El Cordano

The story

Italian immigrants Vigilio Botano and the brothers Luis and Antonio Cordano founded El Cordano beside Lima’s Government Palace on 13 January 1905. Its three dining rooms retain timeworn granite floors, timber panelling, bentwood chairs, old photographs and the long wooden bar. Presidents, writers, artists and generations of Limeños have gathered here for traditional criollo dishes, butifarras and pisco sours.

Why El Cordano is iconic

El Cordano is a living fragment of old Lima rather than a polished reconstruction. The worker-owned restaurant has preserved its democratic, patinated atmosphere for more than 120 years, and its role in the capital’s political and cultural life led to national cultural-heritage recognition.

Selected by Ernst Aben · Information reviewed July 2026