La Fiesta Café Delray Beach, Delray Beach

When a young reporter from Kulinary Kidd asked owners Jorge and Marco what distinguished La Fiesta Café from fast-food taco joints, they chuckled. "We prepare everything fresh," Jorge explained. "We make everything every morning—our beans, our rice, everything. We don't have anything delivered or canned." Authentic tacos norteños packed with grilled steak, sautéed shrimp, and al pastor pork remain their bread and butter, but the cafe's skilled chefs also fold these freshly made components into plump burritos and lean, street-style tacos—or craft other Mexican specialties such as sweet mole chicken. For their signature guacamole, the culinary gurus grind up fresh tomato, avocado, and onions in a traditional molcajete.

Vivid Warhol-style paintings of Frida Kahlo speckle the green walls of the dining room, where diners sit on antique-style wooden chairs and clink fruity margaritas. Others bask in the fresh air out on the front patio, soaking up sunshine or boldly challenging passersby to hair-growing competitions.