Vejigantes Restaurant, Boston

Named after an elaborately costumed character from a Puerto Rican feast, Vejigantes Restaurant serves authentic dishes that regularly lure famed patrons into the traditionally decorated space. Boston Red Sox slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz and U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren are among the restaurant's numerous notable guests who, like all other guests, pick from a menu written in Spanish with helpful English. Bacalaitos fritos—codfish fritters—and paella valenciana—chicken and Spanish-sausage paella—are two of the many popular dishes, all of which are crafted in a bustling kitchen managed by a Cordon Bleu–trained chef.