Chile Forum

I eat soup with a spoon, and then, I eat rice with a spoon. This is a dual-use function of the spoon. Seriously, ak405, wise men never go to toilet with knife and fork to wipe their ### with these items. Rather, they use knife and fork there just to divide thick napkins in halves. Also listen, ak405: we all must drink in moderation, all the time. And we should never ever use cutlery to scare the hell out of one eyed cooks.. and retired from boxing waiters.

I'm not amazed at the responses put forth. Being IN Latin America, i believe i have a true understanding of the culture.
Mexico is very different when it comes to labor law, no different than most Latin American countries

From what you are all telling me the situations are very similar to what i am already exposed to
My command of the Spanish language is pretty darn good.
Thank you all for the time and energy you have spent on this subject

Now in regards to my typing skill...

I CAN NOT STAND TYPING!
AND HATE TO BE PERFECT WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS

Thank you kindly

Bruce

My command of the Spanish language is pretty darn good.

Thank god! better to command Spanish than just about anything else in Chile

If you read up on the labor laws you will find them very burdensome, and your staff will no doubt make sure they take every advantage of them, but putting the labor laws to one side for now, I haven´t owned a restaurant here but I did own a cafe providing sandwiches etc for a bit and from my experience I would suggest that you think twice or maybe 22 times before getting yourself into the restaurant business. I sold the place in 2005 as my idea was not to be a charity. Since then I´ve counted at least 4 different owners of the place. I do however, have an aquaintance that owns a pub with a restaurant serving lunches and dinners, another restaurant, and also a cafe, all in Las Condes and he actually makes money but then he´s in a very special niche, one that I don´t think you would be able to enter into. Chileans are very fashion ( and even more so- cost conscious), and restaurants may well be successful for the first 6 months if they are lucky enough to be looked upon as being " in", but then another new one opens and the " in crowd" move on. If you were to aim at a lower level, say a " picada", you will have the problem of being able to recover your costs. You will need to comply with strict hygiene as well as municipal laws, which can, at times, be totally illogical. Your staff will steal from you, you will have to worry about female staff who join in their early months of pregnancy or who will become pregnant whilst employed by you, and you will not be able to fire them. You will have to keep their jobs open for them when they return from their maternity leave etc etc. If you really want to go ahead with the idea, I would suggest you spend quite some time in researching locations, before you jump in.

i believe i have a true understanding of the culture

I believe not completely.
Chile is not Mexico. The labour laws, hygiene regulations, and taxation obligations are enforced here, and you cannot "get round" them.
Once you appear on any of these authorities' radars for any reason, expect increased fiscalizacion

As dfjordan says, staff are a problem. Just getting them to show up, never mind showing up on time, can be a battle, especially on San Lunes

Santiago is the most likely place in Chile for this type of business to succeed.
Incidentally, I would say that in general I found Mexicans to be better workers than their Chilean counterparts, at least in my line of work.

Hello. If I may hijack this thread to some degree, what are the licensing requirements for serving alcohol, say in a bar/live music venue?

I owned and operated an award-winning live music venue in Austin, Texas and am always curious about the regulatory burdens for serving alcohol in different jurisdictions. In Austin, (in Texas generally where one is permitted to even attempt to serve,) the burden is sometimes onerous. But thank the stars for all of those tens of thousands of thirsty students at the University of Texas at Austin.

I'm assuming that the licensing requirements are simple. I saw liquor for sale in grocers in Santiago. This is something, for example, that cannot be done at all in Texas.

You are talking "patentes".

For alcohol there are different kinds: botellerias and buy and carry type establishments, beer and wine service only, the whole range of booze, etc.

You can check out the ads on EMOL to see the prices. Some parts have restricted the number issued as they attempt to control out of control youngsters and related nighttime problems and those can only be bought second-hand from current owners.

Thanks for the reply. That is what I expected. I wouldn't open a business like that with extreme personnel management requirements in another country unless I was fluent and thoroughly familiar with the culture. Honestly, I'm probably too old to open a business like that anywhere at this point, but maybe one day down the road when the last of my sense has left me. But for now I always like finding out how other places manage the industry (if only to pat myself on the back over what I was able to wade through back home).

How is the treatment of fire safety? For example, it's not uncommon to be visited by the fire marshal on busy nights, or a few days before important events/concerts, to check adherence to maximum occupancy limitations, processes to verify current occupancy, fire extinguisher service tags, clear fire exits, &c. In Bella Vista, Santiago, if I recall correctly, there were quite a few "dive bars" (no offense, my own place was a successful dive music venue; some music only plays well with a certain ambiance), and I counted many fire code violations. I don't have a problem personally because a lot of code is bureaucratic cover-your-backside politician feel-good stuff, or proof of the need for tort reform, but I'm curious if those are not violations in that part of town, or if there is lax enforcement.

Also, how is the treatment of serving alcohol? For example, in Texas a bartender cannot serve anybody to the point of intoxication, or who is presently intoxicated (this is very easy to do, two drinks in one hour for a man and less for a woman, for example, technically), and this can be used as a reason to arrest a bartender, although enforcement is as arbitrary as one would expect it must be, because the violation is very common. However, in New Orleans, I was told that the test is whether or not a customer can remain seated. If the customer falls off of his or her stool, then the customer may no longer be served alcohol. What is the test in Santiago? I didn't see anybody drunk when I was there, but then again I wasn't out too late into the night, certainly not when the real partying started.

Don't know about the fire safety stuff. Guess I need to ask my gal (who has served as "jefa de control" at various Santiago semi-dive restaurants) if I remember to when she arrives on the coast. From what I can tell, the officials are paying more attention to the new smoking regs and then hygiene particularly when the local TV expose programs run an eye-opening stomach turning segment.

Regarding intoxication, I've seen people nearly passed out with their refilled drink in front of them in Santiago Centro. Seems most dueños and jefes give the benefit of the doubt to the client, especially if they have no problems paying. Chile's "Ley de Alcohol" can be found posted at all legitimate establishments. Did you know it is technically illegal for a foreigner to be drunk in the streets? I must have broken that reg over a hundred times when living in Santiago

This is interesting. Thank you for replying. The situation was the same here in Austin, with overmuch concern about enforcing smoking bans in establishments with too loud music, binge drinking, and who knows how much else going on under the table. I don't think anybody should expect too much in favor of health while indulging in live alternative music. If you want health and clean air, take a walk in the park. That's what I do. (And I do not smoke, but I do believe that smoking and bars are hand in glove.)

Is there a particular problem with hygiene in the restaurant industry, or is that just sensational journalism when they need to juice the ratings?

I'm hoping that, in an effort to increase overall lawfulness, the Piñera government will not begin to enforce the law against intoxicated foreigners on the street, so that I may preserve that option.

joru wrote:... Is there a particular problem with hygiene in the restaurant industry, or is that just sensational journalism when they need to juice the ratings? ...

Well like everywhere, it varies. In Centro and other old parts it is impossible not to have some roaches and even mice to rats running around the place even with diligent pest control by the owner. My gal quickly gauges a place by how clean the tables, chairs, windowsill and bathroom are. So a newly built place in the newer part of town with clean tables, chairs, bathroom etc. puts the odds of less asco-ness outside your view on your side.

That sounds reasonable. Anybody familiar with food service knows .... Well, I don't want to spoil it for anybody comfortable with the illusion.