Sandwich de Chola @ Doa Cristina
In Parque Las Cholas on the border of Zona Zur, skip past the playground and make a beeline for the Cholas, the mighty Bolivian matriarchs marked by their bowler hats, lined up to sell their famous sandwiches. Look out for ‘Doña Cristina’ Crecencia Zurita, who’s held the #6 post for an astounding 53 years, dishing out the city’s champion sandwich de chola. Inside the traditional pan sarnita, the heart of this sandwich is a thick, juicy slice of roast pork shoulder, marinated in a special brine as it cooks. But what elevates this sandwich to the sublime is the generous inclusion of hunks of crispy pork crackling. It’s finished with the standard combo of tomato, carrot and onion pickle and llajua. Like Doña Elvira’s choripan, more sensitive eaters can feel safe, as both ladies form part of the fantastic Suma Phayata initiative run by local fine-dining icon, Gustu, which is training the best local street food sellers to higher hygiene standards, to make the tastiest La Paz street food more accessible to visitors.

Dona Elvira Goita's Choripan @ Mercado Lanza
Mercado Lanza, a must-visit in La Paz, is a maze of food stalls offering everything from daily groceries to the gamut of Bolivian fast food. The smells of sizzling meat are tempting, and you could spend months trying everything. Just head for the best: Doña Elvira Goita’s choripan in the corner of Level 3. She has been there for 30 years, and the lines are longer than ever; everybody recognizes the quality of her products, which she carefully tends and watches over, and the flavor of her secret recipe chorizo stands out above everyone in the market. The bread is always fresh, either pan sarnita, a white bun topped with cheese, or pan marraqueta, a hard-crust white bun that tends toward sourdough. The thin and tasty chorizo is perfectly balanced by the carrot and onion pickle, lettuce, tomato and llajua, a traditional spicy sauce of locoto chili and tomato. To miss the crowds, avoid peak lunch (noon to 2 p.m.) and dinner (6 to 8 p.m.) hours.

Cherry Jones @ Paulie Gee's
Paulie Gee serves up some of the most creative Neapolitan style pies you'll ever find -- sourcing ingredients from local purveyors in the New York area. For example, his Brisket Pie features beef from Red Hook's Hometown BBQ. Many of the pies have fun names (Porkypineapple, Ricotta Be Kiddin' Me) and make sure to get at least one with Mike's Hot Honey, which was invented at the restaurant. Check out Paulie's website for a list of more than a dozen secret pies. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but some highlights include the Cherry Jones and Delboy.

Mollejas @ NOLA
It’s not every day you’ll find a New Orleans-style gastro pub in Argentina. But luckily, locals have been going loco for Louisiana-influenced dishes mixed with Buenos Aires favorites at NOLA. A fine example of the dishes coming out of their Cajun kitchen is the sweetbreads, a true porteño delicacy. The mollejas (gizzards) are deep-fried nuggets topped with pickled onions and drizzled with a garlic lemon aioli.

Chorizo @ La Carniceria
A modern take on the classic Argentine sausage, this pork chorizo is made in-house and served in a cast iron pan alongside crispy Andean potatoes, peas and two fried eggs. Grab a seat at the bar of the city’s only hip steakhouse and wash it down with the house specialty gin and tonic, a local gin infused with yerba mate tea, grapefruit and eucalyptus.

Broken Yolk Sandwich @ Blue Line Sandwich Co.
Chef Brad McGehee offers simple but delicious breakfast and lunch fare at his brand new digs, Blue Line Sandwich Co., none more exemplary of his talent than the Broken Yolk Sandwich. House corned beef is piled onto seven grain toast and topped with a fried egg, Swiss cheese and grilled onions.

The Sandbag @ Avery's Po Boys
Owners Justin and Christy Pitard have taken the po-boy to a whole new level with "The Sandbag." It's a delectable, juicy roast beef po-boy with fried pickles, provolone cheese and horseradish aioli served on classic Leidenheimer bread.

Vaca Frita @ Rincon Habanero
One of the dishes I grew up with in my half Cuban-home, Vaca Frita is shredded skirt steak marinated with garlic and lime and then fried in olive oil until crispy. Served with sauteed onions, moros y cristianos (rice and beans) and yuca al mojo (boiled cassava laced with a garlic-lime-olive oil vinaigrette. The best Vaca Frita so far is found at Rincon Habanero, a charming six-table Cuban restaurant on the bohemian Via Argentina street in Panama City.

Mulloway Fish Pasty @ Peel St
Peel St is located on none other than Peel Street, the new go-to hip street in the CBD. The hole-in-the-wall restaurant oozes a cool, casual and laid-back atmosphere with high open ceilings, exposed bare brick walls and two large blackboards with the latest, seasonal menu offerings. The food is made for sharing with a modern Asian and Middle Eastern influence. The famous and popular Mulloway fish pasty is a must-order. This simple looking dish is amazingly delicious. A light flaky pastry with a hefty filling of Mulloway fish, potato, peas and greens is accompanied by a large wedge of crisp iceberg lettuce drizzled in tartar sauce with a sprinkle of chives and chopped spring onions. The food is fresh and seasonal while the service is attentive, professional and relaxed.

Yankee Stadium Big Boy @ Mike's Deli
Behind every Mike's Deli sandwich is a cold pasta salad. It's never much to look at. Behind this two-fisted lunch was an odd lot of at least three different pasta shapes, tinged green with pesto, that didn't even make it into the picture. The salad may seem like a plate-filler, but it also serves a vital supporting role: A buttress of pasta helps shore up a behemoth like this Yankee Stadium Big Boy — which sports mortadella, ham, salami, and capicola; heavy slices of mozzarella; lettuce, sweet peppers (or, if you prefer, hot peppers) and balsamic vinegar — and prevents the sandwich from toppling over in untimely fashion. Ultimately, however, the Big Boy fell to my appetite; so did the pasta salad.