El Gaucho. Argentinean Steakhouse
http://www.elgaucho-aruba.com

El Gauch has fantastic steaks, but be forwarned - they are huge! The Sangria is delicious. That said, I don't like the atmosphere (very noisy), prices are high and I feel the steaks were just as good at Madame Janettes.

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This place had some of the Best Steak I have run into in a long time. Forget the Shrimp Cocktail - way over priced for what you got. Liked the Mariachi(sp) band that came to your table. I sung to my wife one of the songs they were playing ( not pretty).

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I lead with my Heart and my Body follows

Dan & Sweet Georgene

As you can tell from my name, El Gaucho is a definite on my all-time list. Must haves at some point: Sangria, El Gaucho Sampler, and the 32oz cut.

As for atmosphere: low lighting, hide covered booth seats, very art-decco
(in a S. American Steakhouse type of way) Enjoy your meals...

We stopped going to El Gaucho about 4 years ago because we thought the staff was friendlier & service/atmosphere was better at the French Steakhouse. In my opinion, the food at both places is about equal... excellent!

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Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.
Mark Twain

We had asked to be seated in the small front room (it is quieter). They have redone this room since last year and it is very beautiful. There is now a large table at the end of this room, set off for some privacy. The chairs are now small booths with very cushiony seats; maybe a little too cushiony as my feet couldn’t reach the floor. We wanted to get a pitcher of Sangria, but I was worried I wouldn’t like it. The waiter brought me a small amount so I could try it first. It was good, but not quite as yummy as the one at Salt & Pepper. We ordered a medium pitcher. The steaks no longer come with a salad, which was fine for me, as I don’t like any of their dressings. We both ordered the Gaucho steak and Chris ordered a side salad to start. The garlic dipping sauce was amazing, as usual, as was the perfectly prepared steak. The corn, potatoes & broccoli were all excellent. We were too full for dessert (too full of Sangria!) even though we each only ate ½ of our steaks and took the rest back with us (the waiter also gave us a small container of the garlic sauce). $81 with service included.

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-Amy B.
www.inaruba.homestead.com

Best steak ever.


Seriously.

Great steaks and fantastic Sangria!

We've been going to El Gaucho for 20 years, and still love it. We try and go twice during our trip, but have to go a few nights before we leave Aruba. We always order the Churrasco, and have never been disappointed. We've also never finished the Churrasco -- but boy, what great steak sandwiches the left overs make! The reason we always have to arrange a visit shortly before we leave, is we love to bring steak sandwiches to the airport with us. We pack a cooler bag with the yummy steak sandwiches and some Amstel Brights, and we sit at one of the tables in the duty free area and enjoy our last meal in Aruba until our next trip. The airport hassle just seems easier after our delicious lunch.

This is my husbands fav. Can't leave Aruba without going! I would like to try Rio's next trip but its hard for hubby to sway somewhere else when he knows where its good.

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"These are a few of my favorite things"
...Elisa

we went to el gaucho 3 times. the first time was amazing. the second was just ok. the third was a group of about 10 people and every meal was terrible. nothing was cooked as requested. the veggies were soggy. the waiter was rude. i have not been able to convince murray to ever go back there after that. we have now been to rio twice and this last visit was even better than our first.

Good to know...we never made it there in May and hope to finally get there this Nov. Where is Rio by the way? (should have asked this on the Rio thread, whoever knows can answer me there if you'd like, sorry)

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"These are a few of my favorite things"
...Elisa

We go every year and always enjoy our meal however, it's getting too big (now seats over 400!) and too noisy. At one time it was great and very reasonably priced, now it reminds me of the Hilltop with higher prices. This year was probably our last visit there.

We go here every so often and this year we were very disappointed. Service was terrible. We ordered salads, they never came, they gave them to us with our meal after we reminded them two times. They never brought us sauces for the meat, asked for them many times, and the meal was just ok. We had much much much better experience at Rio's.

We enjoyed our dinner very much. Service was great, food was great. In reading some of the reviews about service, we were there at 6:00pm and it was not crowded.

I think ElGauch is a random hit or miss. Might be great sometimes, might not even be good other times. I guess it's like most restaurants around here. (With the exception of Texas Road House of course)
Bill

Just Returned And Very Disappointed At El Gaucho. Upstairs Serviced By Elevator Was Closed. Very Noisy, Waiteer Messed Up Our Drink Order And Never Straightened In Out. Dinner Used To Include Salad-no Longer. Prices Were Up A Nd Service Down. No Comparison To Madame Jenette.

We went there the first week in April and I was disappointed. My meat was rather tough and the atmosphere was so loud that we didn't enjoy our food at all. Won't return on our next visit.

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NancyP

We had the same experience. The service was terrible. The place was noisy even though there were only a few tables occupied. We couldn't hear the waiter or each other. Plus it seemed cramped and uncomfortable despite being so empty.

Our steaks were tough, too.

I really don't have anything good to say about the place. We never have gone back, never will.

Sadly, our El Gaucho dining experience in March was not good. Have been hearing more and more negative comments about El Gaucho over the past several months. Going back in June, El Gaucho has been crossed off the list.

We went after a long time off from it, in Oct last year. Food is still great, but something was missing from the experience/attitude. You use to get salad with your meal and were disappointed to see that was not included anymore. There are way too many other places to go to. I would go here but only if I had first timers traveling with us.

We enjoyed this restaurant but we enjoyed the Cigar bar across the street even more. We took a picture that was posted in some cigar websites.

I am on the left my wife Jackie then our friends Linda and Mike

AWESOME picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers,
Ellen

My family and myself were in Aruba last February/March for 4 weeks but
we passed on El Gaucho.
The previous year we found out that they had been closed down more than once.
No one would say why when we asked.
After they were closed down is when they renevated.

Excellent dinner and sangria as usual!

Went there twice over our vacation (July 1-15) and El Gaucho was better than EVER. Simply superb in every aspect. Don't miss it.

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John L

Our meal here was outstanding! The steaks were cooked to perfection, and the sides (veggies, rice, potatoes) were perfect. The dipping sauces and onions they serve to accompany the steaks were fantastic. This was our favorite meal of our entire trip.

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The Sun and the Sand and a Drink in my Hand...
First trip was October 8-13, 2006.
Hoping our next trip will be October 2007!

We had an excellent experience recently. Although they got rid of the salads, they added on a 3rd item that you can order to go along with your entree that you can choose from. The portions were huge, so plan to go hungry! Service was excellent.

After a short wait we were taken to our table, a small both for 4. Wow stop right here. I had requested a .. table for for 4 ( Not a booth please)... made reservation online well in advance. Confirmed by Riri. Follow me please... back to the bar. There I'm told that I did not make a reservation requesting a table. Only seating available right now was a booth. At that point I pulled out my e-mail confirmation. After a slight apology.I suddenly had a table for 4. Meal was ok. I wanted the porterhouse and was told only 1 left and it didn't look very good. Ok made another choice. Brother-in-laws was overcooked. He should have sent it back. We did buy 2 steak sauce gift sets to bring home. $23 each I think

Great Steaks But If They Are Too Busy The Food And Quality Of Service Suffers

Besides their regular menu El Gaucho's will be offering special holiday menus for the month of December.

EL GAUCHO – 2007 HOLIDAY LUNCH MENU

EL GAUCHO – 2007 HOLIDAY DINNER MENU There are 4 different special dinner menu's.

just returned las week, having two reservations at el gaucho. the prices have risen dramatically, food was ok, service slow. the lettuce wedge, which used to come with a meal, is now a pricey option. we had requested upstairs, using the elevator since it is much quieter. were told they were not busy enough to open it up. cancelled the second reservation and went to cook's

Too hard to find--too loud---too expensive--not very accommodating......
not worth going to

Believe my husband got food poisoning there Wed nite. Within 1 hr after returning to our hotel, he was throwing up and only feeling better today. Think it is the wooden platters they serve from. Can't be sanitary. Think this place is off our list.

funny you should mention the wooden platters. it is one reason we don't go there. even steam cleaning wood doesn't stop the bacteria from forming again.

Went there once about 5 or 6 years ago and even then thought it was way over-priced and the service was horrible and the food worse. Have never returned.

Went went 2 weeks ago...
Meal was fair. Daughters ribs were the best out of 12 meals ordered.
Rest of us had just ok meals. We probably spent $750.00 between us all..
Something that really, really bothered us there...We asked for salt and pepper shakers. I will admit they are nice. They gave us one set for 12 people...yes, they watch them like hawks. People must steal them, because b4 they cleared the table they came looking for them back. Not only did the waitress come back, about 4 other people working there came back and wispered amongst themselves about them. Yes, one was on the floor from the kids...however, it wasn't very nice of them hovering over us wispering.
SO,would I return, absolutely NOT !!!!

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[B]20th visit September '15, 21 visit December '15]
22 June '16

Aka. Cindyo

We went to this restaurant our last vacation. We have heard they serve the biggest steaks. So we had to try this restaurant. We did not had a reservation and that seems to be a problem but after 2 minutes we sit at the table.

The food was really great, I had the famous El gaucho steak. The rumor seems to be true. This was the biggest steak I have ever seen. And it tasted really good.
After a while the restaurant gets more crowded and the waiters get stressed.
After our dinner we left with a nice experience in our memories. But I think I will not visit this restaurant again. There are better restaurants on the island.

In July we were told by the manager of another restaurant that the chef from El Gaucho just walked out-they did not know where he was and they were with out a chef. From the above post I guess they found a replacement.

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LynnS

Overall a very very dissapointing experience. This is clearly not a restaurant on part with establishments in most major US cities. The service was particularly poor. It was slow and disorderly, provided by a callous staff with poor understaning of the dining experience. The ambiance was chaotic. The food however was the largest dissapointment. The steaks were dry, flavorless and overall very low quality. Do not dine here.