La Gran Uruguaya Bakery

At the quieter, South American end of 37th Avenue, La Gran Uruguaya runs the way the great immigrant bakeries of Montevideo and Buenos Aires do: long glass cases of alfajores, bizcochos, and dulce de leche everything, a counter pulling cortados all day, and tables where Uruguayan and Argentine regulars settle in for hours. The owners spent two decades baking in the neighborhood before moving into this larger café space.

Come in the morning for medialunas still warm from the oven, or late afternoon when the empanada case is full and the room hums in Rioplatense Spanish. The alfajores — shortbread rounds sandwiched with dulce de leche, dipped in chocolate — travel well, but rarely get the chance.