Café
Emporio La Rosa
Opened in 2001 as a corner grocery on Merced near Parque Forestal, Emporio La Rosa is a well-known artisan ice-cream shop, also serving Chilean lunch dishes.
La Huérfana
A specialty coffee shop with a vegetarian menu inside the restored Palacio Pereira, an 1872 mansion by Lucien Hénault on the corner of Huérfanos and San Martín.
At a glance
- Type
- Specialty coffee and vegetarian café
- Area
- Santiago Centro, Santiago, Chile
- Price
- $$ · Mid-range
Good to know
- Specialty coffee
- Vegetarian food
- Lunch menu
- Heritage building
Why we recommend it
La Huérfana is a good excuse to step inside the Palacio Pereira, the subject of a major restoration project in central Santiago. The café occupies part of the palace at Huérfanos 1515 and serves specialty coffee with a vegetarian focus, using only South American coffees and with an emphasis on sustainability.
The building is the real draw. In 1872 the lawyer, wine producer and politician Luis Pereira Cotapos commissioned the French architect Lucien Hénault to design a grand house on the corner of San Martín and Huérfanos streets; it was Hénault's last work in Chile before he returned to France, and Pereira lived there until his death in 1909. The palace was declared a national monument in 1981, but that did not stop its decline: it was split into rental shops and further damaged by the 1985 earthquake. The state bought it in 2011, and a restoration designed by Cecilia Puga, Alberto Moletto and Paula Velasco, begun in 2016 and completed in 2020, turned it into the headquarters of Chile's heritage bodies. In 2021 it was also chosen as a workplace for the Constitutional Convention.
On the menu you will find sweet and savoury options such as galletones, large cookies, filled medialunas and tostadas, along with lunch menus. Filter coffee is available, including Chemex, and toast with avocado is a simple order. Because the café is vegetarian, it is a reliable choice for visitors who do not eat meat.
The café opens from Monday to Friday between 08:30 and 19:30, and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 18:00, so it works for breakfast before sightseeing or a late-afternoon coffee. Check Sunday plans elsewhere. The café posts updates on its Instagram account, which is the best way to check the day's menu.
The palace is in the historic centre, and the café makes a calm break on a day of sightseeing. It suits solo travellers, people working on a laptop for an hour, and anyone interested in architecture. Take a moment to look at the restored interiors and the contrast between the nineteenth-century rooms and the new elements added by the architects.
The Clinic also lists a second branch of La Huérfana in Providencia, but the palace location is the one worth a detour.
La Huérfana FAQs
Where is La Huérfana?
Inside the Palacio Pereira at Huérfanos 1515 in central Santiago.
What are the opening hours?
Monday to Friday 08:30 to 19:30 and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00.
Is the food vegetarian?
Yes, the café has a vegetarian focus.
What coffee does it use?
Only South American coffees, with filter options such as Chemex.
What can I eat?
Galletones, filled medialunas, tostadas such as avocado toast, and lunch menus.
What is the Palacio Pereira?
An 1872 mansion by Lucien Hénault for Luis Pereira Cotapos, restored between 2016 and 2020.
Is the building a monument?
Yes, it was declared a national monument in 1981.
Is it good for breakfast?
Yes, it opens at 08:30 on weekdays.