174 Best Restaurants in Chile

Popular with wealthy professionals, this upscale modern steak house is known for its huge, delicious cuts of beef, abundant salads, and the best papas fritas (French fries) in Temuco. Although most Chilean restaurants douse any kind of meat with a creamy sauce, this is one of the few exceptions; the entrées are served without anything but the simplest of seasonings.

The creative and wide variety of sandwiches in this bohemian café have made it legendary. On first glance, La Ultima Frontera appears to be nothing more than a college hangout or a trendy place for the artsy crowd, but the abundant and delicious food attracts young and old. Inhabiting a restored mansion, the place has colorful art on the walls and a popular outdoor terrace. The many locally brewed beers on tap provide the perfect complement.

This place has been an institution in Temuco since 1975, attaining legendary status for its homemade food. The kitchen puts its own tasty spin on traditional Chilean dishes like guatitas a la española, a stew of cow’s stomach, bacon, sausage, and tomato cooked in wine. The interior is simple, clean, and basic; it's all about the food here.

After falling in love with Patagonia while doing the famed W trail, Australian tourists Keira and Matt decided to stay, and opened the world’s southernmost distillery and whisky and gin bar. Local cheese platters and home-smoked jerky mean you can spend most of the evening here imbibing. Last Hope has one of the best stocked whiskey and gin bars in Chile. First-timers to their stylish bar are given a tasting of the two house gins (a standard dry and a Calafate gin, colored and flavored with local Calafate berries) before diving into a creative and versatile cocktail menu that reinvents classics like the gin and tonic. They have new concoctions monthly and sometimes weekly.

This restaurant features Mediterranean fare and is a great place for a carry-out breakfast or a light quiche and salad lunch. Le Fournil also offers a unique version of pizza, known as tartine, which uses its own homemade bread as a base. Unusual for Chile, the restaurant includes a children's menu. There are four other branches of Le Fournil around Santiago, including at the Parque Arauco shopping mall and Patio Bellavista, as well as at the international arrivals area in the airport.

Although at first glance this appears to be a rather somber bistro, nothing could be further from the truth. The service is friendly and the Provence-influenced food---such as the mouthwatering steak au poivre and beef Bourguignon---is first-rate.

Offering Chilean à la carte and large lunch buffets, this hotel restaurant is an institution in Santa Cruz. The menu features typical Chilean dishes using local ingredients and producers, and boasts an extensive list of Colchagua Valley wines available by glass or bottle. In warmer months, the trellised terrace in back is a great spot for lunch.

Santiago's first Indian restaurant, Majestic is considered by some to be the best. Whether you order a simple lentil dahl or sophisticated curries, you're in for an authentic meal surrounded by tapestries and shiny adornments. Try the Ginga Biryani with prawns but don't forget that, as with all Indian restaurants in Chile, rice and naan cost extra.

With its trendy decor and swanky seafront setting, Mar Central looks a lot more expensive than it actually is. Instead, it eschews the heavily marked-up seafood dishes of other spots nearby by offering fish tacos, crab sandwiches, octopus fried rice, and other casual fair, alongside killer cocktails like the Elqui Mule (a twist on the traditional Moscow Mule with pisco from the Elqui Valley).

Scrumptious oysters and a panoply of other gifts from the sea are served on the top floor of this big wooden house at the foot of Achao's dock (accessible via a side stairway). Open late and serving generous portions, many in town maintain the food here is the best around. That said, service can be slow at times.

Where better than to sample fresh Chilean seafood and eat where the locals eat than at Santiago's fish market? Bustling and loud, the market has an ambience you'll want to soak up, whether you visit Donde Augusto and La Joya del Pacífico in the center or at a smaller, less touristy, and cheaper spot such as Marisol or Francisca. The tables may be rickety, but the fish couldn't be fresher and cheaper or the service friendlier. Credit cards are accepted at larger restaurants. The mercado and its restaurants close at 5 pm.

In a tidy building, this market with four restaurants is a great spot for an informal lunch or dinner. The restaurants, in a food court overlooking the water, mainly serve standard Chiloé fare such as curanto and assorted seafood. The building also conveniently houses several stores selling local handicrafts.

The menu at this local favorite has diverse offerings, but it is the colorful, exquisitely prepared fish and shellfish that deserve your close attention. They also have a special kids' menu.

Situated on a lone pier jutting out into the lake, Mesa Tropera offers Italian-Patagonian cuisine that features a wide array of creative toppings on their thin crust pizzas, inventive pasta dishes, and abundant salads. Mesa Tropera is also a connoisseur of fine beer, brewing their own flavors as well as keeping a selection of microbrews in stock from others in the region. The place fills up, so get there early or be prepared to wait.

It’s not a backpacker town without a great pizza joint, and this one is Puerto Natales's, located on the Plaza de Armas. Diners eat together at long, open tables on classic pies and more creative offerings heaped with cordero (Patagonian lamb), merkén (a spice similar to smoked paprika), or local smoked salmon. If you’re not in the mood for pizza, their pasta menu is equally delicious.

Sporting views over Parque Bicentenario, this is a great spot for a leisurely lunch or a generous pisco sour as the sun sets between the hills in summer. The eclectic menu brings together some of the best of Chilean and Peruvian cuisine, with an emphasis on fish, as well as plateada, a slow-cooked cut of beef on a bed of mashed potatoes and basil.

With quick and pleasant service and a diverse daily menu, Mi Sur has become an obligatory stop for hungry travelers who regularly drive the Carretera Austral. The meals are prepared with great care and are colorful, abundant, and well presented. Try the jabali (wild boar), or perhaps a caldillo de congrio (fish stew). There are vegetarian options as well.

This coffee shop with outdoor seating down on the jetty does swift business with hungry divers coming off the boats, locals needing coffee, and kids in search of after-school ice cream for 1,500 pesos. Those ice-cream flavors include strawberry and cream, the unusual pepino (a melonlike fruit), and occasionally, island-specific flavors like tipanie (a flower). Guava, which grows wild in summer, is another tasty ice-cream option.

It takes quite a drive to get here, but Milla Milla---the restaurant at VIK Hotel---is worth the trip. Fabulous valley views and monumental artworks are the only things pulling your eyes away from the colorful plates of contemporary Chilean cuisine. Dishes feature ingredients sourced from the nearby sea, mountains, and on-site garden. Head Chef Rodrigo Acuña Bravo is one of the most exciting on Chile's cuisine scene today. Set menus include VIK wine. Reservations are essential; if you have any trouble getting one, you can also have lunch at the equally superb Pavilion restaurant in the Viña Vik winery below.

Louisiana Cajun cooking in southern Chile is far from common, but this place pulls it off and has become a must-stop on the tourist trail. Excellent meats and seafood with a spicy, Cajun twist populate the extensive menu, like filete Mardi Gras or red curry shrimp. As noteworthy as the food, the service and ambience contribute positively to the whole experience.

If traveling by car near Ensenada, make sure to swing by this classic stop between 4 pm to 8 pm, when they serve onces, a sort of Chilean teatime. For 14,000 pesos, you're served great küchen, cake, bread, cheese, salami, Nescafe coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and more. A panoramic view of the volcanoes and lake provides the backdrop. There is also a mini zoo with animals such as llamas and guanaco, a tennis court, and private lakeside beach. Eight well-equipped cabins are available if you want to stay overnight. In summer, onces are served every day, but the rest of the year only on weekends and holidays.

Just 12 miles outside of Ancud, this classic spot is the place to crack open some of the world's best oysters, taken each day from the coast in front of the small wooden restaurant. Oysters come in multiple forms: fried, poached, creamed, and raw. Fish dishes, baked veal, and wine round out the menu, as does the special children's menu. Combine your meal with bird-watching at nearby Caulin Bay.

For coffee fanatics in need of a good cup of joe in southern Chile, Palafito Patagonia is the answer. Situated in a refurbished palafito on Ten Ten Bay, it offers nice views from the refreshing outdoor terrace; inside smooth tunes play while you kick back with a selection of gourmet coffee imported from around the world. They also offer fresh juices and delicious cakes. 

Whether you like your coffee prepared in a Chemex or espresso machine, brewed hot or cold, you can find it at this friendly café, which also serves up incredibly cheap panini sandwiches, salads, and traditional Chilean cakes.

Decked with historic memorabilia, Patagonia is best known for its steak—large slices of steaming beef, cooked on the grill. Most people don't stray too far from the classics and it's probably best not to, as this is what Patagonia does best. Order a bottle of good Cabernet and a steak, and experience a carnivore's dream.

Located near the center of town, Pataliebre has all manner of gourmet sandwiches, including hamburgers, chicken or steak sandwiches, and vegetarian options, all made with fresh, organic ingredients. If you're hankering for a hamburger from back home, this will hit the spot.

Taking inspiration from ancestral dishes made in all the regions of Chile, there's a historical theme at Peumayén, where every meal starts with a colorful "bread basket," a slate plate with examples from the north to the south of Chile. Entrées designed for sharing include guanaco meat; horse meat, lamb, fish, and the much-celebrated potato continue the ancestral theme. The restaurant interior is part romantic, part rustic, and there's an agreeable plant-filled courtyard for outside dining in warmer months.

Echoing the colors of the fishing boats below, this seafood restaurant is painted vivid shades of yellow, green, and red. The restaurant's proximity to the caleta (cove) means the fish on your plate was probably pulled from the water early that morning. Attentive servers will help you choose from the good wine selection.

The excellent pizza here is cooked in a wood-fired oven, making for exquisite crust. A host of great toppings is exactly the way Italy meant a pizza to be. Combine with a fresh tossed salad and a local microbrew beer and you can't go wrong. In summer, take a seat outside if you can.

A century-old colonial building with thick adobe walls houses Viña Santa Rita's restaurant, which serves a three-course set menu at lunch; dishes might include tuna tartare or rib-eye. Beneath the exposed beams of the peaked wooden ceiling, the restaurant is decorated with old religious sculptures and portraits, including one of Paula Jaraquemada, who owned the land at the time of the revolution. For dessert, enjoy the house specialty, homemade flan.

 Arrive in time to join the winery's noon tour so you're not rushing to make the 3 pm tour.