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Get Directions Ask Our TeamOur Take on Bar de René
Bar de René has been the same bar since 1996, which in Barrio Italia now qualifies as an act of defiance. René González opened it with his father as a fuente de soda; thirty years later it runs two stages, an attached discotheque called Eléctrico, and a music policy of vinyl only, ten crates deep. The Clinic marked the anniversary this April with a long interview in which González claimed it might be the best bar in Santiago. He is biased. He is not entirely wrong.
The neighborhood gentrified around it into natural wine and design stores, and René kept the liter bottles of beer and the piscolas poured into 350 ml glasses, pours The Clinic ranked among the city's most generous. TripAdvisor tourists rate the place 3.6. Treat that score as a door policy that costs nothing.
Two bands play most nights, and the anniversary show this June filled Teatro Caupolicán. One Google reviewer offers the only orientation you need: if your taste runs to Maná or Arjona, do not come.
The Menu, Edited
Reading the Room
The bar itself is nearly a corridor, one Google reviewer notes, with the concert room waiting at the back and a covered terrace, a former galpón, handling the smokers. Around 30 staff keep it moving. The sound in the band room punches far above the ticket price.
The crowd is multigenerational rockero plus the newer Barrio Italia public, and it arrives early because the room fills. Women regulars and the owner both describe it as a looked after space; González told The Clinic that if anything happens to a woman here, everyone jumps.
The bar closes for two weeks every February, a schedule it has earned. Sundays and Mondays it rests.
What Regulars Say
- Giant drinks, liter beers, and an intimate band room with very good sound. If you like live rock, it is unmissable.Google Maps reviewer
- The best piscolas in Santiago.Google Maps reviewer
- The cheapest thing in Barrio Italia, good atmosphere.Google Maps reviewer
- I believe we are the best bar in Santiago.René González, The Clinic, April 2026
Who It Is For
- Rock and metal loyalists who judge a bar by its PA system
- Anyone priced out of the rest of Barrio Italia
- Avoid if you want cocktails, quiet, or a seat after 10pm
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