Café con piernas (Spanish for "coffee with legs") is a coffee shop style popular in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
where the service staff are all or nearly all attractive women dressed in clothing considered revealing.
[Gallardo, Eduardo (13 October 1998)]
Coffee With Legs' Offends Some Chilean Sensibilities
''Kentucky New Era
The ''Kentucky New Era'' is the major daily newspaper in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in the United States.
History
The paper was founded in 1869 by John D. Morris and Asher Graham Caruth, as the ''Weekly Kentucky New Era.''[Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...]
) 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
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
.
[Flinn, John (12 February 2006)]
Out on a limb for coffee with legs
''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
''[Chong, Kevin (28 May 2010)]
Santiago: A city with legs
''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
''[CAFÉ CON PIERNAS: ¡QUÉ SABOR!](_blank)
, ''chile.com'' (in Spanish), Retrieved March 22, 2011 It is frequently noted that the shops seem to contradict
Chile's traditionally conservative culture.
[Ossa, Felipe (5 May 2000)]
Cafes ... with legs
''Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
''
Generally, the women walk on a raised catwalk behind the bar so as to maximize the view for patrons.
[(12 August 2003)]
Cafe With Legs Sizzles In Uptight Chile
''Philippine Daily Inquirer
The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded bro ...
, p. A1, A13'' Not all locations feature women in bikinis or lingerie: some have stayed with the traditional miniskirt and heels.
See also
*
Bikini barista
A bikini barista is a woman who works as a barista, preparing and serving coffee beverages, while dressed in scanty attire such as a bikini, lingerie or a crop top combined with bikini bottoms or hotpants. In the United States, this marketing tec ...
(similar phenomenon in the northwestern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
)
*
Betel nut beauty
In Taiwan, a betel nut beauty or binlang girl () is a young woman selling betel nuts and cigarettes from a brightly lit glass enclosure while wearing revealing clothing. The term in Chinese comes from Xi Shi, the legendary beauty of imperial ...
(
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
)
*
Breastaurant
A breastaurant is a restaurant that requires female waiting staff to be skimpily-dressed. The term dates from the early 1990s, after restaurant chain Hooters opened in the United States. The format has since been adopted by other restaurants, in ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Con Piernas
Chilean culture
Types of coffeehouses and cafés
Sexualization
Gendered occupations