cook their meat more than Americans, an "al punto" steak in Bs. As. Reminds me more of "medium well" than medium in the States, and one I order jugoso often comes more medium than medium rare. If you really like it bloody, tell them you want to hear it cry moooh, and hold it with the fork so that it does not jump off your plate. This worked in El Yugo, and elsewhere.
El Alemán
Save yourselves a trip as the place is closed for summer vacation. Reopens Jan. 19. So says a sign on the door tonight.
Rock Harders
06-30-07, 18:28
Mongers-
I ate here a few days ago with a group of board members and in my opinion this place has gone to shit. I ordered 2 porcions of bife de lomo and it was very good; however the people surrounding me ordered regular or half porcions and the size of the steak was extremely weak. Some of the diners ordered full size cuts and were brought halves and they forgot one of the member of the group's meal entirely. All in all very disorganized and not a value bet anymore. L'Alliance is a much better spot in my opinion.
Suerte,
Dirk Diggler
Well, the only thing I can say about El Yugo is that it is still a very good place to eat, particuarly for the price, in my opinion.
I'm not sure if I was there at the same dinner, but I was there with about 11 other guys (maybe it was 10) a few nights ago and had a great experience.
We ordered chorizos and grilled provoleta as starters and drinks and apetizers were all brought quickly and were very tasty.
A couple of guys that I was sitting near ordered half portions, but the two I talked to who did said they did so because they weren't very hungry - after all, you usually order a half portion knowing that it's smaller. They certainly didn't look undersized to me. I only heard one guy compain about the quality of his steak, that it was tough, but at time that can happen. However, he told the waiter and the waiter took it and replaced it fairly quickly.
The guy sitting across from me did have some problems with his meal. It came late and was underdone in some places. He ate around the underdone spots and asked the waiter to recook the underdone part. It was returned very quickly and was not then overdone - both of which can be unusual in BA, but the waiters were very attentive and very helpful (which is another reason I like El Yugo)
I had the pepper steak (lomo a la pimienta) which was absolutely exquisite. The guy sitting next to me did also and couldn't say enough good about it. And the papas a la crema, also, were superb.
I go to El Yugo an average of twice a week. One of my favorites is the mixed brocheta, which is always very tasty. I am very rarely disappointed there.
The only thing I can say about almost any dining experience here in BA is that it's rare not to have a bad experience at times almost anywhere you go. With a group of twelve people, I think they did pretty good the night I was there.
I've been living here for 6 months and visiting since September 2006. El Yugo is one of the few places I go that has rarely disappointed me.
I haven't eaten at L'Alliance yet - the recomendation certainly sounds good and I plan on trying it soon.
Try the Beef De Lomo at L'Alliance, its the best in town for the money.
Exon
As long as it goes directly from the grill onto your table without any detours!
Besides this comment and back to topic, El Yugo always has been one of my favourate places, the "neigborhood parilla" I would love to have within 3 to 4 blocks from my apartment. I will certainly give it a few more tries, it would be a shame to see it dissapear.
Mongers-
I ate here a few days ago with a group of board members and in my opinion this place has gone to shit. I ordered 2 porcions of bife de lomo and it was very good; however the people surrounding me ordered regular or half porcions and the size of the steak was extremely weak. Some of the diners ordered full size cuts and were brought halves and they forgot one of the member of the group's meal entirely. All in all very disorganized and not a value bet anymore. L'Alliance is a much better spot in my opinion.
Suerte,
Dirk DigglerGreetings everyone,
I think it's a little early to start declaring the death of Yugo's. The place is one block from my apartment, so I've been eating there for years. I was also in the dinner group with everybody last week, and on that night the food was great, including the appetizers, the lomos and the side dishes (great papa de crema). The issue apparently was some lack of communication in taking the orders in which several guys were served half portions of bife de lomo. It was still a good piece of beef, but it wasn't any bigger than a golf ball, thus the justified complaints. Of course the staff re-ordered additional bife de lomos for everyone, which were served hot off the grill a few minutes later.
BTW, L'Alliance still wins the "Best Bife de Lomo" award.
Thanks,
Jackson
Aussie Marc
04-21-08, 18:46
I had dinner at El Yugo the other night, my first parilla experience in the capital. I got it off Jacksons Tip Sheet, and chose this one primarily because iot was priced at $$ and was closeish to where I am staying.
Being my first outing in BA, I had nothing to compare it with at the time, but I left feeling a bit disappointed. The sertving of Ojo de Bife was pretty small (yes I did order the full portion) and the meat wasnt what I would describe as being trimmed enough, and wasnt cooked to the standard I wanted. (I am still trying to work out if "apunto" equates to the "medium rare" back home.
The service, though, was top notch.
Steak, bottle of simple wine, two coffees and a postre came out to be around 80 Pesos.
Looking forward to trying L"Alliance tomorrow night.
Jaimito Cartero
04-21-08, 18:51
I had the same cut a couple of weeks ago, and didn't find the meat as good as last year. I'd probably try the lomo or bife de chorizo next time.
I dined here about four times last week and found the food and service to be quite good. I had the the bife de chorizo (about 325gr) a couple of times and a tasty matambrito de cerdo which was a generous portion and quite lean but not too lean. The provoleta oreganata and chorizo were also good but it's hard to mess those up.
Only two waiters remain from the old days and one is now general manager. All are excellent servers and nice guys.
Prices up the standard 50% since 2006 but a good midlevel value IMHO. Actually I think the place improved since my last report. I can remember it being less consistent then.
Ate there this evening. It doesn't open for dinner until 8pm so get yourself on Argentine dining hours. I had the full size llomo for 36 pesos. The salad bar is now 16 pesos and small by US standards, but one of the better I've seen here. A 1/8 bottle of red wine for 14 pesos brought my total bill to 73 pesos with the table fee and water. I also ordered papas fritas, but did not recieve them. I had to ask to have them removed from the bill as well. Over all the meal was very tasty and a steal by US standards, but not nearly what L'Alliance was. Ramiro, please reopen!
Cheers,
PcDude
It appears that Yugo has closed. This was a moderately priced and pretty decent parilla in Recoleta, where anything moderate is not that easy to find.
They were still trying hard last week and I thought the food and service had even gotten better recently, but apparently it was not enough. R. I. P.
I never had an under-sized meal there. The meat varies at times, but like most places in Buenos Aires you have to know what's good. I know guys who ONLY order the same basic thing every time, like a bife de lomo or ojo de bife and that leads to much more disappointment than "real meals" usually (I've mentioned this to various people who complain about meals in places, while I'm sitting back and really enjoying my order, but for some reason many guys can only eat steaks) El Yugo really had much better things to eat, like lomo a la pimienta, pamplonas, brochettes, etc. Some of the best of anywhere I've had in BA. They also had a couple of meals I've never found elsewhere.
I was just in there a couple of weeks ago and talking to the staff. I asked them how business was and while they admitted it wasn't all that great, they hadn't given any indication that they were on the verge of closing.
If this is the case, I am very sad.
Rockin Bob
05-11-09, 20:58
Yeah the Yugo was great.
I passed by there the other day and noticed the pool hall next door was closed as well. Master 8 (not Masturbate! Was a great place, open until dawn, with good tables, great staff.
Must be some sort of Ayacucho curse!
Those two places closed so quick - maybe it's just a temporary "Clausurado" for that "Corner".
The pool place has been open for ages and I often wondered how they stayed in business without regular customers.
It was really disappointing to hear that El Yugo may have closed; I was a regular there for nearly 10 years. I'll admit the food wasn't always reliable but it was a great local place with excellent service. And they always gave me a free double shot of vodka/gin after every meal.
Cops, The CockSuckers.
Moore Knows.
Moore.
Rock Harders
05-12-09, 11:03
Mongers-
As the local business personality with the largest tally of "clausurados" under his belt, I can tell you that if either of these places are indeed "clauserado" by the GCBA (gobierno ciudad buenos aires) there will be a white sign with red letters posted on the door saying so. I can tell you from experience, that even if either of these place is only temporarily "clausurado", they will probably never reopen, as the process to get a "clausurado" lifted is tedious and time consuming and requires money, something that it appears neither of these establishments have been earning. Even during a clausura, owners must pay rent, salaries, utilities, etc, PLUS whatever fine the city assesses for whatever violation led to the clausura. The process is truly something out of a Franz Kafka novel.
Suerte,
Rock Harders
What government / business issue in Argentina isn't tedious and doesn't require considerable time and money?
Why should you not have to pay your overhead during the short period?
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