174 Best Restaurants in Chile

The idea of a "taste of Africa in Patagonia" might sound unusual, but the fusion menu here is well rehearsed and flavor combinations are well-tuned and tasty. With bamboo shoots adorning the walls, you might forget you are in Puerto Natales, but then you'll see the local seafood, Patagonian lamb, and king crab on the menu, presented with enticing ingredients like masala curry, mango, and coconut cream. Top it all off with a Calafate sour.

Simple but creative dishes using the best and freshest Chilean ingredients appeal to local office workers and visitors alike at this popular downtown spot, where lunch patrons often enjoy a sandwich or soup-salad combo. The menu changes seasonally, with dishes like chicken cashew curry and venison with caponata sharing menu space with grilled bass and chia polenta cake. The restaurant has a good cocktail list, and a short yet decent wine list and does upper-crust business lunches. It is open for early dinners (until 9 pm). Reservations are advisable for lunch, particularly for an outside table.

A haven with wine aficionados, trendy Bocanariz in Lastarria has Chilean fare, but it's best known as a superior place to sample vino chileno. Waitstaff at this tastefully designed and somewhat romantic venue are all sommeliers, and they serve 300 wines on any given evening, many by the glass or small pour. Sample a themed flight of wine, such as huaso named for the Chilean cowboy. The menu separates out food types by notes such as smoky, spiced, citrus, light, creamy, herbed, and sweet. Ask to see the cellar.

Concept meets Chilean ingredients (many of which are foraged from the Andes and the length of the coast) at this award-winning establishment, where diners enjoy a 15- to 18-step tasting menu that has sustainability at its core. One of Chef Rodolfo Guzmán's signature dishes is a spin on the curanto clambake from Chiloé, made with Patagonian rainwater and served in what looks like a small clearing in a tiny thicket. Naturally, such fine dining comes at a price; the tasting menu costs about 90,000 pesos. Add on 55,000 pesos for wine pairings.

The tasty vegetarian fare made with fresh, locally grown organic ingredients at this cozy restaurant with an ocean view will impress even meat eaters. Creative dishes include the papas rellenas, the island's famed potatoes stuffed with sautéed veggies, quinoa, cheese, and a special pesto sauce. There are delicious classic tacos and homemade flatbread topped with goat cheese and veggies. Do leave room for the best part, though: real coffee with carrot cake or maqui berry pie. 

This sun-drenched restaurant overlooking the vineyards and polo field serves local delicacies including fresh ceviche, Chilean asado (barbecued meats), seafood salads, beef jerky empanadas, an eclectic mix of tapas, and indulgent Chilean desserts. The wine list is all from the Casa Silva winery, of course, but it's an enormous portfolio and the prices carry attractive discounts. Whitewashed walls, large windows, colorful floral arrangements, and balconies overlooking the estate make this one of the most pleasant lunch spots in the Colchagua Valley.

Start your dinner off right with a cool pisco sour at this fine dining, lakeside restaurant with great views. The cooking style is influenced in part by Basque cuisine, with its fish and other plates often accompanied by peppers, beans, and potatoes. It's mostly known for its seafood, but there are several other options on the menu. The restaurant fills up fast for dinner, so patience with servers is often needed. Come early or reserve a table ahead of time.

One of Santiago's original quality coffee purveyors, Colmado is where you order a Colombian Chemex teamed with gourmet bites such as Spanish sausage and cheeses, regular and gluten-free sweets or tasty vegan sandwiches. Tucked inside a leafy courtyard, Colmado attracts local caffeine addicts and visitors alike; brunch is especially popular.

Originally inspired by Laura Esquivel's romantic 1989 novel Like Water for Chocolate, this Bellavista standout focuses on Chilean dishes made with "life, love, vigor, and passion" as per the book. Reserve the "bed table" if you want to be showy (it has a headboard but is not actually a bed).

Opened in 1879, this is the oldest restaurant still operating in Chile and remains one of the city's most traditional dining rooms, with red-leather banquettes, mint-green ceramic floors, and huge chandeliers with tulip-shaped globes. Classic dishes such as lomo al ajo arriero (sirloin sautéed with peppers and garlic) are menu staples; if you're after a quick bite, order the Sandwich Barros Luca, as this is where it was created. This restaurant also has a branch for snacks in the Centro Cultural La Moneda, and another on upscale Isidora Goyenechea in El Golf (Las Condes).

The older of Cotelé's two locations in the city (the other is at Rengifo 867), this restaurant has the look and feel of a typical quincho (barbecue), with wooden walls and tables with the grill in the middle. Here, it is strictly about meticulously preparing the best possible steaks. The waiter takes your order by showing you cuts of raw meat and asking you to choose from either a tender fillet, sirloin, or rib-eye steak. While you munch on a delicious sopaipillas con pebre (fried bread) and sip your pisco sour or red wine, the meat is cooked on a grill in front of you and then served with salad and potatoes. The result is a steak of world-class distinction.

Pelicans, gulls, and cormorants linger among the fishing boats anchored near this remarkable seafood restaurant. Because it's next door to the fishermen's cooperative, the seafood is always the freshest in town. A classic starter is machas (razor clams) parmesana, although locals will go for locos (Chilean abalone) or erizos (sea urchin). Then try any of the half a dozen types of fish, served with different sauces. The dining room—with a floor of crushed shells and hand-carved chairs resembling sea creatures—is a delight.

This is a good place to eat barbecue, steaks, and chicken (and just that, as it's meat-only here). The design intrigues as well, resembling a galpón, which means "barn" in English. There are not a lot of good dining options in Osorno, but this is probably the best.

With a fresh, creative approach to traditional Chilote cuisine, this restaurant is a nice change of pace in the island's restaurant scene—and, most importantly, it serves up really good food. El Mercadito is in a restored house overlooking the waterfront in the historic Pedro Montt barrio. Exciting dishes include "Mi Borrachito," a spicy conger eel stew with choritos and fried native potatoes, and "Bombas de Jaiva," a breaded, fried appetizer stuffed with chupe de jaiba, a typical crab stew in Chiloé. Be sure to start your meal off with an icy pisco sour.

Popular with locals, this unassuming restaurant may have simple decor, but the food is excellent. The serving staff bring out endless plates of steaming seafood and barbecue delights. The fettuccini a la mancha is as good as anything you'd get in Italy (perhaps a little spicer though!). Prices are a little steep but fair for Antofagasta, which is a pricey town. 

On the outskirts of town near the lake, this stellar restaurant serves exceptional steaks. The menu has good and generous barbecue plates (including wild boar, goat, and lamb); there is a nice variety of seafood and pasta dishes, too. Desserts like homemade ice cream and tiramisu are worth the extra splurge. Service, which includes the involvement of the owner, is also friendly and prompt.

One of the most exciting gastronomic opportunities anywhere between Santiago and Lima, Fuente Toscana has quickly established itself as one of Chile's best restaurants. Offering Mediterranean foods made with local products, the family-run restaurant serves affordable and delicious dishes such as gnocchi with pesto; only here, it's made with local almonds instead of pine nuts and local cilantro instead of basil. The dish is held together with generous amounts of goat cheese. Produce is sourced from more than 70 local providers. Wine is sourced from the most exciting surrounding vineyards, and the owner drives to the coast on an almost daily basis to source his fresh fish. Don't miss out on the goat cheese starter (prepared four ways), the river shrimp, or the house special dessert, Corazón de Café. 

If your travels don't include the Mapuche heartland of La Araucanía, head to this artfully designed restaurant in Viña for a vital introduction to the little-appreciated cuisine of Chile's largest indigenous group. Start with one of the myriad tasting boards before seguing into the mains, which feature everything from wild boar to antioxidant-rich maqui berries and piñón seeds from ancient araucaria trees.

About 20 minutes south of Futrono in the small town of Llifén, this may be the best place in Chile to sample Mapuche gastronomy. Everything cooked here by owner Margarita Leiva comes from organic gardens that she and her family maintain behind the restaurant. The restaurant is small with ordinary decor, but the food is out of this world. 

This place is one of those delightful little restaurants that seems to have it all—great food and an excellent view of the bay in a warm and intimate setting. Seafood plays a key role here, but the carefully constructed menu also features dishes like rabbit, lamb, and steak, along with some vegetarian options. Combine this stop with a walking tour of the Museo Abierto.

Opened by Peruvian culinary legend Gastón Acurio, this restaurant with a busy roadside location is bright and airy, with turquoise chairs and a white canvas roof over the terrace that mimics a boat's sails. For your palatable delight, tuck into Peru's emblematic ceviches—you're spoiled with choices due to the seven different varieties that you can enjoy at the fish counter. Note that the pisco sours here are among the best in Santiago.

This hip eatery creatively combines Peruvian, Japanese, and Chilean flavors in dishes served straight on the waterfront. You can expect Chilean classics like ceviche and empanadas as well as Peruvian and Nikkea staples of lomo saltado and rich seafood broth. The cocktails are also a highlight, and often use local fruit and herb mixers.

This riverfront institution is constantly packed with locals, which is always a good sign that you've come to the right restaurant. The Argentine owner Teodoro Poulsen serves beef and chicken in delicious Argentine parrilla style. Though the restaurant bills itself as the king of steak, you might consider the chicken (milanesa de pollo) instead. To do it right, order a bottle of wine from their excellent wine list to accompany your meal.

You may not want to eat anywhere else in Pucón after sampling the varied, well-prepared dishes at this centrally located cafe. The fresh pasta, made in-house, is rich and soft; the pizzas are out of this world. Slow-cooked ribs, salmon and shrimp risotto, and beef fillet in a strawberry and Merlot wine sauce round out the menu.

This "Italo-Patagon" pizzeria in the heart of Patagonia mixes the best of Italian cuisine with local ingredients and cooking methods. There is the excellent clay-oven-baked pizza (the one with cordero meat is a running favorite), heaping salads, and inventive plates like grilled Camembert smothered in calafate (a local berry) sauce and homemade panzotti pasta stuffed with crab. If you're a beer lover, try the diverse microbrews made by Mamma Gaucha's sister company, Cerveza La Tropera. The restaurant is popular, but the wait is worth it. 

Wicker furniture enhances the cool South Pacific atmosphere of this pleasant, open-air restaurant that literally sits above the water on stilts. The seafood, lauded by locals, is always fresh; ask the waiter what the fishing boats brought in that day. House specialties include octopus grilled in lemon and olive oil, and sea bass in the pineapple-flavored salsa amazonia.

This cutesy cafe is Valpo's yummiest breakfast, brunch, or lunch spot with homemade sourdough breads, sweet treats, silky lattes, fresh kombuchas, and health-focused bites. Sit in the brick-red bakery to watch the action or at a table on the tree-shaded street out front.

The restaurant's fireplace and library supply ambience while you dine on some of the finest food on the Carretera Austral, such as Chilean and regional dishes like grilled trout and roasted lamb, which are prepared with style and organic, locally grown ingredients. An added benefit is that the restaurant is co-run by a longtime American rafting guide who can give inside info on outdoor activities in the area. The restaurant's bar is also a local hangout, so it's a good place to meet people. Call in advance to get the best table.

Some swear Pizzas de Fabio has the best pizza in Patagonia, and that may well be. The Argentinean owner is a maestro with pizza cuisine, and he uses fresh ingredients from local organic growers. Italian-style, thin-crust pizza lovers will be happy here.