Café con piernas (Spanish for "coffee with legs") is a coffee shop style popular in Chile where the service staff are all or nearly all attractive women dressed in revealing clothing.[1] Coffee shops with waitresses serving in miniskirts and heels to businessmen had long been popular, but bikinis and similar attire accelerated the trend by the mid-1990s. The shops are very numerous and popular in Santiago.[2][3][4][5][6] It is frequently noted that the shops seem to contradict Chile's traditionally conservative culture.[7]
Generally, the women walk on a raised catwalk behind the bar so as to maximize the view for patrons.[8] Not all locations feature women in bikinis or lingerie: some have stayed with the traditional miniskirt and heels.
See also
- Bikini barista (similar phenomenon in the northwestern United States)
- Betel nut beauty (Taiwan)
- Host and hostess clubs, Maid café, and No-pan kissa (Japan)
- Breastaurant
References
- Gallardo, Eduardo (13 October 1998). Coffee With Legs' Offends Some Chilean Sensibilities, Kentucky New Era (Associated Press)^
- Flinn, John (12 February 2006). Out on a limb for coffee with legs, San Francisco Chronicle^
- Chong, Kevin (28 May 2010). Santiago: A city with legs, Toronto Star^
- Heather Murphy. A Little Skin With Your Latte? National Public Radio, September 17, 2008, retrieved March 9, 2010^
- Adam Fuller and Jason Snyder. CAFÉ CON PIERNAS: GOOD 'TIL THE LAST DROP The Santiago Times, August 1, 2008, retrieved March 9, 2010^
- CAFÉ CON PIERNAS: ¡QUÉ SABOR!, chile.com (in Spanish), Retrieved March 22, 2011^
- Ossa, Felipe (5 May 2000). [http://www.salon.com/travel/wlust/2000/05/05/piernas Cafes ... with legs], Salon.com^
- (12 August 2003). Cafe With Legs Sizzles In Uptight Chile, Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A1, A13^