54 Best Bars in Chile

A secret meeting place during the Pinochet regime, El Rincón de las Canallas still requires a password to get in (it's Chile libre, meaning "free Chile"). The walls are painted with political statements such as "Somos todos inocentes" ("We are all innocent"). It's a two-story affair, with loads of graffiti and business cards on the walls and ceiling.

Get a double shot of porteño (port city) nightlife at this classic restaurant with two rooms that feature two different acts simultaneously. Go ahead and try the traditional Chilean food, but the real reason to come is for the cueca, Chile's national dance. Forget everything you might know about the traditional folklore show. This is the gutsy, gritty, eye-to-eye, forehead-to-forehead cueca chora, which has undergone a revival in the past few decades. If you want a table, you'll need to come early—and plan on staying into the wee hours.

This spacious gay resto-bar welcomes everyone and is open every night except Sunday. From your table, you may spot models and other members of the "farandula" (Chilean celebrities) who frequent the place. Lunch is well priced, with dishes such as eggplant lasagna or ají de gallina (Peruvian chicken stew) available for around 9,000 pesos. It functions as a bar-restaurant until 2 am, but may close earlier on quieter nights like Monday or Tuesday.

The venerable gay disco Fausto, in business for more than 40 years, has polished wood paneling that calls to mind a gentlemen's club. It has a few different sections, a show at 2 am, and offers free admission to men during their birthday month. There are occasional theme parties and entertainers. Unlike many other gay clubs in Santiago, Fausto attracts a more solidly thirties-and-up crowd. Fausto is open until 4 am or later.

National and local bands of diverse musical styles, from jazz to rock, supply the live music at this club and bar. There are two main rooms, one of which features a DJ that spins electronic dance music. The bar is always filled with a festive crowd.

If you're itching to dance salsa or merengue plus enjoy food and a show, come to this club Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. It starts with an all-you-can-eat buffet of Cuban specialties, and at midnight, there's a 40-minute show with sensual professional dancers. Only after that does the dance floor open to the public.

Close to the main drag of Avenida El Bosque Norte, this is an honest-to-goodness pub serving Irish food and beer. The upstairs, downstairs, and outside area often fill with expats and their friends.

This gastro pub is a popular nightspot, where locals come for beer on the tap, live music, and karaoke at the weekends. They have a menu of local cuisine for when you get a bit peckish, too.

This is one of Pucón's great discos to party the night away. Summer brings big crowds and often special promotions on drinks.

A sprawling family-friendly restaurant by day and lively bar by (late) night, this is the most happening place in Ovalle. While large, the place is divided into cozy sections marked by a wood motif; there are wooden benches and wooden crates on the walls and ceiling. Lots of natural light fills the room. The food is an eclectic mix of shawarma sandwiches, pizzas, and empanadas. On Friday and Saturday, it transforms into a karaoke bar.

This friendly, laid-back bar has great local beers on tap, tasty bar food, and trendy tunes in the background as it fills up.

Located within Patio Bellavista, La Casa en el Aire is a great place to catch live bands. There's also a larger venue with a terrace at Antonia López de Bello 0125. If your Spanish is good, you can listen to storytelling and stand-up, too, or even perform. There's a happy hour daily from 4 to 9.

This brightly colored house in Bellavista is a great place to take in local music with a down-to-earth and generally young, local crowd. Peñas are traditional watering holes where la nueva canción chilena, a kind of Latin American resistance folk music, was first popularized. Due to their historically political nature, peñas became clandestine during the dictatorship.

The city's classic speakeasy, La Taberna Club de la Unión, hops into the wee hours with a healthy mix of younger and older patrons. It is also open for an early evening drink if you just want an aperitif before dinner.

A local favorite is the friendly Mamas & Tapas, which is de rigueur among the expat crowd. Light Mexican dining morphs into DJ sets or live music at night, which lasts into the wee hours.

A large dose of New York City spirit in the form of a hip-hop soundtrack and subway street art makes for a distinctly urban drinking experience at cocktail bar Nkiru. Located on the ground floor of 45 By Director hotel, it attracts a young, hip crowd keen for signature cocktails.

Vast, modern, and unashamedly generic, Ovo Lounge is a decent option for mainstream music until late every Thursday through Saturday. This chain club tends to attract a slightly more affluent crowd in the 25- to 35-age range.

A good spot for a beer and meal near the town plaza, Q'ilú Restobar has a relaxed atmosphere and a big-screen TV for watching sports. 

This vibrant bar is popular with the twenty-something crowd, thanks to the live music, DJ, and good food.

This discotheque chain in Chile has one of the liveliest party centers in Pucón, with fiestas and drink specials throughout the year.

This gay-friendly small club gets full quickly, but salsa dancers say it's the best in Santiago. Classes for beginners to advanced are 3,000 pesos and run Wednesday through Friday from 8. Come alone or with a partner. Pisco cocktails from 3,500 pesos. 

Three floors of fun await at Sarita Colonia, the only Peruvian drag bar and restaurant in Chile. Named after a Peruvian saint for the poor, Sarita Colonia is brimming with kitsch religious artifacts and is one of the most fun places in Bellavista for a night out. Order a ceviche or the Peruvian classic lomo saltado. The bar serves delicious pisco sours.

A lively night spot, this longtime bar and disco at Pelluco beach has two dance floors, six rooms, karaoke, a restaurant, and live music.

Part bar, part restaurant, Travellers offers a wide array of international cuisine, serving one or two dishes from Germany, Thailand, China, Italy, Mexico, and many countries in between. While you chow down on an enchilada, your companions might be having spaghetti with meatballs or sweet-and-sour pork. The restaurant is open only in the evenings from 5:30 pm. On summer nights, sit on the front lawn under the umbrella-covered tables when the Travellers also turns into a bar playing retro dance music.