In Chile, “picadas” are classic, local mom and pop restaurants that prepare delicious homemade dishes often from family recipes.

Cities and towns throughout the country are filled with them, and they’re a huge part of the country’s identity, especially when it comes to food. For the second consecutive year, the Ministry of Culture has held the “Chile’s Best Picada”contest, and the voting for year two has just finished!

With a mammoth 18,358 votes, the restaurant Las Muñecas de Ñielol in Temuco is 2013′s “Best Picada“, coming out on top of the more than 31 classic spots throughout the country that were selected to be part of this year’s contest.

Las Muñecas is located in the outskirts of Temuco in the Araucanía Region, which contains some of the country’s most pristine woodlands and parks, and offers traditional Chilean fare such as empanadas, humitas, various meats, cazuelas, and pastel de choclo, among many other typical Chilean dishes. The restaurant has been an icon in the city for more than 36 years.

In second place with 14,741 votes is Manhattan in Concepción, the capital city of the Bío Bío Region, followed by Centro Hijos de Chiloé in Punta Arenas in the far south of Patagonia, with 6,292 votes. In total the contest received more than 62,791 votes – more than 11,000 more than the previous year. The voting was done through a website administered by the Ministry of Culture.

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