Best of Boston

2015 Best South American Restaurant

Orinoco

Orinoco has churned out irresistible arepas and empanadas for nearly 10 years—the only difference is that now you can enjoy the restaurant’s slow-cooked baby-back ribs with guava barbecue sauce, juicy adobo-criollo chicken with malanga gnocchi, and gut-busting plates of shredded beef, rice, beans, and plantains in three neighborhoods. Whether you’re in Boston, Cambridge, or Brookline, there’s a killer empanada within walking distance. (Multiple locations.)

477 Shawmut Ave., Boston, 617-369-7075, orinocokitchen.com