Guadalajara

First Stop: Mónica Rodríguez’s Guadalajara

Editor’s Note: In the latest installment of our recurring First Stop feature, we asked documentary photographer and art director Mónica Rodríguez to share some of her favorite bites and sips in Guadalajara. Mónica is the photographer for the Guía Domingo book series, a taco photobook and guide whose third edition, Tacos Guadalajara, is available now. You can follow Mónica on Instagram @monicardz___ Guadalajara is one of the best food cities in all of Mexico. If you were to tell me that I’m going to Guadalajara right now, the first thing I’d do is go for breakfast at a taquería that I discovered when I went to shoot the photos for the book Guía Domingo. It’s a street cart called Tacos al Vapor Don Fede. I love the vibe of this place. You can tell that it has its lifelong customers – some go there for breakfast before work; there is nothing more Mexican than eating a taco while standing in the middle of the street. When I visited it was springtime and there were many jacaranda trees painting the street purple.

Rio

Liquid Assets: Our Favorite Rio Bars & Botequins

Rio bars aren’t simply a place to grab a quick drink – though that’s how they can appear to many walking past. The bar is the cornerstone of carioca life, easily earning the nickname of modern-day watering hole. And, more often than not, they’ve got some damn good food. Now, the Rio bars landscape is overstuffed with gin joints and cachaça canteens. So, when we round up our "best" spots in a city, it’s never about Instagramable trends, Michelin stars, or rooftop views. We share the places we genuinely love to go – spots with soul, history, and that indescribable atmosphere that keeps you lingering. Some of these places may have become well-known institutions over the years, but others remain tucked-away neighborhood joys.

Discovering the Culinary Soul of Old Rio

Brazil and its cuisine are a wild and sometimes baffling stew of influences and cultures – and Rio’s old city and port zone are where many of the country’s disparate elements deliciously converge. These atmospheric neighborhoods are where the Portuguese began building the city, where the slaves who were brought over to Brazil first landed, where samba was born and – most importantly – where this bustling metropolis’s multicultural identity and food culture started taking shape. On this tour we trace that history through its food, meeting the people who are keeping Brazil’s culinary traditions alive and those who are creating exciting new ones.

Queens

The Essentials: Where We Eat in Queens, New York

Ride the 7 train as it rumbles above Roosevelt Avenue, and with every stop, you’ll find another world of where to eat in Queens, New York. Get off in Jackson Heights, and the air might be fragrant with Nepali spices and frying Indian jalebi; a few stations later in Corona, fresh-pressed tortillas and slow-cooked birria will welcome you. Here, the globe has unpacked its many kitchens alongside its luggage and moved in. This is Queens, a borough with more than 1 million foreign-born residents, thrumming with hundreds of languages, foods, and wares.

Tbilisi

The Essentials: Where We Eat in Tbilisi, Georgia

Walk down a given street in Tbilisi and you will smell the seductive aroma of fresh bread wafting out of old cellar bakeries, baked in cylindrical ovens just like it always has. Listen to the refrain of “matzoni, matzoni,” being sung by women lugging bags packed with jars of the fresh sour yogurt at eight in the morning in every neighborhood. We used to boast how Georgia’s food culture and Tbilisi’s restaurants were some of the world’s best-kept secrets, but the word is out, and we’re good with that. Georgia has a bottomless, wild culinary spirit full of rewarding surprises, and we’ve been diving into it for more than a decade here at Culinary Backstreets. For us, it doesn’t matter whether the khinkali we eat are meat-packed grenades or pesto- and mushroom-stuffed buttons. Either way, they’re Georgian. All they have to be is tasty. We’ve collected a sample of our most essential Tbilisi restaurants, so you can get your own taste of Georgia.

Oaxaca

The Essentials: Where We Eat in Oaxaca, Mexico

Oaxaca’s deep culinary heritage is, like in many places, a result of its geography: a big valley formed by small ones, all surrounded by mountains, rich soil and warm weather. In fact, this valley reminds us of a clay pot, where many ingredients are mixing, aging and melting together to become something new over the heat of the fire. Oaxaca’s best restaurants are firmly rooted in this unique geography and layered history of the state. Here, food is more than just sustenance; it's a living link to the past and an expression of community – and it’s a source of immense pride. From the foundational significance of corn, prepared in countless forms, to the complexity of its celebrated moles, Oaxaca is all about depth. To highlight this profound connection between land, culture, and cuisine, our local team has rounded up their essential spots in the city, for tlayudas, memelas, mole, and beyond.

Bilbao

Scenes from Our New Bilbao Tour: A Photo Essay

Very few things in Bilbao are as they used to be. Some old bars, some ancient traditions, a chunk of a medieval wall, a handful of simple dishes. What has held strongest over generations is the intense connection Bilbainos feel to their Basque identity and passion for eating and sharing food with others. The image of local cuadrillas – groups of friends of all ages – eating pintxos and laughing over a glass of txakolí or cider is a daily constant. Bilbao is a phoenix of urban renewal, rising from a period of industrial decline to become a center of modern Basque cuisine that incorporates global influences with contemporary culinary quirks.