Antigua Taberna Queirolo

A pulpería that became a taberna

According to the history the restaurant publishes, the Queirolo family, who came from Genoa, settled around 1880 in the old village of Magdalena Vieja, which San Martín had renamed Pueblo Libre in 1821. Santiago Queirolo Raggio opened a pulpería there, the grocery-cum-bar of the time, which sold preserves, wines and provisions to the neighbouring haciendas. The building, in European style, dates from the 1870s; the restaurant still displays one of the country’s first telephones, a phonograph and an old cash register.

Long reserved for men, the taberna has become a place for family meals. The wine and pisco business grew separately: the Santiago Queirolo brand now produces wines and piscos from vines planted in the Cañete and Ica valleys, and the taberna serves the house piscos.

Not to be confused with the other “Queirolo”

Another historic bar, in the centre of Lima, on the corner of Quilca and Camaná streets, long bore the Queirolo name, run by another branch of the family. According to El Comercio (August 2025), after a decade of proceedings, Indecopi granted the Pueblo Libre taberna exclusive use of the brand: the downtown bar is now called “El Emblemático Q de Lima”. This page is about the taberna in Pueblo Libre, on Avenida San Martín.

A taberna, sánguches and pisco

The menu reads like that of a Lima taberna: you come for a sánguche, a criollo dish and a drink.

• The “de toda la vida” sánguches: house ham, pork chicharrón, lomito, fried pejerrey.
• Criollo dishes: ají de gallina, cau cau, carapulcra, beef seco, lomo saltado, and “ruletas”, platters of three dishes to share.
• Starters: papa rellena, causa, tamalito verde, papas a la huancaína; and ceviches and leche de tigre.
• Pisco: pisco sour, chilcanos (pisco, ginger ale and lime), macerations with fruit or herbs, and the house’s straight piscos, served by the glass or by the bottle.

Three typical orders

1. For a snack: a house ham sánguche (S/ 22) and a jug of chicha morada (S/ 21) to share.
2. To taste criollo cooking: a “Casera” ruleta, three dishes on one platter (S/ 90).
3. For the pisco: a house pisco sour (S/ 22) or a chilcano (S/ 22), with a papa rellena (S/ 29).

Drink alcohol in moderation: a pisco sour is a strong cocktail, especially in the early afternoon.

With the Museo Larco

The Museo Larco opens every day, public holidays included, from 9:00 to 19:00. The taberna is in the same neighbourhood: you can do the museum in the morning and lunch at noon. See Pueblo Libre.

A typical meal, based on the menu

Our suggestion

The Museo Larco in the morning, then a lunch of sánguches and criollo dishes at the taberna, in the same neighbourhood as Plaza Bolívar and the national museum.

What to ask before you go

• The current menu: the one on the website is an undated PDF.
• Which address is open on the day of your visit: “La Sucursal” only opens on Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 17:00.
• The piscos and macerations of the day, if you want to taste the house ones without having a cocktail.

Have the opening hours, a dish or a price changed? Let us know and we will correct this page.