‘Coffee with legs’: inside Chile’s risque and antiquated cafe culture

Alejandra, 28, from Colombia, and Valentina, 21, from Venezuela, wait for customers at the entrance of Kako's Express in downtown Santiago, Chile. Photograph: Tamara Merino/The Guardian

At kerbside tables, down shadowy alleys and in underground arcades, coffee in Chile’s capital is still served con piernas – with legs.

Waitresses in short skirts and high heels serve coffee at the street-level joints which form part of a curious, anachronistic hangover from the 1980s. And in exotically named cafes in underground shopping centres, the staff – who are nearly all migrants from other countries – wear swimwear.