Casino Español de Iquique

Ralph Leishman 6 months ago

Sat outside but interior spectacular. Nice coffee and a local beer. House special pisco sour very good. Greda de Gambas al Alillo and Ceviche de la Casa plenty for three of us at lunchtime. Good Chilean SB.

Daniel Hefkey 7 months ago

Walking into the Casino's rooms is like you were in a Moorish castle. I was amazed by the tile, wall painting and coffered ceilings with its mosaic design. The work to maintain such a beautiful venue must be significant. In fact, an artist was there touching up a section of the geometric painting. Given it closes at 1800hrs we went at 1700. There was only 1 other family so very quiet. We were free to wander the entire restaurant to take in the series of paintings depicting don Quixote. We found the service to be very good. Little to no waiting. To be clear, we had the paella and the server clarified it would take 30 minutes. We were aware and therefore ordered a mixed seafood tapas. When one thinks of tapas, you assume 4-6 pieces. In this case we were served a large bowl of fried shrimp & calamari. My only complaint is that it could have been warmer. Delicious though. The cocktails were done perfectly. Then the main. Wow. It came in less than 30 minutes. It was fresh and tasty. It contained seafood, chicken and beef. Again generous portions. To sit and take in the art on the walls would be satisfying on its own. The food is well worth supporting a community run business.

Josh Wrathall a year ago

A little bit of history from the cafe... With more than 115 years of tradition, the Sociedad Recreativa Casino Español and its famous building have earned the affection, prestige and appreciation of the city of Iquique. The history of the club began with the "Estudiantina Española", a group of enthusiastic young Spaniards who met to preserve their roots and promote camaraderie, having as their meeting place the second floor of the current headquarters of the Fire Company No. 1. This group was consolidated and changed its name to "Sociedad Recreativa Casino Español" in 1892. Ten years later, in 1902, with the considerable increase in its members, the Society decided to acquire land to build its main building, today the emblematic Casino Español, installed in a typical area of the city and built entirely of wood by the Architect Miguel Retornano and completed with a dome designed by the Architect Hurt Burchol, and painted by the Iquique painter Sixto Rojas. The interior of the building is richly decorated, recalling the Alhambra in Granada and the Royal Alcazares of Seville. It has beautiful paintings by renowned Spanish artists such as Ramón Palmerola who painted portraits of wome

Paul Schaeffer 7 years ago

We loved the Moorish Architecture and interior decor. We only had Sangria. It had fresh fruit in it, but was a little too sweet so we paid for a shot of our favorite liquor to be added to each which made them perfect. FYI, do not use flash when photographing.

Max B 8 years ago

Sorry to say this but this place was really terrible- the food was inedible and the service was very poor l. Waited to 30 mins for food (seafood soup) which was worse than instant seafood pot noodles. Refused to pay. The reaction on behalf of the establishment was not one of surprise. Apart from looking at the splendid interior AVOID.