A Chilean diner—fuente de soda—can resemble anything between a dive bar with a jukebox or a restaurant with formal service and pressed napkins. In Santiago, these institutions are woven into the city's DNA, accessible to all and enjoyed across the complex social divisions that define Chilean society.

In this guide, podcast host and cultural expert Pancho Solís takes us through a variety of the city's classics, and explains the culinary highs of the a city staple: the completo.

"Think of it as a hot dog with everything on it—but with toppings you might not normally associate with a hot dog. Avocado, tomato, and mayonnaise, and then there’s usually something else—mustard," he explains. "There are different schools of thought, but basically, it’s a hot dog with avocado, tomato, mayo and then more toppings get added until it becomes this absurdly huge thing."

"It can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, a late-night snack, a pre-party meal, a first date food, or comfort food after a bad day. In that sense, the completo italiano is what the average Chilean will order at any time of the day, any time of year."