Restaurants
Interestingly, I was in Buenos Aires for 3 and 1/2 days, but I ate at the same restaurant for 3 nights on a row, it was just a friendly neighborhood restaurant kind of place in Palermo, at the corner where Gallo meets Paraguay. Its name is Restaurant Los Amigos, like its name, I felt like the server did treat me like an amigo. The food was good, not very expensive. The place may look a bit old, but it was never crowded (I went between 6pm and 8pm). After a long day of sightseeing, it felt kind of good to just sit there quietly, have a cold drink and some grilled chorizo. I didn't speak much Spanish, the server was very patient to try to understand me or recommend me something by adding a lot of body language to explain what kind of meat I am ordering. I just felt really welcome there. I wish I remember his name, but it is a small restaurant, he pretty much is the only one who serves. So, for those who wasn't good with Spanish and stay near the area, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Another restaurant was in La Boca area, there were so many restaurants in La Boca, most of them were heavily touristy. I mean if you eat there, most likely, it is not for the values, but for the some photo op for some tango dancers.
Restaurante Los Amigos
Address: Paraguay 3100, Buenos Aires
Phone:+54 11 4963-8674
Tours
I did not join any local tour in Buenos Aires, since one really don't have to. There are a few must see for me: La Boca, Recoleta Cemetery, Obelisk are among the top of my list. A day trip to Colonia in Uruguay is also recommended. Galaria Pacifico was a beautiful mall, not that I would buy anything there. Big ben clock tower near Retiro and the train station looked fantastic at dust, so does the Puerto Madero at dawn. Buenos Aires is just one of those cities, you can explore it as short as 2-3 days or up to a week or more, if you are interested in nightlife and all that.
Transportation
The subway is good, 4.5 Argentinean peso a ride. Buses are even cheaper. It is not really that bad once you get a hang of its system, how to get on and pay your ride. The difficult part is to figure out what bus lines go to where, and what roads they are going to be on. For both subway and bus, it would be a huge advantages to get a SABE card (transport stored value card). If you are staying with a local, or someone from Airbnb, definitely ask about it and see if they can get you SABE card. Otherwise, you must have the exact change (in coins) to get on a bus, that can be a bitch. Comparatively, the tourist bus day pass or taxi are quite expensive than the subway or regular local buses, I believe the tourist bus day pass is about 240 peso for the first day, then 170 peso for each day after. Taxi drivers can be sneaky sometimes, and they would say you need to pay subcharge for the bag, or they try to not use the meter. I try to avoid taking the taxi, but sometimes it is unavoidable. If you do rather taxi, it might be wise to look at the map ahead of time, and kind of get a sense how far your destination, and recognize some street names, so don't just let the taxi driver to take you as long as they want.
Accommodation
For Buenos Aires, I definitely recommend to find something on Airbnb, in neighborhood like Palermo or Recoleta, you can find some really nice apartment or studio for very very reasonably price. I stayed with Diego Coria, super nice guy, extremely helpful and understanding about traveler. He has not only let me use his SABE card, he also provided me a sim card for my unlocked cell phone. He lives in the same building, if you need anything, advice, special arrangement on check-in and check-out, he would totally work with you. I was so lucky to have bumped into him on Airbnb. His studio apartment was clean, quiet, homey. Love it! Totally recommended.
Diego Coria
Airbnb profile: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/1751072
