La Pena Restaurant, Chicago

Music from live folk bands, DJs, and karaoke crooners fill the cozy interiors of La Peña while servers deliver platters of authentic Ecuadorian cuisine. On many nights, dishes of empanadas with green plantain and ceviches with roasted dry corn emerge into a dining room filled with the spicy tunes of DJs or live performances of Andean folk music—a safer way to fill the air with culture than floating bubbles filled with hot sauce. House-made sangria and imported Ecuadorian brews appease tongues, priming throats to belt out popular tunes during karaoke.