Bar Cordano has served food, coffee and political conversation in Lima’s historic centre since 1905. Located at Jirón Áncash 202, directly behind Peru’s Government Palace, it occupies a strategic corner between the Plaza Mayor and the monumental complex of San Francisco. That position helped turn an everyday restaurant into a witness to public life.
Peru’s state news agency records that Italian immigrants Vigilio Botano and brothers Luis and Antonio Cordano founded the business on 13 January 1905. The room later welcomed politicians, writers, artists, journalists and palace workers. Lima’s official tourism service names Mario Vargas Llosa, Chabuca Granda, Juan Velasco Alvarado and Mario Testino among its notable patrons.
