I'd Skip Dean & Dennys After This Disappointing Burger Experience in Argentina

It was the last Friday the 13th of 2026, and as horror fans, we wanted to celebrate it with good food, scary movies, and maybe a photo or two with Jason Voorhees' famous hockey mask. I'm the one wearing the mask.

We considered ordering from Pork and Roll, but they weren't available until 7:30 pm. Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue, except that a massive storm front was set to hit Cordoba City that night. This meant delivery would have been difficult, if not impossible.

Well, we didn't want to risk not having any food to eat during our horror movie marathon, so the hubs started looking through PedidosYa (a food ordering app) to see if there was anything new. He stumbled on a restaurant called Dean & Dennys.

It definitely didn't sound Argentine, which was perfect! In fact, the name reminded me of a food market and cafe in the States called Dean and DeLuca. The main difference was that Dean & Dennys isn't a food market, and they don't sell coffee, pastries, or other baked goods. Unlike Dean and DeLuca, Dean & Dennys is a burger and fries restaurant.

Now, a common misconception is that Dean & Dennys is an American franchise. It's not. I did a little research and discovered that four Argentines came up with the concept after visiting New York. I guess they were inspired by various U.S. eating establishments and supposedly wanted to bring that experience to Argentina. Their business started in Buenos Aires and eventually made its way to Cordoba City.

That's fine. We didn't really care who the owners were or where they were from, as long as the food tasted good and was fulfilling.

Unfortunately, we knew something was off the moment our order was delivered and we saw how small the bag was. We thought they might have forgotten to put everything inside. There was no way two burgers, three orders of fries, an order of mushroom bites, and nuggets could all fit in there. 

But when we opened the bag, we realized that everything was there. The items simply weren't up to the large AF American sizes we were expecting. Sadly, that wasn't the only disappointing thing about our order.

The burgers were so small that they both fit in the palm of my hand. That was a bit alarming, but it didn't necessarily mean they were going to be bad burgers. No sir! The real disappointment came when I actually unwrapped mine.

Now, I get that when you order takeout, things get smushed, so I wasn't really hung up on the burger's overall appearance. I did, however, notice that the two patties looked overcooked, which was confirmed the moment I took a big bite.

If I had wanted a patty this badly overcooked, I would have done it myself on my George Forman Grill. By the time I was done eating, I had almost lost a tooth on a piece of the patty that was SO OVERCOOKED it was practically a rock!

Luckily, I still had the "bites de hongos," or mushroom bites in English. 

Visually, they looked like breaded dog shit, which initially made me wary of eating them. Despite their appearance, I bit into one and it was... okay. They weren't seasoned at all, which isn't much of a surprise, as Argentines generally prefer bland food over something that's well seasoned, out of fear that it might be too spicy or too salty. It was probably a good thing they provided a sauce for dipping. But the lack of flavor wasn't the only thing I didn't like about these bites. It felt like they had pureed the mushrooms and mushed them into little balls, making them even less appetizing.

I remember a couple of years back, in 2008 to be exact, when a friend invited me to eat at RJ Gators outside the Oviedo Marketplace in Oviedo, Florida. The restaurant was known for its fried mushrooms, which were delicious and actually consisted of whole mushrooms, not mashed-up ones. Maybe I was expecting too much from the mushroom bites at Dean & Dennys. Who knows?

The crinkle fries were okay, but obviously unremarkable, as I could have bought a bag at a supermarket and fried them myself.

My husband fared better with his side order of Dean Nuggets, which he claims were REALLY GOOD! As for everything else he ordered, though, he said it was just okay.

With the exception of the usual fast food places like Burger King and McDonald's (or Wendy's in B.A.), finding an Argentine eating establishment that makes decent burgers is a gamble. And I hate to say it, but Dean & Dennys was a huge disappointment. So, if you're visiting Argentina, an expat, or a local, and their name pops up in your ordering app or you happen to walk past a Dean & Dennys, swipe to the next option.

We Went Looking for Justice in Argentina and Hit a Brick Wall

So we learned this week that if you want to commit fraud and get away with it, Argentina is the country to do it in.

I feel like a broken record summarizing this yet again, but long story short, I've been writing about the ongoing issues with a certain contractor in Cordoba City who took our money (U.S. dollars, not Argentine pesos) and never completed the work on the renovation of one of our properties. You can read about that here.

Suffice it to say that several attempts by various people to get him to complete the work or return the money he stole from us failed. So, we had no other choice but to hire a lawyer through our realtor. We assumed this would guarantee results. After all, we had a contract with the contractor's signature confirming that he had received the money.

We also had audio recordings and WhatsApp text messages in which the man practically admitted to what he had done, which was to take the money but not complete the work.

We really thought this was an open and shut case and that any lawyer would be able to get our money back in court quickly and easily.

We were wrong.

It turns out that the Argentine legal system is utterly useless!

We hired the lawyer back in September. At the time, he claimed he was going to negotiate with the contractor, but according to the lawyer, the man never showed up. Now, the lawyer never went into detail about what he did next. My guess is not a goddamn thing. As I mentioned in my other post, I eventually reached out to him after not hearing anything to check on the status of the case.

Well, he assured me that he would get back to me, but didn't.

I waited a couple of days, partially out of courtesy but also to avoid coming off as bossy or pushy. About 24 hours later, I finally got a response from him telling me that there was nothing he could do. Apparently, he was missing key evidence required to win the case and he suggested we try resolving this with the contractor in a peaceful manner.

I was stunned. We had provided the lawyer with a contract, receipts signed by the contractor, and I had even offered to send him the text and audio conversations between the contractor and my mother, which practically incriminated the man beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The lawyer had told us on more than one occasion that he didn't need to read or hear the conversations. Now, all of a sudden, he didn't feel he had anything concrete to nail this motherfucker? Bullshit!

The lawyer didn't do shit!

What's worse is that when I asked him kindly to please reconsider reviewing the case, the lawyer responded that after speaking with his associate, he would be more than happy to look it over again, provided we forked over 100,000 Argentine pesos for an in person consultation.

At this point, I realized that this piece of garbage had barely lifted a finger to help us and was about as crooked as the asshole contractor who stole our money and committed fraud.

After consulting with another lawyer, we got more or less the same response: "Oh well, we'd rather try to negotiate peacefully instead of going to court." And I was like... "Are you shitting me?"

If the man wanted to negotiate he would have accepted a proposal we sent to him several weeks ago to pay in installments.

I honestly don't know what the hell is wrong with the people down here. It's like Bizarro World or something.

This contractor clearly took advantage of our family, and the legal system has turned its back on us. Well, we're not done fighting. There's still the Defensa del Consumidor, which is a horrible excuse for the Better Business Bureau we have back home. But it's the only other legal avenue available to us.

Regardless of the outcome, we've decided to move forward with the renovation, although we'll be a hell of a lot more cautious about who we hire and how much money we hand over upfront.

Scam artists are everywhere in the world, but in Argentina, it seems like they can get away with anything. Moving forward, I really hope my folks take my advice and stop being so trusting of the locals because, clearly, they can't be trusted.

My advice is don't assume a contract will guarantee results. It won't! Also, don't assume the Argentine legal system will have your back.  It won't!

I'd Sell a Pint of Blood for a Pulled Pork Sandwich from Pork and Roll in Cordoba!

When it comes to a decent pulled pork sandwich, I would sell a pint of my blood if it meant getting the money I needed to buy one. I'm not kidding or exaggerating. Why would I do that? Pulled pork sandwiches are awesome! I'll go to just about any lengths to get one. Well, almost any lengths. Shoot! Even I have standards! At least, that's what I tell myself. But finding a place in Cordoba City that makes delicious pulled pork sandwiches has been a bit of a challenge.

For a while, Burger King in Argentina offered pulled pork sandwiches, but I haven't seen them on the menu in a couple of years. Not that they were anything to brag about. Like most fast food sandwiches, they looked sloppy and weren't always fresh. Then again, what do you expect for a reasonable price?

Then came Big Mamma's Pizza, which closed permanently on May 31st, 2026. At the time, they offered not only New York style pizza with pepperoni but also a so-so Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Another item they offered was the pulled pork sandwich, which was sometimes okay. However, the last two times I ordered them from Big Mamma's, they had so much fat that it felt like whoever prepared them had put almost no effort into their work. Their menu also claimed that the sandwiches came with coleslaw, but I never found any evidence of that.

Big Mamma's Pulled Pork Sandwich

By this point, I didn't think I would ever find a decent pulled pork sandwich at a reasonable price in Cordoba City. Then we discovered Pork and Roll on Instagram.

At the time, they didn't have a ton of pictures or videos, but we were desperate to try something new and fresh. So, we placed an order at the beginning of October. We didn't know what to expect and were afraid we were going to get slapped in the face with a reality check.

Well, when our food arrived, we noticed that everything had been carefully wrapped and packaged in boxes. This was already a positive sign in my book because most local restaurants in Cordoba don't give the presentation of their products a first, second, or even third thought. Pork and Roll was different. It was obvious that they took pride in their work. But would their pulled pork sandwiches actually taste any good?

It turns out that they didn't just taste good. They tasted incredible! Unlike Big Mamma's, Pork and Roll actually included the coleslaw as advertised. The pork was juicy, and there were definitely no chunks of fat like the ones we encountered in Big Mamma's sandwiches.

Pork and Roll's pulled pork sandwich orders also come with French fries and cornbread, which, as I mentioned in my Halloween post, is super rare here in Argentina, and even more so in Cordoba City. I honestly didn't know that the locals here knew what cornbread was!

My favorite is the Osbourne Full, which comes with pulled pork, BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, and coleslaw.

Their prices are also a bonus! As of the time of this post, the most expensive individual pulled pork sandwich is the Osbourne Full at 16,900 Argentine pesos. That's almost half the price that Big Mamma's was charging. Of course, you can also try their combos, which include two sandwiches and range in price from 21,900 to 28,900 Argentine pesos. And if you're looking to invite a few friends over, they also offer a combo for four for 40,000 pesos, a combo for five for 50,000 pesos, and a combo for six for 60,000 Argentine pesos.

Our first taste of Pork and Roll left us craving more. So, for the premiere of the TV show Camp Crystal Lake on October 15th, we ordered from them yet again.

Just like the first time, we decided to order their Dirty Fries, which are basically French fries topped with pulled pork, cheese, and BBQ sauce. As of this post, they cost 6,500 pesos. And let me tell you, the amount of pulled pork they give you for that price is A LOT!

The sandwich alone will leave you feeling satisfied before you even take your last bite. So, I'll confess that we actually saved our Dirty Fries for the following day. That's how good their pulled pork sandwiches are!

If you've read our Halloween post, then the image below will look familiar as it was our third order in October.

The sandwich pictured below was called the Sabbath Pork, which was available from October 17th until Halloween. Even the sauce was given an orange color to go along with the Halloween theme.

I'm actually looking forward to ordering this one again when it returns to their menu next year. In the meantime, there are plenty of months between now and Halloween 2027 to sample their variety of pulled pork sandwiches. And if you happen to be living in Cordoba City, I urge you to give Pork and Roll a chance. Your taste buds will thank you!

A Broke-Ass Halloween 2026 in Argentina: Somehow, We Made It!

Happy (BELATED) Halloween, everyone!

The last couple of weeks have been difficult, and suffice it to say, getting to this year's Halloween was a nightmare (not on Elm Street). But we did it! Although money was painfully tight, we managed to save up as much as we could throughout the month of October, and it paid off!

Not only were we able to celebrate my husband's 44th birthday on the 30th, but we also managed to have a hauntingly good Halloween filled with homemade meals and treats that were to un-die for!

For lunch, we decided to make a homemade Halloween pizza. We actually got the idea from a local shop that sells black, premade pizza dough. Unfortunately, we were too broke and were saving what little money we had left to order pulled pork sandwiches from Pork And Roll for dinner. I'll talk more about that in a minute.

So, with a little help from some black food coloring, we were able to turn our dough black. Although the finished pizza was mostly covered with the cheese and pepperoni slices we added, the black crust was Halloween-ish enough for us and a great way to kick off the spooky holiday.

After lunch, we made an apple pie that we could really sink our teeth into. But while it baked in the oven, we took a moment to carve our traditional Jack O'Lantern.

As I mentioned earlier, being broke was a big part of our Halloween theme, so instead of buying two pumpkins, we decided to share one. I carved one side of the pumpkin while the hubs carved the other. The image on the left shows his side, while the image on the right shows mine.

By the time we finished carving, the pie had finished baking and had plenty of time to cool. This meant we could safely place a pair of plastic eyes between our pie's "mummy wrappings" to complete its spooky overall look.

But this wasn't the first Halloween-themed pie we'd made this month. Two weeks earlier, we had baked a Jack O' Lantern apple pie that was ghoulishly irresistible!

Other honorable mentions from Halloween include these two store-bought "alfajores" pictured below, which are caramel-filled sandwich cookies. Adding the eyes and zombie teeth was an easy, no-bake way to turn them into spooky little treats.

The treats below, however, did require some baking. Using molds and a cookie mix, we made these Jack O' Lantern and witch hat cookies, which admittedly turned out looking more like brownies than cookies.

But nothing beats store-bought candy when it comes to Halloween!

Now, the locals don't really do trick-or-treating the way they do back home. However, some places, including Córdoba City and, obviously, CABA, offer preplanned trick-or-treat neighborhood routes, while some shopping centers allow kids to show up in costume and collect candy. I think this is cute, and I hope the trend continues to grow over the next couple of years.

In fact, I can't be entirely sure, but I think some kids may have actually rung our doorbell looking for candy. The reason I say that is because we heard kids lurking around our front door while we were baking. I didn't think much of it at the time for two reasons. A. Our doorbell is broken, and nobody knocked. And B. We weren't used to the idea of anyone celebrating Halloween in our neighborhood.

But even if there had been kids knocking on our door looking for candy, they would have been shit out of luck because our candy stash was simply too good to give away!

This year, we discovered that Farmacity, a pharmacy similar to CVS, Walgreens, or Eckerd's back home, now sells various types of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. In the past, we've made these ourselves because Reese's Peanut Butter Cups weren't available in Argentina, but buying them ready-made was so much easier!

Also, the candy brand Mogul continued to deliver with its annual Halloween-themed candy bags, which we spent a pretty penny on!

Honestly, though, it made us so happy to see brands like FANTA getting into the Halloween spirit this year by adding spooky designs to their bottles and cans.

Last year, the FANTA cans featured Chucky on the front. This year, they featured Ghost Face from Scream, which you can see below holding a small selection of our freaking scary DVDs.

But that wasn't the only Halloween decoration around the house. Our annual Halloween tree made its return and once again served as the centerpiece of our spooky decor.

Here are a few more ways we decorated our home for Halloween. Hell, even the pterodactyl got into the spirit of things!

We couldn't pass up the chance to do a little Halloween role-play, so the hubs dressed up as a psychotic butcher wielding a bloody cleaver, while I dressed up as a Starfleet officer from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I felt the latter was especially appropriate given that 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. It was also my way of paying tribute to the show that starred Sir Patrick Stewart, who sadly passed away this year.

By this point, we'd worked up quite an appetite, and it was a good thing, too, because our food from Pork And Roll had arrived!

Pork And Roll was a lifesaver because, for about 37,000 Argentine pesos, we got two pulled pork sandwiches with fries, cornbread, and two extra orders of fries topped with pulled pork. And unlike some pulled pork sandwiches we've ordered from other places, Pork And Roll actually stuffs its sandwiches with a generous amount of pulled pork.

The company is based in Córdoba City, and there are several different types of pulled pork sandwiches on its menu. I'll talk more about Pork And Roll in a separate post, but in the meantime, feel free to check out its Instagram page here.

Now, unlike previous Halloweens, it was just the two of us this year. Our financial difficulties played a huge role in that decision. Keeping things small allowed us to save enough money to celebrate our favorite spooky holiday of the year as well as the hubs' 44th birthday the day before.

Now we just have to figure out how to get through Thanksgiving later this month. Our budget is even tighter, and the escalating family health issues and drama have only made it harder to get into the Thanksgiving spirit. At this point, we're not even aiming for a Happy Thanksgiving. We'd be perfectly satisfied with just an okay Thanksgiving. But I'll post more about that later, assuming (IF!) it actually happens.

Until next time!

A Dishonest Contractor and the Argentine Legal System

For those of you who don't follow my blog, this year my folks decided to divide one of our properties in half, essentially turning it into a duplex in order to get two rents out of the property instead of one.

They had hired a contractor who claimed he could handle everything from tree cutting to electrical work, plumbing, and construction. This was actually great because the property seriously needed all of that, and we thought we had found a Jack of All Trades.

Unfortunately, we hit a couple of snags, which I mentioned in previous posts. Some of those included multiple break ins and acts of vandalism on the property being renovated.

We tried all types of chains and locks, but these vandals kept cutting through everything over and over again. With each break in, we ended up needing more money to make repairs.

The first image shows what was left of one of the locks. This happened to four other locks of the same design. The second image shows that they attempted to saw through this lock but couldn't.

Then, in July, things got even more complicated.

The contractor we hired to do the renovation work royally screwed us when he took our money for labor costs but failed to complete the job we had hired him to do. In addition, he had asked us to buy the materials needed to complete repairs to the house and replace things like bathroom sinks and toilets that the vandals had destroyed. A short time later, he claimed that the materials we bought had been stolen from his truck. Not long after that, he said he was sick and had to hold off on the renovations. But he promised he would resume working on the property as soon as he felt better. Several weeks passed, and my mother insisted that he contact her via WhatsApp. After ghosting her A LOT, he finally responded, claiming he had been hit with a case of depression and needed to take a break until he recovered.

Like most swindlers, he resorted to using words like "The Lord," "God Bless," and "I'll pray for you" whenever she demanded that he get to work or return the money we had given him.

We paid him in dollars, a rarity in Argentina, and we suspect he used that money to either buy property, take a trip, or do something else equally expensive.

Despite several attempts by my mother to reach him via WhatsApp, the contractor kept giving her the runaround.

Finally fed up with him, she once again demanded that he return our money. He claimed he couldn't because he didn't have it. Not anymore, anyway. In other words, the son of a bitch had spent it on something other than the work he should have done.

Our realtor, who had experience dealing with these types of silver tongued devils, tried negotiating with him on our behalf but eventually grew frustrated when nothing came of it. She told us she didn't think the contractor would ever pay us back and that our only recourse was to hire a lawyer.

My mom was reluctant because of the attorney fees and the long term prospects of dealing with the Argentine legal system, which is pure garbage.

She continued her conversation with the guy via WhatsApp, which resulted in nothing more than raising her blood pressure and undoubtedly contributed to the health issues I mentioned in my previous post. Unable to handle the stress of this ongoing back and forth, she asked me to take over.

I tried being diplomatic when I reached out to the guy. I even came up with a payment plan for him to return what amounted to approximately 11 million Argentine pesos, but he refused my offer. So I reached out to the realtor, who had a law firm she worked with, and she arranged for them to review our case.

I forwarded the attorney every single receipt and document bearing the contractor's signature. He accepted the paperwork but said everything was sloppy. Admittedly, he wasn't wrong. I had no involvement in drafting the original contract. My mother had handled that, and I was confused as hell when I first saw it. But as far as paperwork was concerned, it was all we had.

We also had audio recordings and text messages that incriminated the contractor, but the lawyer said he wasn't interested in seeing those, at least not for now.

He also told me he had scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the contractor and  that he wanted to chat with me first over the phone to get a clearer picture of what was happening. Well, by the end of the conversation, the lawyer seemed to think that our chances of winning this case was 50/50 at best.

His comment left me very concerned.

The next day, I called to ask how it went, and the lawyer told me that the contractor hadn't even shown up or returned his call.

I once again offered to share the audio recordings and text exchanges between my mother and the contractor that incriminated him. Again, the lawyer said they weren't necessary. At this point, I was getting pretty upset because any lawyer back home would have jumped at the opportunity to tear this guy apart and would never turn down evidence that could help us win the case. But the legal system in Argentina sucks, and the lawyers aren't the sharks who go after assholes like this contractor.

As frustrating as all this was, I've learned over the last 14 years in Argentina that sometimes you have to take a breath and let the extremely slow Argentine process run its course. Getting worked up or demanding that the lawyer hurry the fuck up wouldn't have worked in my favor. He would have likely cut me loose, leaving us with nobody to handle the case.

So, as of this post, whatever happens next is a freaking mystery. My guess is that nothing major is going to happen and that by the time anything remotely resembling a resolution comes about, one or both of my parents will be gone, and I'll be stuck with an unfinished half of one of our properties and a ton of attorney fees.

With all these damned legal issues, my mother's health problems, and my father's dementia, it's a wonder we even managed to celebrate Halloween this year. But we did, and it was actually a really nice celebration for my husband and I. 

I'll write more about it in my next post.