5 restaurants with live music in Salta

Peña Los Cardones sits on Balcarce Street, the heart of Salta's peña district, and opens from Monday to Friday, eight in the evening until two in the morning. The venue built its reputation on live folk music, with young performers carrying forward a tradition passed down through generations of Salta musicians. 

Sets typically move between chacareras, zambas and cuecas, alongside Andean rhythms carried by charangos, bombos and wind instruments, following a program closer to tradition than to a staged tourist show.

On the food side, the menu follows the regional repertoire expected in a Salta peña: hand-cut empanadas, locro, tamales and grilled meats, paired with a wine list built around the province's high-altitude vineyards.

The address is Balcarce 922, within walking distance of the other peñas along the same street, which makes it easy to combine with a walk through the area before or after dinner.

It is much more than a peña, La Casona del Molino is an authentic encounter with the folklore of Salta. The occasional artistes bring their guitars and drums and the show is “armed” while the rest enjoy the food and the improvised show.

The shows do not follow a script, the people present join the peña to enjoy the dance and music. It is a very different experience from the traditional peñas.

The Casona del Molino is visited by many Salta people who love folklore, traditional songs sound as well as the best songs of Los Nocheros, El Chaqueño Palavecino and Los Huaira, among others.

This restaurant is a colonial house from the VXIII century. Its spacious rooms decorated with period objects: lamps, paintings, piano and furniture dating back to that time. It has adobe walls and rustic ceramic floors, the tables are arranged in these rooms and in the same way in the patio that has a great charm. It is outdoors, next to the fig tree and the grill.

You can eat the richest empanadas in Salta, made with the typical recipe; knife-cut meat and seasonings from the valleys. Other recommended foods include kid stew, Andean potatoes and tamales. Delicious Cafayate malbecs and the traditional sangria (alcoholic drink prepared with pieces of fruit, soda, some liquor and sugar) are offered to drink.

For dessert, the mix of sweets with cheese is a delicacy that is only offered here, and another must-see is the Salta nougat with dulce de leche!

Also known as Rincón del Olivo, this peña occupies a colonial building on Caseros Street, in the historic center of Salta, with views toward the bell tower of the San Francisco church. Its courtyard is built around an olive tree estimated at more than a hundred and fifty years old, which gives the venue its name and sets a quieter, more intimate mood than the busier Balcarce corridor.

The musical program favors guitarreadas, the informal folk jam sessions typical of the region, performed in a setting that blends colonial architecture with contemporary decor and draws both residents and visitors.

The kitchen serves regional staples such as empanadas, tamales and cazuelas of lamb or humita, accompanied by wines from the northern wine region. The venue is located at Caseros 342, between Deán Funes and Lerma streets, and generally operates daily from around seven in the evening until midnight, though confirming hours in advance is advisable since they can shift with the season.

With an impeccable decoration that evokes the culture of folklore and the bohemian, La Vieja Estación delights its guests with the best regional dishes of its gourmet high mountain cuisine.

Every night the outstanding local bands play to the rhythm of guitars, drums and bandoneons: Los Dos, Peñeros, Salta 3, Son Ellas, Noelia Carrizo, Coqui Rios, endiabla2, Solo Alquimia, La Mystika, Matias Peña.

In addition to enjoying a delicious meal, you can also encourage yourself to rehearse some dance steps with the dancers and sing along with the music.

The most recommended dishes of the place are the grilled tenderloin with millefeuille potatoes and the juicy Salteño empanadas with potatoes. I recommend accompanying them with the varied wines of Salta that the house offers such as the Bad Brothers, San Pedro de Yacochuya and Gran Linaje wineries.

And for dessert, a must is the pumpkin in syrup with walnut or the sweet of cayote with cheese. The flan with dulce de leche or cream and the brownies with meringue and dulce de leche also stand out.

At criteria from the locals, el Boliche Balderrama (San Martín and Esteco) is the oldest rock and considered a place of “Guitarreada, possessed and bohemian”, through which important figures of folklore passed national as Jaime Dávalos, Villegas Sato, the "Cuchi" Leguizamón, Manuel J. Castilla, Hugo Aparicio, Díaz Bavio. 

 This old house with patios in the exterior was crowned with the presence of the artist Mercedes Sosa and Jorge Cafrune, who they say stayed until dawn singing, drinking and painting the walls. In this restaurant you will not only to be able to try the typical dishes of the region but you will listen to music live (folklore, zambas and chacareras) and experience the culture that surrounds Jump.

If you visit this peña, the star dish is the Salteñas dumplings that have the peculiarity of having raisins, beef fat, scallion, meat, onion, potato and red bell pepper. Others Recommended dishes are el locro (tripe, pork, legumes and vegetables) and the grill cuts such as roast beef, ribs and steak chorizo.

For savoring the dishes, the house offers its wide list of red, white and sparkling wines. They also have a great variety of craft beers.

For the dessert, the most recommended are the glasses of very creamy ice cream, the most The chosen ones are: dulce de leche, dark chocolate and American cream.