Terremotos at a traditional watering hole in Santiago.
Santiago is now known for its upscale hotels, restaurants and famous wine bars, serving some of the country’s finest wines by the taste, glass or bottle, paired with local cheeses, meats and other delicacies. And that’s a great way to get to know Chile, and a fine first step after landing from wherever you came from. But if you really want to dig deeper, go back in time and place and get to know a different Chile, the down home version, get some local color and flavor, there’s nothing like losing yourself a bit in some of the more homegrown nightlife, such as three options listed below.
Cueca
The cueca, in all of its forms, is Chile’s national dance. There are some that are more orchestrated, and some a bit more stompy, but the basics are the same. It’s a dance based on flirtation, involving twirling of handkerchiefs, while the man and woman circle each other in a dance meant to represent the mating dance of the rooster and hen. Several bars have cueca nights, where you can try your hand (or feet) at the dance, though you might want to watch a round or two before stepping in. Check out El Huaso Enrique or La Chiminea to see when they have a cueca night on (sometimes including lessons), or ask at your hotel. In September, leading up to the September 18 national holiday, there are more likely to be cueca nights and classes.
Watering Hole
One of the classic institutions of down home Chilean nightlife are the traditional watering hole restaurants, with names like La Piojera and El Hoyo. These places may have traditional music, and will always have people drinking large local beers on tap, as well as terremotos, a local drink made of young wine and pineapple ice cream. Wine is also available, at many different price points. Food can go from the more elaborate arrollado de huaso, a rolled cooked seasoned pork loin, to the simpler pichanga, a type of antipasto with salami, or even just an empanada de pino (meat empanada).
Show
Another option is to take in a folklore show in Santiago, a dinnertime event that includes food and entertainment, Chilean style, with many of the above elements, with dancing, and different types of cueca demonstrations, pisco sours, arrollado de huaso, as well as choices of other traditional Chilean food and drink, together with transportation direct to and from your hotel.
Whatever you decide to do, expect it to be a long and late night, as most places like this don’t really start hopping until around 10 PM, and can go until the wee hours, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
-Contributed by Eileen Smith
