Why Do Argentines Eat So Late? The Story Behind Argentine Food Culture

If you come to Buenos Aires from London, one thing becomes clear very quickly: Argentines do not seem to be in a hurry to eat dinner.

At 6pm, when many people in London are already thinking about what they are having for dinner, Buenos Aires is still in the middle of the afternoon.

At 7pm, cafés are busy. People are meeting friends, having coffee, finishing work or simply sitting and talking.

Dinner comes later.

Much later.

In Buenos Aires, eating dinner at 9pm is completely normal. At weekends, 10pm or later is not unusual. The official tourism site of Buenos Aires describes prime dining time as around 9:30pm and later on weekends, with restaurants commonly serving dinner until after midnight.

So why do Argentines eat so late?

The answer is not simply that they have different clocks.

It is because food in Argentina is closely connected to the rhythm of the day — and to the people around the table.

The Argentine day has its own rhythm

A typical Argentine day does not follow exactly the same eating pattern as a British day.

Breakfast is generally light. Lunch usually comes around the middle of the day, and then there is an important gap before dinner.

This is where merienda comes in.

Merienda is the late-afternoon meal or snack that helps bridge the long distance between lunch and dinner.

It might be coffee and a medialuna. It might be toast, a pastry, an alfajor or something savoury. It might be mate shared with friends.

But calling it simply an “afternoon snack” does not really explain it.

Merienda can be a social occasion.

In Buenos Aires, cafés have traditionally been places to meet, talk, read, work, argue, flirt, catch up and simply sit for a while. The city has more than 70 officially recognised historic cafés and bars known as bares notables, many of them part of Buenos Aires culture for generations.

The food gives people a reason to sit down.

The conversation is often the real meal.

Merienda: the meal between meals

For someone from London, merienda can be difficult to explain.

It is not quite breakfast.

It is not lunch.

And it is definitely not dinner.

It occupies its own space.

A coffee with something sweet in the late afternoon may seem small, but culturally it can be important. It is a pause in the day — a moment to sit down, meet somebody or simply take a break.

And this is one reason the Argentine eating schedule makes sense.

If you have something to eat at 5pm or 6pm, dinner at 9:30pm does not seem so strange.

There is time between meals.

There is time to talk.

There is time to live.

So what happens at dinner?

Dinner in Argentina is often later than visitors expect.

Restaurants in Buenos Aires commonly begin dinner service around 8pm, but locals tend to arrive later, with 9:30pm and beyond being a normal dining time.

But the hour is only part of the story.

Think about an Argentine asado.

The fire starts before the food.

People arrive.

Someone opens a bottle of wine.

The first chorizos might go on the grill.

There is bread, perhaps provoleta, perhaps something to eat while the meat cooks.

People talk.

The meat cooks slowly.

Someone checks the fire.

Someone arrives late.

More conversation.

Eventually, the food reaches the table.

The meal is not simply the final stage of a process designed to get everyone fed.

The process is part of the meal.

The official tourism site of Buenos Aires describes the asado as a social ritual involving fire, food, wine and conversation.

That tells you something important about Argentine food culture.

Time is one of the ingredients.

The table doesn't end when the food ends

There is another Argentine word worth knowing: sobremesa.

It describes the time spent at the table after eating, when the meal has technically finished but nobody is ready to leave.

The plates may still be on the table.

The wine is still there.

The coffee may arrive.

And the conversation continues.

The official tourism site of Buenos Aires describes sobremesa as a social ritual based on staying together after the meal. Its wonderfully informal guide to the tradition even describes the table as the place where stories, jokes, opinions and completely unrelated conversations can continue for hours.

This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between eating and dining.

You can eat very quickly.

But you cannot rush a good conversation.

And in Argentina, the conversation is often considered part of the experience.

Why does Argentine food feel so European?

There is another part of the story.

Argentina's food culture was shaped by many different influences.

Buenos Aires in particular was transformed by immigration, especially from Italy and Spain, and those influences remain visible in the city's food.

Pasta.

Pizza.

Bread.

Pastries.

Coffee.

Ice cream.

The café.

But Argentine food did not simply copy European food.

It changed.

European traditions met local ingredients, local habits and the enormous food culture of Argentina's different regions.

The result is something of its own.

That is why Argentine food can sometimes feel familiar to Europeans while still being unmistakably Argentine.

The Argentine government describes the country's gastronomic culture as a meeting point of traditions, histories, influences and regional diversity. A major national project developed with Google Arts & Culture also explored Argentine cuisine through its people, landscapes and traditions rather than treating food simply as a collection of recipes.

Buenos Aires is a city built around cafés

To understand Argentine food culture, you also have to understand the café.

Buenos Aires has a long café tradition. Its historic bares notables were meeting places for writers, musicians, artists and political figures, and many remain part of the city's cultural life today.

You can order a cortado and a medialuna, sit at a small table and watch the city pass outside.

Nobody needs to explain why you are there.

You are there to have a coffee.

And perhaps to talk for an hour.

Or two.

This is a different relationship with food and drink from the idea of grabbing something quickly and moving on.

The food you eat depends on the hour

One of the interesting things about Argentine food culture is that different foods belong to different moments.

A medialuna and coffee can belong to breakfast or merienda.

An empanada can be lunch, dinner or something eaten between the two.

A choripán belongs naturally beside a grill, a football match or a gathering.

A milanesa can become a family dinner.

An asado can occupy an entire afternoon and evening.

Mate can appear almost anywhere.

There is no single “Argentine meal”.

There is a whole rhythm of eating.

And then there is mate

You cannot really talk about Argentine food culture without mentioning mate.

Mate is more than a drink.

It is part of a social ritual.

The gourd, the yerba mate, the hot water and the bombilla are only the physical parts of it.

The important part is what happens around them.

One person prepares the mate, drinks it and passes it to another person. The gourd comes back, more water is added and it goes around again.

The conversation continues.

The mate continues.

Again, the important thing is not only what is being consumed.

It is the time spent together.

Food is part of the social fabric

Perhaps this is the simplest way to understand Argentine food culture.

Food is rarely only food.

It is connected to family.

To friendship.

To football.

To weekends.

To celebrations.

To cafés.

To the neighbourhood.

To immigration and history.

To memories.

The Argentine government has described the country's gastronomy as a space for meeting, connection and integration, where different traditions and histories live together around the table.

That is why dishes such as empanadas, asado, choripán, provoleta and milanesa have meaning beyond their ingredients.

They belong to people's lives.

What does this mean for Argentine food in London?

London runs differently.

People eat breakfast on the train.

Lunch can happen at a desk.

Dinner might be booked for 6pm because there is a theatre show at 7:30.

Everything moves quickly.

And perhaps that is one reason Argentine food works so well in London.

An empanada is convenient enough for London life. You can eat one at a market, take one home or share several with friends.