“What you see before you is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” 

In Seattle, ordering a cup of joe with legs means you are asking for it to go, instead of consuming it on site. In Santiago, Chile, a coffee with legs is something entirely different! Known as café con piernas, this coffee with legs refers to a coffee bar where the drinks are served by scantily clad women in dimly lit rooms.

Ikabaru is dark, illuminated with black light so that the women’s outfits glow in the dark, and more akin to a strip club than a café. The drink is ordered from a cashier at the front of the house, and then you receive a ticket for the appropriate beverage. You stand at the bar — there are no seats — and give the ticket to your server, who brings you the drink with a glass of mineral water. Surprisingly, the espresso that I ordered was quite good, and it cost about the same as an espresso elsewhere in the city, 900 pesos (about $2). The café is open from 9 a.m. ’til 9 p.m. and serves only coffee drinks — no alcohol or food. The servers are quite friendly, and according to Jessica, the woman who served my drink, 90 percent of the patrons are regulars who return daily for their coffee with legs. Judging by how the servers greeted the patrons, it was clear that most had been there many times to enjoy a coffee. And unlike other cafés in Santiago, in a café con piernas, every customer enjoys the drink on the spot, rather than taking it to go.

It takes 300 to 500 cocoa beans to make two pounds of chocolate.

“Man cannot live by chocolate alone, but it sure is fun trying.” 

Want to try a decadent cup of hot chocolate? El Submarino is a drink popular in both Buenos Aires and Santiago. It is a cup of steamed milk with a submerged chocolate bar. Thus the name. Upon receiving the glass, it is necessary to stir the drink well to mix the melted chocolate and the milk. If the chocolate is of a good quality, it makes a smooth, chocolaty drink. If the chocolate is too sweet, however, it makes the drink quite sweet. Different tastes, I suppose, but I prefer my chocolate and beverages darker, with less sugar.

I enjoyed the Submarino at La Biela, a café that is adjacent to the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. La Recoleta’s best-known resident is Eva Perón, or Evita, and her mausoleum is always adorned with fresh flowers left by well-wishers. La Biela was a pleasant surprise for me. It is a traditional café, opened in 1850. Upon the back wall was a large photograph of a distinguished gentleman with several small toy cars in front of him. As I am a Formula One racing fan, he was instantly recognizable as Argentina’s most famous racecar pilot, Juan Manuel Fangio, considered by many as the greatest driver of all time. In his time, he drove for Alfa, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. The walls were decorated with photographs of other famous drivers as well, and on the back wall was a trophy case containing silver cups from various Argentinean races. The café serves as the unofficial headquarters for some of Argentina’s racing community. I was sorry that it wasn’t a Sunday with a Formula One race, as I am sure the café would have been packed with fans. However, the combination of El Submarino and Fangio, known as El Maestro, made a delightful start to my morning.