3 Best Restaurants in El Norte Grande, Chile

Wicker furniture enhances the cool South Pacific atmosphere of this pleasant, open-air restaurant that literally sits above the water on stilts. The seafood, lauded by locals, is always fresh; ask the waiter what the fishing boats brought in that day. House specialties include octopus grilled in lemon and olive oil, and sea bass in the pineapple-flavored salsa amazonia.

Located away from the center of the city, this seafood restaurant treats you to views of Playa Cavancha. Try the sole in Cleopatra sauce, with shrimp, capers, and olive oil; the Thai-style sautéed shrimp; or the paella for two, served by friendly bow-tied waiters.

Locals love this seafood restaurant, and for good reason. The corvina con salsa margarita (sea bass in a seafood-based sauce) is a winner, as is the paila marina, a hearty soup stocked with all manner of fish. The dreary fluorescent lights and faux-wood paneling give this restaurant on the second story of a concrete-block building an undeserved down-at-the-heels air.