4 Best Restaurants in San Salvador de Jujuy, The Northwest

The menu at this unassuming picanteria (restaurant specializing in spicy foods) has everything from trout to rabbit, but llama or quinoa are the dishes to try: give them a go as an empanada starter. Less adventurous eaters can sample one of the pasta dishes. Named after an Andean god, Viracocha has helpful staff, and the atmosphere amid the yellow walls and arches is happily relaxed.

Managing various restaurants around NW Argentina, including overseeing the Quebrada’s Hotel Huacalera, chef Walter Leal raises the bar in terms of Andean cuisine. Working with ingredients from across Jujuy including the highly elevated Puna plateau, his creations look to recuperate, then plate, these remote ecosystems. Star turns include cured trout with potato, red maize and a citrus marinade; and creamy quinoa with beets, goat cheese, arugula and avocado. Splash out on the tasting menu paired with regional wines.

Ponchos on the walls, old paintings, native artifacts, stucco archways, and Andean background music are clues that this might be one of the best places to sample authentic Northwestern cuisine. Try the locro: a stew of maize, white beans, beef, chorizo, pancetta, and a wonderful red pepper–oil glaze, all of which come together in a mélange of savory, starchy flavors.  Ask for a table at the back for a more authentic and less hurried dining experience.

For jujeña classics with an eclectic twist, head to Pan de Azucár, where an ample menu offers original concoctions of the local staple, llama—think curry, carpaccio, grilled fillet, or stuffed in ravioli. House specialties also include quinoa, pork, and pasta.