What might look like a typical Hillsboro Mexican bakery from the outside is the one of the only specifically Guatemalan restaurants in the region. The name — Guatemalans call themselves “chapines”— is the tip-off. This is the place for hard-to-find meaty stews like sopa de res, a weekend-only beef soup, hilachas, shredded beef braised with tomatoes, and jocon, a green tomatillo-based stew that’s available with beef or chicken. Los Chapines is open for takeout and delivery.

The Pacific Northwest isn’t exactly overflowing with Caribbean restaurants, but for Puerto Rican food like alcapurrias, bacalaitos fritos, and mofongo, a tasty mound of fried plantains mashed with chicharrones, head to Beaverton’s Boriken. The restaurant is open for indoor and outdoor dining, as well as delivery and takeout.

One of two local Argentine food carts (Portland Mercado’s Alecocina is the other), Abuela Chona in Beaverton’s BG Food Cartel is a rich source of casual fare like baked empanadas in eight different flavors, including a ground beef and hard-boiled egg classic, plus the beloved choripan, a chorizo sandwich dressed with chimichurri and served on a crusty homemade French roll. Abuela Chona is open for delivery and takeout.

Andina has developed a national reputation for its high-end Novo-Andean cuisine, and for many, it’s considered an embassy for Peruvian chefs and a starting point for novice diners. Andina has managed to stay relevant over the years, serving elegant and piquant ceviches in a restaurant space that borders on fine dining. Andina is open for takeout and delivery.

One of the newer additions to Portland’s tiny Peruvian scene is family-owned Casa Zoraya, bringing artful plating and an Andina pedigree to North Portland. The restaurant looks casual on the surface, with its narrow row of tables, rustic mixed wood accents, and pops of azure paint, but the food is meticulously constructed. Dishes showcase multi-hued potatoes and piquant peppers, and lomo saltado — a Chinese-Peruvian dish of stir-fried beef, tomatoes, and french fries — gets an upgrade with sirloin and potato wedges adjacent to a neat mound of rice. Casa Zoraya is open for takeout.

Pambiche, the colorful Cuban restaurant on the lower level of a Victorian building, has persisted just off the now-trendy 28th Avenue corridor since the dawn of the millennium. It is also one of the only places in town to find literal melting pot dishes like ajiaco, a Creole stew containing beef, pork, squash, plantains, and four types of starchy tubers (yuca, malanga, ñame, boniato) that borrows from African, Spanish, and Taino traditions. Most dishes come with moros y cristianos, the colloquial name for black beans and white rice. Pambiche is open for takeout and outdoor dining.

Beyond rodizios like Brazil Grill and national chain Fogo de Chão, Brazilian food isn’t easy to come by in Portland. Belmont food cart Brazilian House fills the gap by offering comforting classics like feijoada, the hearty black bean stew filled with sausage and smoked meat often referred to as the national dish, and moqueca, a coconut milk-based seafood stew flavored with palm oil.

Venezuelan food shares similarities with nearby countries, and both La Arepa carts offer the namesake corn cake. For something specifically Venezuelan, order pabellón, a mix of shredded beef, plantains, and black beans as an entree served with rice, stuffed into an empanada or arepa, or as a patacón, a sandwich using two tostones for bread. La Arepa is open for takeout and delivery.

Que Bacano is one of the most popular carts at Portland Mercado, likely because Colombian food is scarce in the city. It serves the holy trinity of arepas, empanadas, and patacones, as well as bigger entrees like arroz con pollo and the bandeja paisa, a traditional hefty platter of rice, soupy pork-filled beans, plantains, sausage, chicharrones, fried egg, avocado, plus an arepa. The Portland Mercado is open for takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining.

Merendero Estela, a Honduran food cart just a few blocks north of Cartlandia, specializes

in pollo con tajadas, a.k.a. “chicken with very green bananas,” an underwhelming name for a princely basket of fried chicken and sliced tostones, nestled next to a bed of shredded cabbage and pink pickled onions. For something simpler, the cart’s baleadas — soft, handmade flour tortillas folded over refried beans, cotija, and crema — are hard to beat. Merendero Estela has covered outdoor seating and is open for takeout and delivery.

Salvadoran pupuserias are scattered throughout East Portland beyond 205, and Chepe’s is one of the most popular. Pupusas, flat corn cakes that are sparingly filled with things like beans and cheese, are grilled and served naked with hot sauce and curtido, a pickled cabbage and carrot slaw spiked with jalapeños. They’re also available with more fanciful toppings — shrimp and cilantro sauce, chorizo and egg — plus sour cream and avocado. Chepe’s is open for takeout and delivery.