On a September afternoon just after the lunch rush, while everyone was preparing for the busy evening dinner hours, Silvia Edwards, Buenos Aires Cafe, Galleria general manager spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

She rushed over to greet a middle-aged couple at a booth with hugs and smiles and exchanged pleasantries in Spanish.

“That’s my cardiologist,” Edwards said.

It is that atmosphere that Edwards wants to give every guest at Buenos Aires Café.

A Buenos Aires, Argentina, native, Edwards came to the United States five years ago and said her goal is to make the cafe’s atmosphere a mirror image of its namesake.

“Buenos Aires is a very welcoming city, and we just receive everybody as if they were from our family,” Edwards said.

Chef and owner Reina Morris opened Buenos Aires’ original location in South Austin 13 years ago and a second cafe on East Sixth Street in 2008.  When the original location closed in 2010, the new Galleria location in Bee Cave followed later that year.

“We didn’t change; we came as we are, take us or leave us, and they took us,” Edwards said about opening the Galleria location. “We have very loyal clientele that have been coming here since we opened, and a lot of people are joining us lately.”

Buenos Aires is committed to serving the highest-quality food with the freshest ingredients available, she said, adding the eateries’ greens are organic and dressed with a signature dressing prepared daily. The cafe also offers a gluten-free and vegan menu.

Edwards said Buenos Aires does not plan to grow through square footage, but rather through its number of regular patrons.

She added that the work she and the staff put into the cafe’s environment is worth all of the effort when she hears guests talk about it.

“People say they feel welcome and at home when they come, and I think that’s the best compliment a restaurant can get,” Edwards said. “That there is no commercial aspect to it; it’s more of a heart-felt sentiment.”