A2Z Languages - Santiago, Chile - City Guide

Nightlife

Santiago Spanish Language Courses Santiago’s after-hour activities are concentrated in the Bellavista district, regarded as the city’s artistic quarter and home to many of its most popular bars, restaurants and discos. Its main drag is the Calle Pio Nono, a lively but tacky strip through the heart of the area, and the street of choice for large gangs of local youths out on the town. Bellavista is widely regarded as having gone downhill in recent years (a trend popularly blamed on the drugs trade) and visitors may find themselves warned against going there after dark. It is also fair to say the district no longer deserves its reputation as the epicentre of Santiago bohemia, having succumbed to the commercialisation of its image. It is still worth a visit, however, at least for the experience of watching young Santiago at play in one of the numerous and overpriced bars along Calle Pio Nono. A redeeming feature of the area is its eccentric street theatre, which often continues until dawn. Throughout the night, the handicraft and souvenir vendors also hawk their wares to anyone prepared to carry such curiosities as stuffed tarantulas around the bars with them.

A reasonable-sized beer along Calle Pio Nono will be at least Ch$1000 but is more likely to cost double this figure. Meanwhile, the tidy middle-class district of Nunoa, to the south of Providencia, is gaining in popularity as a place for a night out among young sophisticates and students disaffected by the kitsch of Bellavista. The best bars offering a much quieter scene are to be found around the Plaza Nunoa. More upmarket watering holes can be found in the area around Avenida Suecia in Providencia, popular with the yuppie set and ex-pats alike.

Chile’s legal drinking age is 18 years – a rule strictly adhered to in most establishments. There are no licensing hours in operation and most establishments stay open until around 0700. A good online listings magazine for Santiago is available online (website: www.panoramas.cl).

Bars

Boomerang Pub, Calle General Holley 2285, offers live music on most nights. Admission is free Sunday to Thursday but Ch$4000 on Friday and Saturday, and drinks come at a premium. Also well established among the foreign community and their well-heeled Chilean colleagues is the Red Pub, Avenida Suecia 29. A long established institution among homesick Brits is the Phonebox Pub, Avenida Providencia 1670. This is as close as Santiago gets to the atmosphere of an authentic ‘local’ serving Chilean lager in pint glasses, with a collection of real ale beer mats stuck to the walls. Santiago’s newest and most fashionable night venue is the Paseo San Damian, a precinct of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the eastern suburbs, at Avenida Las Condes 11271. In order to keep the riffraff out, the location is deliberately hard to reach without a car and is a good place to spot Chilean celebrities.

Casinos

The only serious gaming facilities are to be found in the millionaires’ playground of Viña del Mar. The best known such establishment is the Casino Viña del Mar, Avenida San Martin 199 (tel: (32) 500 600; fax: (32) 500 701; website: www.casino.cl). This establishment operates a formal dress code and a minimum age of 21 years. Foreign visitors are required to show their passports to be admitted.

Clubs

Santiago Spanish Language School The city’s most popular night spots at the time of writing are La Casa, Calle Pio Nono 398 (admission is Ch$3000), a huge establishment equipped with state-of-the-art lasers and playing European club anthems, and OZ, Calle Antonia Lopez de Bello 114 (admission is Ch$13,000), also popular among techno fans. Similar sounds can be heard at Blondie, Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins 2879, and Laberinto, Avenida Vicuna Mackenna 915. Also rising to prominence as a place for young Santiago to go out dancing, is Disco PubEntre Negros, Avenida Suecia 186 (admission is Ch$10,000).

Live music

Boomerang Pub, Calle General Holley 2285, offers live music on most nights. Chile has a handful of pop groups that have achieved a measure of success across Latin America. The best known of these is Los Tres (The Three), who have a repertoire of inoffensive rock owing a lot to acoustic instruments. International repute in non-Hispanic countries has unfortunately so far evaded Chilean bands. Visiting superstars usually play their gigs at the National Stadium, Avenida Grecia 2001 (tel: (2) 238 8102), or the Teatro Municipal, Calle Agustinas 749.