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 western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
where the service staff are all or nearly all attractive women dressed in revealing clothing.
[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 not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...]
) 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 and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
.
[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. ...
''[Chong, Kevin (28 May 2010)]
Santiago: A city with legs
''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
''[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 and 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, includ ...
''
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 broad ...
, 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
)
*
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. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
)
*
Host and hostess clubs
A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs mostly female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. Host clubs are a similar type of establishment where mostly male staff attend to women ...
,
Maid café
are a subcategory of cosplay restaurants found predominantly in Japan and Taiwan. In these cafés, waitresses, dressed in maid costumes, act as servants, and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) as if they were in a private home, rather ...
, and
No-pan kissa
are Prostitution in Japan, Japanese sex establishments offering food and drinks served by waitresses wearing short skirts with no underwear. The floors, or sections of the floor, are sometimes mirrored.
Shops generally operate under a "no-touch" ...
(
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
)
*
Breastaurant
A breastaurant is a restaurant that requires female waiting staff to be dressed skimpily. 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, inc ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Con Piernas
Culture of Chile
Types of coffeehouses and cafés
Sexualization
Gendered occupations