Zait & Za’atar, a casual “Mediterranean dhaba,” marries Mediterranean and South Asian flavors. It’s a great place to fill up on fresh falafel, baba ghanoush, and juicy shawarma sandwiches and plates. But don’t overlook the chaat: crispy samosas, tangy pani puri dripping with tamarind, and vada doused in cool dahi.

Estelle, an upscale but understated restaurant on St. Paul’s Cleveland Avenue, pairs breezy Spanish and Portuguese dishes like patatas bravas, shrimp al ajillo, and beet escabeche with comforting Italian pastas. The pasteis de nata, a classic Portuguese egg tart, is a flawless sweet note at the end of the meal. Slip into the cozy adjoining bar for an herbaceous nightcap (think charred rosemary vodka, plum honey shrub, etc.).

Restaurants are a little sparse in Minneapolis’s Seward neighborhood, but Cafe Racer is a reliable favorite. Arepas — subtly sweet and soft on the inside, fried golden on the outside — are at the heart of this pared-down menu. For breakfast, they’re served with marmalade or kielbasa, or as a side to an omelet topped with bright salsa criolla and pico. For dinner, they pair well with braised pulled pork or roasted chicken, and other sides like yuca frita and sweet plantains.

A Northeast favorite since 1973, Emily’s Lebanese Deli is a family-run operation serving Lebanese dishes in a small building on University Avenue. Favorites include lamb shish kabobs, fried kibbeh sandwiches, or flaky spinach pies hot out of the oven. Save room for baklava (Emily’s version is made with rosewater, and has prominent floral notes) or crema, a Lebanese orange blossom custard.

While Giulia is a hotel restaurant in sleepy downtown Minneapolis, it pretty much stands on its own. Giulia shares its vaulted space with the Emery’s lobby, but the hotel overlap stops there. The focus on northern Italian flavors are precise and spot-on — think virtually faultless ricotta meatballs, a play on arancini (here, named suppli) paired with apple, and maltagliati: homemade, silky ribbons of pasta with a tonkotsu-style Japanese stock that’s wildly flavorful.

Chef Abi Baire takes inspiration from the women in her family — her grandmother, mother, and Aunt Maria — who’ve been cooking Salvadoran food for generations. She brought their time-tested recipes to Minneapolis in 2015, when she opened Abi’s Restaurant on Lyndale Avenue. The entire menu, which has everything from quesabirria to camarones a la plancha, is stellar, but the absolute musts are the flavor-packed pupusas. Mix and match the revueltas, the chicharrón con queso, and the queso con ayote.

One of many standout spots on Nicollet Avenue, Apoy serves traditional Filipino cuisine and a few original dishes of its own. Start with the classic lumpia or tender, caramelized tocino. The Shrimp Bicol Express pairs creamy coconut with piquant ginger in a tantalizing sauce. For dessert, the halo halo, a shaved ice medley of coconut, plantains, jackfruit, and sweetbeans, is the perfect antidote to a hot day (or a cold one, for that matter).

This charming restaurant serves deeply satisfying, comforting dishes. The setting is an old firehouse, with decor representing all the neighborhood icons that define Lake Harriet. Expect staples dishes, like salmon rillettes, grass-fed burgers, gnocchi with a glossy beurre blanc, or slightly more adventurous options, like a clams and bison sausage. Don’t leave without plunging a fork into the coconut tres leches cake.