Entering Dosalas Latin Kitchen and Tequila Bar feels like a visit to a distant sparkling otherworld. The large glittery chandeliers, enormous bar, and cushy white leather-covered booths overlooking the water provide a bit of Vegas glitz mixed with flourishes of old Hollywood glamour. The menu includes a variety of small plates like ahi tuna tostadas and a deconstructed Mexican street corn with chipotle crema and cotija over tostadas, as well as large shareable plates like ancho-spiced lamb chops or bone-in tomahawk rib-eye. Showy cocktails like the Purple Rain with gin and St. Germain, infused with a combination of butterfly pea powder and gold glitter, flow from the sleek bar. Reservations are available through Open Table.

Rick Gencarelli’s pasta palace recently opened on the Vancouver Waterfront, serving fresh pasta in shapes like bucatini and rigatoni in sauces ranging from meaty Sunday pork ragu to a light drizzle of garlic, chili flakes, olive oil, and Grana Padano. Wine by the glass or bottle, as well as craft beer and cocktails, are available to sip while gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Columbia River. The house red, a blend made by Coopers Hall winery in Portland, pairs well with the red sauce pastas.

Ella Bakh and her son and co-owner, Nico, opened this bright, cozy space to share the food of their native Tbilisi. The restaurant’s menu features comforting Georgian favorites like khachapuri adjaruli, a boat-shaped bread with fresh cheese, and khinkali, plump Georgian dumplings filled with beef and pork or mushrooms. Any visit should include both, as well as a few fresh salads and a small clay pot of a creamy bean stew called lobio. Dediko’s excellent wine list includes some Georgian wines made in the classic style, fermented in underground ceramic pots called kvevri. Miniature versions of these wine pots are scattered throughout Dediko, giving a traditional Georgian flair to this modern space.

This intimate hideaway tucked from the traffic of Main Street offers a rotating seasonal cocktail list and a well executed slate of pub fare. Dishes range from seasonal salads and lentil-and-oyster mushroom-stuffed delicata squash to the hedonistic Grocery burger, a third-of-a-pound Cascade Natural beef patty with bacon jam, sweet onions, garlic mayo, and American cheese on a potato bun.

When Noble Rot’s Mychal Dynes and Nodoguro’s Mark Wooten opened this palace of mezcal and tacos in September 2017, it quickly became a destination. The menu ranges from tacos with fillings like oyster mushrooms to crispy carnitas as well as hefty tortas like the brisket Americano with braised beef and melted American cheese. Smoky mezcal cocktails accompany the food menu, with an impressively long mezcal list.

The bar at this downtown spot offers the best seat in the house. These coveted stools provide the perfect perch to dine on classics like medium-rare New York strip steak doused in chimichurri with a mound of mash potatoes, or a crisp wedge salad topped with blue cheese and a thicket of thinly sliced onion rings. Amaro’s also hosts a rotating menu of draft cocktails like the Season of the Witch, a rum punch spiked with Meletti, ginger liqueur, mulled apple cider, and both chai and bergamot tea. Meals should end with creme brulee or fluffy ricotta doughnuts.

The Thirsty Sasquatch feels like a summer camp-like retreat for adults. Fake-grass-covered walls, neon signs, and large day-glo murals of Sasquatch fill the indoor and outdoor spaces. At the Thirsty Sasquatch, bartenders shake and stir drinks like La Granja, with mezcal, black currant, blackberry, cinnamon, and citrus. The pizza parlor side of the business, called the Hungry Sasquatch, serves enormous slices of New York-style pizzas like “the fungus,” with a seasonal mushroom blend, roasted garlic, and onion. In between the pizza parlor and bar sits an arcade with pinball machines and classic video games. Minors can dine at the Hungry Sasquatch and play in the arcade until 10 p.m.

Chef Miguel Sosa’s inspiration for his eclectic menu at this downtown spot stems from his French training, the Mexican culinary influence of his mother and grandmother, a passion for locally sourced produce, and an insatiable curiosity. The rotating menu at this intimate space ranges from Spanish octopus a la plancha with harissa and avocado mousse to a porcini-dusted Kurobuta bone-in pork chop in a port beurre noisette with sweet potato mousseline. Chef Sosa sources produce from local farms like Red Truck Farm, Flat Tack Farm, and Wobbly Cart Farm. Other menu items comes from Mayer’s Custom Meats in Ridgefield and PNW Wild Mushrooms. Reservations are available through Resy.

La Bottega has offered a rotating menu of antipasti like roasted tomato bruschetta, fresh salads, and Italian entrees like veal scallopini since 2006. Sandwiches such as grilled portobello with roasted peppers, eggplant, arugula, and horseradish aioli make this a popular lunch spot. In addition to Italian classics served in a cozy space, La Bottega boasts an extensive deli counter, wine cellar, take-and-bake meals, and imported pantry items for easy at-home dining.

Several years ago, Bonnie Brasure expanded her popular uptown bakery and cafe into the building next door. A sunflower-filled mural inspired by southern France fills the new space, known for its weekday lineup of breakfast classics like biscuits and gravy and lunch favorites like soup and sandwiches as well as Bleu Door’s own pastries. On weekends, brunch items like beignets with Bleu Door’s lemon curd, shrimp and grits, and biscuits and gravy (vegan and otherwise) are complemented by mimosas and bloody marys.

Dorothy Golson serves Southern food inspired by her childhood favorites at this red-and-white-checkered food truck in Hazel Dell. The daily menu includes classics like shrimp and grits, fried catfish, and sides like crispy disks of fried okra — tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. Golson often adds specials such as smothered pork chops with cabbage and roasted potatoes or sweet potato pie. Everything is made to order, so wait times for food can be long; it’s worth the wait. Orders can be placed ahead of time by phone.

This homey restaurant tucked into an International District strip mall serves Mexican favorites like sopes, tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, as well as Salvadoran pupusas. Made-to-order pupusas come with fresh masa and melted mozzarella cheese, combined with fillings like carne asada, jalapenos, mushrooms, and loroco, or edible flower buds. Cheese-filled birria tacos served in fresh, grilled tortillas with a side of warm beef consomé are a standout.

The Hernandez family opened this Mexico City inspired restaurant several years ago after running a food truck in Portland. Here they serve favorites from their home town like huaraches, tlacoyo, and the Alambre, a platter of grilled Mexican sausage, carne asada, bell peppers, onions, and ham topped with melted cheese and served with warm corn tortillas. The family imported a special tortilla maker to churn out their machetes — a 10 inch long quesadilla filled with things like mushrooms, cheese, huitlacoche, squash blossoms, and grilled or stewed meats. Following the trends of Mexico City, they recently added birria tacos and birria ramen to their menu.

Pho Vi Van, found in an unassuming space in an East Vancouver strip mall, consistently serves a wide range of fragrant pho. Pho Vi Van’s vegetarian pho comes with a rich and complex broth filled with rice noodles, puffy fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and a rainbow of crisp vegetables. Other highlights include a spicy bún bò Huế — thick swirls of rice noodles and tender meat in a luscious broth — and a comforting egg noodle soup with plump pork wontons.

This small East Vancouver spot features Cantonese, Hunan, and Szechuan cuisine with entrees like sizzling happy family with scallops, prawn, squid, and vegetables as well as dim sum classics like siu mai, shrimp dumplings, and steamed barbecue pork buns. The soothing house special wonton soup comes in a large bowl filled with plump pork and shrimp filled wontons, slices of pork, slivers of chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, and tender vegetables like pea pods and cabbage in a light, clear broth.

La Sorrentina Pizzeria — which received high praise from Portland Monthly food critic, Karen Brooks, for their Neapolitan pizzas at their Hazel Dell food truck — opened its brick-and-mortar restaurant in a strip mall off 164th Avenue in the midst of the pandemic. Owner and chef Daisuke Matsumoto bakes fire-roasted red sauce pizzas like the classic Margherita, as well as white sauce pies like the Terra Mia with eggplant parmesan, sausage, mozzarella, pesto, and basil on traditional or gluten-free crusts. The specials menu varies based on chef Matsumoto’s whims. Past offerings range from black truffle and wild porcini mushrooms served with freshly made tagliatelle to delizia al limone, a lemon pastry with fresh whipped cream from Sorrento, Italy, where chef Matsumoto trained with celebrated international chef Biagio Longo. Chef Longo regularly visits from Italy and teaches cooking classes at the restaurant.