settling down, a couple things come up.
first, the price of leather goods. they're cheap, of good quality, and can be found in the street markets which occur regularly. San Telmo on Sundays, Boca daily, Recoleta Saturdays, there's more i missed. high quality bags or belts will also be there, prices will vary from shop to shop and even more if you're being tourist taxed (see: no price listed and they come up with it on a whim that's very out the ordinary). bear in mind i still didn't bother with things like leather jackets or shoes because frankly i don't have any reason to get a leather jacket and i have more than enough shoes here. wallets and belts though? very useful and nice stuff to find.
second, i already mentioned the pro and con to the beef but i should go more in depth: if you order meat in a restaurant just go for the best cuts. steak and egg is a common one you'll find in the more overpriced section and is never worth it. hell, eggs are priced similar to
here
in the US, same for all fruits and veggies. that part's surprising really, a lot of basic groceries were
not
cheaper but similarly priced, maybe within a dollar. restaurants meanwhile are priced way, way cheaper and meat in particular will be a better value there. there's some exceptions, i did go to one of the high ends and had an absolutely
fantastic
shrimp sandwich but this was a good $100 USD for 2 dinner, with a couple drinks involved. over here i could see that be double the price and that's roughly what the high end essentially is - half price for similar quality as you'll get in the US (didn't do the 2 star michillin place but that's also how they price themselves, 0.50 - 0.75% US equivalent). for more standard places, mentioned it already but can easily be found for $40-50 for a meal for 2, drink included. do bear in mind however that the more authentic it is, in Buenos Aires anyway, the less salt and spice you'll find. even their milaneses which are prided on, breaded meats, will lack in flavor. some exceptions will exist, high quality sandwich shops in particular will be better at it, but note that difference. pork meanwhile, much easier to have in those standards. choripan is just chorizo and bread and you'll be good, common enough street food to find for $2-3 USD. more than that, you're being tourist taxed. also empanadas are great, at a consistently good price, where the price range is $0.60 - 1.20 USD. those actually
will
have spices and things inside to add to flavor, so i don't really get why the restaurants are the way they are. oh, burgers are a great one too - don't need to do much to that kind of meat, it's extremely tender, and great cheeses exist over there too so they end up being a great bang for buck every time. highly recommend burgers.
do however, mind terminology. bife de chorizo = only beef, it's a strip steak/New York strip. steak scallop = no actual scallops, just steak. i don't understand
how
the second exists but it does and it's disappointing. did also try other country foods there to see how they compare, Japanese is meh, Chinese is meh, Venezuelan is good, Colombian is good. Pizza there
usually
sucks but i did find a spot which was actually genuinely amazing and it was at a great price, in an area within Boca.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.