Years ago… wow… probably like 20 years ago, thinking about it, I had this idea of opening a burger and sandwich shop with a menu of wines by the half bottle. I mean, nothing against craft beer and a burger, but I’m still more of a wine guy. Now, I was focusing on wines that came bottled in half bottles – just sort of a gimmick – rather than wine by the glass or full bottle or carafe. So, kind of cool to find a spot in BA that’s more or less doing my idea. The one big difference, they’ve got 20 wines on tap and serve them up in 330ml beer bottles – and, if by chance, you don’t finish yours, they have a crown cap machine and they cap them off, sealed, so you can take it home.
Amores Tintos, Gorriti 4202, Palermo. Now, despite the name, they do also have some white wines available, though reds are clearly the mainstay. The menu is short and sweet, a mixture of sandwiches, a burger, a few snacking items, and a couple of main courses.
Filtered water is served, gratis. And, I selected a wine to go with my lunch. Most of their on tap selection come from Viñas en Flor and Nevin wineries, respectively in Salta and Mendoza. I went for the former’s Cabernet Franc, which showed ripe raspberry fruit and a touch of green peppercorn. Easy drinking, nothing that required deep thought, matched well with the planned burger. 280 pesos, $3.25
Started off with a Malbec-braised beef empanada accompanied by a house made hot sauce. The former, good. No more than that. It really needed more than the beef and onion in it to perk it up, even just some salt and pepper, and it could have spent another minute in the fryer to get nice and golden brown. The hot sauce, excellent, albeit that it kind of overwhelmed the flavor of the empanada. 110 pesos, $1.25
And, the star of the day, the house burger. Perfectly cooked to my requested “rare”, like actually rare. Topped with smoked provolone cheese, egg, bacon, pickles, caramelized onions, red oak leaf lettuce, and tomato. The bun, slathered with mayo, could have been a little sturdier, but had good flavor and held up reasonably well. The beautifully cooked fries dusted with paprika, and… that hot sauce was the perfect dip. 450 pesos, $5.25
Okay, it’s the first burger of 2021, but it’s also the best burger I’ve had so far…. Actually, really good. It’s going to take some stiff competition to beat it.
Definitely recommended, and a spot I imagine I’ll be a regular at.
Hi Dan, I recognized you at this place when I walked by it but didn´t want to disturb you. I´m just a long time readed of your blog and have followed many of your recommendations so thank you for that.
My own experience with Amores Tintos wasn´t that good. They brought the wrong burger order twice (missing items) and after all I just didn´t think it was worth it. I may have to give it another try.
I wish you’d have stopped and introduced yourself, it would have been a delight to meet you! I would give it another try. It may be that early on they didn’t have their act together and it just took a while, but I was very happy with service, burger, and wine. The empanada was “so-so”, as I said, it really lacked seasoning, and the hot sauce, which was great for the fries, completely drowned out whatever flavor there was in the lamb. So, not perfect, by any stretch, but a nice meal.
I’d enjoyed Amores Tintos so much, that a couple of the people in the Horde wanted to try it – so deviating from our usual “places where none of us has been” approach, we headed over there one afternoon. Much wine, and…
A lamb burger, topped with sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, and chive cream cheese. Not nearly as enticing, nor as good, as the regular burger (which two of the group ordered) – just compare the photo to the beef one?!
An excellent salchicha parrillada – one of the trio of classic grilled sausages of Argentine asados, that also includes the chorizo and the morcilla. It’s actually my favorite of the the three, and coiled, grilled, and on a bun with lettuce, tomato, a fried egg, salsa criolla, and, a bit of that hot sauce from the lamb empanadas last time (which they no longer have, and the new hot sauce isn’t nearly as hot), made for a delicious lunch.
Really good, falling off the bone, barbecued ribs. Roasted instead of smoked, so missing that nice smokiness, but so tender, and, for a change in BA, the barbecue sauce was not candy sweet – it was nice and tangy and really good. The coleslaw needs some work.
And, we split a couple of molten center chocolate cakes with vanilla ice cream. Yum!
All in all, a great lunch, and a place I think all of us will be back to again.