Argentina has a large Italian influence. It is therefore not surprising that they do a couple of Italian foods quite well - gelato, pizza and pasta specifically. I had been lucky enough to eat the delicious Italian-style thin pizza at La Mesita Grande in Patagonian Chile and the exceptional pasta at La Mamma in Puerto Iguazu, but Buenos Aires porteño pizza had another reputation in itself as a thick cut heavily cheesed beast that made it a local variation and specialty.
El Cuartito and Guerrin are two of the big name pizza arenas. Of course there are many others, but those two seemed to be the most commonly mentioned. Guerrin is listed in the Eater 38 BA recommended list but El Cuartito seemed to have the slightly better reputation with my online readings. Both are located close together and near the central tourist area just west of the Obelisk so made it easy to pay a visit.
At about 4pm the place was half-full with only middle-aged and older locals enjoying an impressive amount of pizza. It made for a good atmosphere amongst the sporting memorabilia dating back many many decades and the TV showing sport. I have no doubt it would be a great place to have pizza, drinks and watch some national sport.
Fugazzeta (yes, double-z and one-t) is the national type but known to be an impossible feat to finish a whole pizza of it. I didn't realise you could order half-half pizzas here (I saw some locals doing it) or I may have been tempted but I'm glad I didn't. One slice of it was enough (ARS31) - a thicker crust topped with an insane amount of thick melty cheese and topped with fried onions. It was a satisfying slice more akin to drunk food than sober food, but one was definitely enough.
El Cuartito (seasoned tomato sauce, ham, mozzarella cheese, natural tomato slices, sweet peppers, garlic & parsley, baked eggs, parmesan grated cheese & green olives) ARS190 for a small was a more standard set of pizza toppings other than the hardboiled eggs.
After that a slice of Anchoas (ARS25) finished off the meal with a double seasoned tomato sauce and fresh looking anchovies (with skin attached at least) and potent salinity - just how I like it.
The thick crust is one of the defining factors in porteño pizza. It was reminiscent of the thicker crust from the cheap nasty pizzas in the 1990s like Pizza Hut, with the difference being a nice crust, chewy insides, good seasoning and not saturated in oil and high quality toppings. I do fancy a good thick crust these days (like the types in NYC) although I daresay the NYC crust had a nicer crunch, seasoning and some extra oil.