It Began as One Booth Selling Only Meat Empanadas. Now 18
Revised October 29, 2026
What is Argentina’s signature dish?
Asado. Argentina’s government tourism site calls it the great protagonist of Argentine cooking: more than a meal, a whole ritual around the grill. But the Argentine dish with a St. Louis origin story is the empanada. TANGO Argentina Food began in June 2000 as one festival booth at Bissell House selling only meat empanadas, and now makes 18 kinds, cooked to order. Its house chimichurri comes in 2, 4 and 8 oz sizes.
Keep reading ↓One booth. One filling. In June 2000, Hector Aberastury, known as the “empanada man,” and his wife Stella set up a small booth at the Hispanic Festival at Bissell House and sold only meat empanadas. Today TANGO Argentina Food makes 18 kinds, with spices and dough imported from Argentina.
They’re still cooked to order. The dough drops into the oil with a hiss, then a crackle, then the low, steady bubble that means the crust is turning gold. The air smells like hot pastry and onion. A carry-out store came in 2016 and a full restaurant in 2021. It’s at 2418 W Clay St in Saint Charles, just across the Missouri River.
The country famous for steak reached this table by pastry. Most Argentine food guides start you at the grill. Here, the Argentine meal you can walk into starts with a plate of palm-sized pies and a quiet argument over which filling won. One festival booth, one filling, and now a menu long enough to need a plan. This is the plan.
What is Argentina’s signature dish?
Asado. Argentina’s government tourism site calls it the great protagonist of Argentine cooking: more than a meal, a whole ritual around the grill. But the Argentine dish with a St. Louis origin story is the empanada. TANGO Argentina Food began in June 2000 as one festival booth at Bissell House selling only meat empanadas, and now makes 18 kinds, cooked to order. Its house chimichurri comes in 2, 4 and 8 oz sizes.
On a menu, asado usually means a parrillada, a mixed grill set in the middle of the table. Asado de tira is the crosscut short rib. Vacío is flank. Bife de chorizo is the strip steak. Entraña is skirt, thin and quick to char.
TANGO doesn’t build its menu around the grill. It’s built on empanadas, milanesas and Stella’s desserts, the Argentine kitchen you visit for the pastry, not the steakhouse. The grill piece you can carry out is the sauce: house-made chimichurri in 2, 4 and 8 oz sizes, mild or spicy.
Start with the empanadas, and order them by the dozen
The crust shatters first, then the steam hits your lip. That’s the whole lesson. TANGO’s classic meat empanada is seasoned ground beef with green and red peppers, onion, egg and olive, and the menu lists it mild and spicy. It’s the one every Argentine kitchen gets judged by, so it’s the one to taste first.
Then go sideways. The beef and raisin is the sweet-and-savory one that surprises people. Creamy corn is whole and creamed corn with onion, white sauce and a blend of parmesan, romano and mozzarella, comfort food in pastry form. Butternut squash with onion, mozzarella and parmesan reads odd on paper and tastes like fall. Tuna and mackerel with peppers is the light one.
How many? One reviewer quoted on TANGO’s own site said they’re palm-sized and ordered a dozen for a table of three. That’s the right instinct. The menu backs it up, too: buy one or two dozen and get 10% off, or take 15% off at three dozen or more. Mix the fillings, split them down the middle, trade halves.
Which empanada should you try first?
Start with the mild meat empanada, because it’s the benchmark. Second, the beef and raisin, to feel the sweet-savory pull that Argentine cooking loves. Third, something you’d never order anywhere else, like the butternut squash or the creamy corn. The menuMeat-free picks include the five cheese, the spinach, and the onion and cheese.rsquo;s vegetarian list opens with the five cheese: mozzarella, provolone, mild cheddar, parmesan and feta.
A mixed dozen is the move for a table. Ask for the fillings to be marked, or you’ll end up biting into each one to find out. Eat the first one standing if you have to. They’re best in the few minutes after the oil, when the crust still crackles under your thumb and the filling is hot enough to make you wait. Take the rest home and they reheat fine in a dry oven, never the microwave, which turns that shattering crust soft and chewy.
One more habit worth stealing from the counter crowd: pair a mild one with a spicy one of the same filling and taste them side by side. You learn the kitchen fast that way, and you learn your own limit even faster.
The milanesa is the plate that fills the table
You hear it before you taste it, the knife grinding through a breaded crust. Milanesa is thinly pounded beef, hand-breaded and fried until it’s golden, and it’s the plate an Argentine grandmother makes when the family shows up hungry. TANGO also makes the chicken version, the suprema: thinly pounded chicken, hand-breaded and fried until golden.
The napolitana version gets topped with tomato sauce, ham, melted cheese and oregano. The fugazetta goes the onion route, caramelized onions under melted mozzarella. The provoleta version carries melted provolone, roasted red pepper and oregano. For sides, papas con huevos is potatoes folded soft with eggs, and the ensalada criolla is crisp romaine, tomato and sharp red onion.
Milanesa or milanesa napolitana?
Both are worth your time, but they hit differently. Plain milanesa is the crisp, no-fuss cutlet, all crunch and beef. The napolitana buries it under ham, sauce and cheese and turns a light plate into a heavy one. Cold night and an empty stomach? Napolitana. Saving room for Stella’s desserts? Keep it plain.
Either way, share it. A milanesa is wide enough to hang over the edge of the plate, and the table works better when it sits in the middle with a knife beside it. Squeeze lemon over the plain one if there’s a wedge on the plate. The bright acid against the hot, salty crust is what makes the plate sing, and it cuts the richness enough that you finish the whole thing.
How do locals eat asado?
Slowly, and in an order the asador controls. The grill gives up its food in waves: sausages first, then the bigger cuts, so the table picks and drinks for a while before the main event lands. Nobody serves themselves from a buffet line. The meat comes to you when it’s ready, still spitting.
Chimichurri is the sauce that matters, and it goes on with restraint: a spoonful over a slice of beef, not a flood. It’s green, garlicky and sharp with vinegar, and it lifts the fat instead of hiding it. A jar of TANGO’s on a St. Louis backyard Weber gets you most of the way there.
Three dozen empanadas a month and a gut that keeps filing complaints? That’s a signal worth checking.
How do Argentines finish a meal?
With dulce de leche, almost always. It’s milk and sugar cooked down into a thick, glossy caramel, and at TANGO the desserts are made in house by Stella. The panqueques are thin crepes rolled around it, drizzled with chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar. The flan comes topped with more of it. The spoon sinks in slow.
The mini alfajores de maicena are the ones people talk about on the drive home: two soft cornstarch cookies sandwiching dulce de leche, rolled in shredded coconut, two to an order. There’s also helado de dulce de leche, two scoops of homemade dulce de leche ice cream served with two imported Argentine Opera cookies. Want to take Argentina home? The in-store Almacén keeps a rotating selection of imported Argentine sweets and pantry finds.
Then comes the part with no food at all. Sobremesa is the table talk after the plates clear, coffee poured, nobody moving. For a lot of Argentine families this is where the meal actually lives. Let it happen. The empanadas were the excuse.
The Argentine table runs on Malbec and mate
Malbec is the pour that made Argentine wine famous, dark and plummy and built for beef. TANGO pours Malbec from Trapiche and Alamos, both from Mendoza, plus the La Posta Tinto red blend and La Posta Armando Bonarda. You don’t need to know wine. Say what you’re eating and let them steer you.
A simple rule if you’re on your own: red with the beef empanadas and the milanesa, something cold with the cheese and corn ones. The first sip of a dark red after a bite of hot, peppery beef pastry is the pairing that sells the whole cuisine.
Mate is the other national drink, bitter and earthy, usually passed around a circle at home in a shared gourd. TANGO serves mate cocido, an infusion made with yerba mate, hot or cold, so you can taste it without the ritual. The braver order is Fernet mixed with Coke, served in a 16 oz glass - bitter, sweet and herbal all at once.
Before you drive out, know the schedule. TANGO is at 2418 W Clay St, Saint Charles, MO 63301. Its posted hours list Sundays and Mondays as closed, so call (636) 757-3076 before you drive out.
Argentine cooking sits inside a bigger Italian story, since so much of Argentina’s kitchen came over with Italian immigrants, which is why milanesa and provoleta feel familiar here. Planning a whole night out? These two guides pair well:
- A local’s guide to the best restaurants in St. Louis
- Where to eat on The Hill, St. Louis’s Little Italy
Hungry now? Bring a friend and order by the dozen. Find and compare Argentine restaurants across the metro on St Louis Near Me Directory, from Town and Country to Valley Park, check the menu, and call ahead to confirm hours before you go.
If you’re the family behind an empanada counter, a festival booth that grew up, or a kitchen that still imports its own spices, your story is exactly what hungry customers want to read before they drive across the river. A Gold listing gives your menu, photos and story a home where diners search, and Platinum doubles what Gold includes. Put your kitchen in front of more customers.
Frequently asked questions
What is Argentina’s most famous food?
Asado. Argentina’s government tourism site calls it the great protagonist of Argentine cooking. Empanadas run a close second and travel better, since you can eat them anywhere, which is exactly how TANGO got its start at a St. Louis festival booth. If you want one dish that says Argentina to the world, it’s beef over open coals, shared slowly.
What is the Argentinian national dish?
Argentina’s government tourism site calls asado an activity rooted in national traditions, standing for the whole grilling gathering rather than one cut. Some people give the nod to locro, a hearty corn-and-meat stew tied to national holidays. Both count. Asado is the everyday icon, and locro carries the patriotic weight.
What is a typical Argentinean breakfast?
Light and sweet, nothing like a big American plate. Coffee or mate with a couple of medialunas, small croissants with a sweet glaze, is the classic. Toast with butter and dulce de leche shows up too. No bacon, no eggs, no rush. Breakfast stays small because dinner runs late.
What do they eat for dinner in Argentina?
Beef leads, whether it’s a grilled steak, a mixed parrillada or a milanesa cutlet. Pasta shows up often thanks to Italian roots, and empanadas cover a lighter night. A simple salad like ensalada criolla rounds out the plate. It’s a substantial meal, eaten late and stretched over a couple of unhurried hours.
What are the etiquette rules for eating in Argentina?
Keep both hands above the table, fork in the left and knife in the right, and wait for the host to start. Never rush the meal or ask for the check the moment plates clear. Pour wine for others before yourself. If someone passes you the mate gourd, sip it and hand it back.
What time do most Argentinians eat dinner?
Late, by St. Louis standards. In Argentina, dinner commonly starts well after the hour most Midwestern families have cleared the table, and weekends run later still. Here, plan around the restaurant’s own hours instead: TANGO’s posted hours list Sundays and Mondays as closed, so call ahead before a late run.
What is chimichurri made of?
Chimichurri is a raw sauce of chopped parsley, garlic, oregano, olive oil and vinegar, with red pepper for warmth. TANGO’s mild chimichurri is big on garlic and parsley with just a whisper of heat. Its spicy chimichurri adds a bold kick of red pepper. It’s tangy and herby, made to lift grilled beef without burying it.
Is Argentine food spicy?
Not really. Argentine cooking leans savory, salty and herb-forward rather than hot, so heat-shy diners can relax. Where heat exists, it’s a choice: TANGO lists its meat empanada in mild and spicy versions, and its chimichurri the same way. Order mild first, then dare yourself.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.