11 Top Latin American Restaurants Across the U.S.

South of the U.S. and Mexico lies a wealth of delicious cuisine, from the arepas of Colombia and Venezuela to the expertly cooked steaks of Argentina. Exciting flavors also come when these culinary traditions are fused together, combining flavors whose origins extend not only far across the globe, but also far back in time. To help you find the best Central and South American dishes in the U.S., we compiled some of the best Latin and pan-Latin restaurants across the country — all of which have a Google reviews score of 4.2 or higher.

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Chicago
Since 2005, Carnivale has built a reputation for serving delicious dishes that fuse flavors native to Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. You might try the rum-cured salmon, Peruvian chicken, and Yucca gnocchi (each of which costs upward of $20). But Carnivale, located in Chicago's West Loop, is perhaps better known for its festive atmosphere: The walls and decor are brightly colored, live musicians and other artists perform every Friday night, and the restaurant frequently hosts large private events. "A great place to explore for a night," one diner wrote on Google reviews.

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San Antonio, Texas
Chama Gaucha achieves the rare feat of successfully putting culinary finesse into an all-you-can-eat model. At the San Antonio location — the brand's original spot — your "steak won't be served to you lying flat on a plate," the restaurant's website states, but rather "served quite hot, very adeptly seasoned, by a swift-moving gaucho (trained Brazilian chef), carrying it vertically on a large skewer." This well-reviewed steakhouse serves various cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and chicken, as well as sides, salad, and charcuterie — all for a flat price of $49.95.

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Miami
Reviewed well by locals and visitors alike, this cozy Colombian spot in Miami's South Beach neighborhood offers dishes like arepas, beef empanadas, fried cassavas, and sautéed mussels on a tapas-style menu. Often described as simple and authentic, you can expect one dish (or two small plates) to cost about $13 to $16, not including sides. If you're visiting Miami, you might take a note from this Google reviewer: "I was in Miami for four days and I came here every single day. Yea it's that good!"

Los Angeles
The menu at this chic pan-Latin restaurant, which opened in 2018 in L.A.'s Fashion District, draws inspiration not only from Central and South America, but also from the Caribbean and Spain. Dama offers both small and large plates, with dishes like croquettes, seafood tostada, oysters, pork shank, snapper, and clams with chorizo, all in a beautiful space with an "inside-outside feel that'll conjure up a grand old hotel in Havana, Buenos Aires, or Mexico City," as L.A. Eater wrote.

New York City
Charrúa serves up Uruguayan staples — milanesa, sausage, empanadas — in a laid-back spot in Lower Manhattan. If you're not in the mood for a full entree, order from the tapas menu, or try one of Charrúa's especially well-reviewed Uruguayan sandwiches ($11 to $14), which are known as chivitos – Uruguay's national dish. "A lovely getaway," one Google reviewer wrote. "I really feel like I'm in another country here."

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Austin, Texas
Peruvian cuisine evolved out of the fusion of flavors from far far-reaching places — Spain, Italy, China, Japan, Germany — and also from traditional Incan food. At Yuyo, you can get a taste of these traditions through dishes like ceviche, lomo saltado (beef stir-fry with onions and tomatoes), vegetables a la brasa (grilled bok choy with squash and Japanese sweet potatoes), and quinotto (a quinoa-based dish that resembles risotto). Entrees at Yuyo cost anywhere from $15 to $29, which seemed to be a fair price for many Google reviewers: "Love Yuyo," one wrote. "Well-prepared Peruvian classics in a former garage given a cool revamp."

San Diego
Located in the Gaslamp neighborhood of San Diego, this popular high-end Brazilian steakhouse serves premium cuts of beef, lamb, chicken, and pork, as well as several seafood options, for a flat price of $54.95 per person. Rei Do Gado also serves a couple traditional Brazilian dishes that don't include meat: pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) and feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew). One Google reviewer wrote: "Worth the money. This restaurant had a beautiful gourmet salad bar and sides bar as well as the continuous flow of delicious meat choices. You won't leave hungry."

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Daytona Beach, Florida
A combination of Caribbean, African, Spanish, and indigenous flavors, Honduran cuisine often gets overlooked in the U.S. But that's hopefully not true for those living near Chucherias Restaurant, an upscale spot that serves authentic dishes made with common Honduran ingredients like plantains, beans, beef, corn, and pickled cabbage. Expect entrees to range from about $25 to $75, which is worth the money to most Google reviewers, including one especially enthusiastic diner who wrote: "Words cannot describe the intensely stimulating oral sensations which overtook my palate as I took my first bite of food here. I felt tears roll down my face as I realized what true ecstasy felt like."

Portland, Oregon
This well-reviewed South American restaurant, which currently boasts a 4.7 Google review rating from more than 900 reviews, blends together the flavors of Argentine, Chilean, and Patagonian cuisines, while also offering dishes more commonly found in the Pacific Northwest. Sound like fusion overload? Never mind that, this pan-Latin spot is "just having fun," chef Jaco Smith told Oregon Live. Lechon offers a tapas menu featuring dishes like grilled octopus, lomo saltado, and sweetbread, as well as entrees ($24 to $46) such as asado, pan-seared scallops, and cider-brined pork chops.

Las Vegas
Dubbed by Eater Las Vegas as one of the most-anticipated Las Vegas restaurants to debut in 2017, Chica offers pan-Latin cuisine that draws inspiration from Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, to name a few countries. Chef Lorena Garcia, who's the first Latina chef on the Las Vegas Strip, isn't just recklessly combining South and Central American flavors and calling it fusion; rather she's "actually serving representative dishes of a wide variety of Latin American countries using authentic preparations and high-quality ingredients, showcasing not only the similarities among the cuisines of each culture but also the differences," wrote The Daily Meal. Entrees at Chica range from $26 to $56, or you can order family-style entrees.

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Los Angeles
The main reason you go to this beloved Argentinian spot is for the steaks, as the L.A. Times once noted: "The beef is grass-fed Angus, and even less expensive cuts, like the skirt steak, have a deep beefy flavor." Google reviewers tend to agree, giving this restaurant a 4.6 rating from more than 280 reviews. With quality beef, however, comes steep prices: Expect to pay at least $52 for a steak.

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