Aleyda's Mexican Restaurant, West Palm Beach

Aleyda Cardona's first restaurant was a truck. Originally intending to sell tacos and burritos across the city with her family, she had to change her plans after the engine began leaking oil on the first day. Instead, she stayed put for the next year as customers sought out her time-tested recipes, finally earning enough to purchase a new truck, and she eventually found permanent restaurant locations.

In addition to sizzling fajitas and homemade salsa, cooks also prepare innovative, Latin–inspired meals, such as a Texas–style steak dusted with garlic and cumin and grilled orders of shrimp and lobster in spicy tomato sauce. Every entree draws on hand-selected proteins, low-fat cooking oils, and produce that is delivered fresh daily, much like the restaurant's air supply.

Potent margaritas based on the family's secret recipe keep meals lively as diners converse amid turquoise walls and a dining room that mimics the feel of an outdoor patio. Leafy plants and piñatas dangle from the room's streetlamps, and backlit stained-glass windows adorn the walls alongside framed pictures.