Lunch on a Budget in Uruguay

Posted on February 18, 2007
Filed Under Montevideo, Food and Drink, Expat Tips | Leave a Comment

You are in Uruguay, it’s lunchtime and you are on a budget. Where do you go?

In Montevideo, many restaurants offer a menu ejecutivo which usually includes bread, salad, a fixed entrée and a dessert (and sometimes a glass of wine or bottle of water) for a fixed priced. The day’s offering is often displayed on a sign outside the restaurant. Prices range from 80 to 160 pesos per person depending on the caliber of the restaurant.

Lunch can also be had at many other types of establishments. They come in variety of styles and may be called a number of things, but on average will involve two or more of these words: bizcochería, minutas, chivitería, sandwichería, rotissería, pizzería, repostería, bar. Although each of those words has a specific meaning in Uruguayan Spanish, when you see two or three of those words together on a sign, it means one thing: you can probably eat inexpensively here.

Most of these places have tables and a waiter, but in a much more casual atmosphere than a restaurant. Some may have a counter with stools where the regulars sip coffee or more likely, discuss soccer over a few drinks.

By far the best bargain in Uruguay is the milanesa a dos panes which is a large breaded steak served with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on two bread rolls. It can easily feed two people and costs between 70 and 90 pesos. It is, therefore, much cheaper than the ubiquitous and delicious chivito, which costs between 80 and 110 pesos and feeds only one.

Other inexpensive alternatives include the chorizo al pan, and the húngaras which are grilled sausages on a bun, the first on a french bread roll the second on a soft bun. Panchos, or hot dogs, are very inexpensive and popular with the kids. A pancho con mozzarella is grilled in the oven with some cheese and el marcianito is a variation with ham and cheese. Refuerzos are also popular, consisting of a french bread roll filled with cold cuts. What is normally called a sandwich in the US is called an emparedado in Uruguay, that is, two slices of soft form-bread with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato etc. An emparedado caliente is a breaded version, which is then toasted or fried. A sandwich in Uruguay uses very thinly sliced white soft bread, without the crust, usually filled with one or more of the following: jamón, queso, paté, pasta de jamón y huevo duro, atún, palmitos, etc. A sandwich olímpico is similar but with three or more layers of thin slices of bread. Empanadas, tortas, pasteles and quiches are available in many places at reasonable prices. Pizzas are also common and fairly inexpensive. Figazza is like a pizza but with boiled sliced onions on top. Fainá is a tasty pizza-looking thing made with garbanzo bean flour, olive oil and toasted in the oven. It is quite cheap.

Lunch can be made much more interesting by ordering a cerveza de litro or una jarra de vino (half a liter), for another 60 pesos or so.

Lunch on a Budget in Uruguay

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