The Bronx

A Dominican and Puerto Rican kitchen on the square itself, open from seven in the morning to half past eight at night every day of the week. Oxtail stew, pernil, mofongo and rice, with a steam table for anyone in a hurry and tables for anyone who is not. The breakfast trade is as real as the dinner trade, which is what the seven o'clock opening is for.

Daily, 7am to 8:30pm

A Cuban kitchen and mojito bar on East Tremont Avenue in Schuylerville, open since 2010 and busy most evenings. Ropa vieja, lechon and croquetas on the food side, rum on the other, and live music some weeks. It opens at noon and goes to two in the morning on Friday and Saturday, which makes it the latest reliable option anywhere near Westchester Square.

Mon to Thu, noon to 11pm. Fri and Sat, noon to 2am. Sun, noon to 10pm

A bar on Williamsbridge Road with a jukebox, a pool table that costs a dollar, bottled beer and a patio out back. It opens at half past ten in the morning and runs to four, so it covers both ends of a day in a way almost nothing else around here does. There is no kitchen, so eat before you come.

Mon to Fri, 10:30am to 4am. Weekend hours vary

Colombian empanadas made to order on East Tremont Avenue, along with arepas, bandeja paisa and a short list of cocktails. It runs 10.30 in the morning to nine at night seven days a week, which covers most of what a performance schedule can throw at it. The Morris Park Avenue branch has shut, so this is the one that is still trading.

Daily, 10:30am to 9pm

A corner pizzeria on Crosby Avenue that has been going for more than sixty-five years, known for a thin sausage pie and for a white pie with fresh garlic on it. You order at the counter, you wait, and there are a handful of tables plus a patio when the weather allows. It closes at half past eight, which is the only thing about it that requires any planning.

Daily, 11am to 8:30pm

The triangle of green at Westchester Square, bounded by East Tremont Avenue, Lane Avenue and Westchester Avenue, with benches, grass and a World War I memorial in the middle of it. A five million dollar rebuild finished in 2013 added a pedestrian plaza and an outdoor performance space, which is why the square now reads as somewhere to sit rather than somewhere to cross. It is named for a local teacher who gave a speech at the memorial's unveiling in 1925 and collapsed and died minutes after sitting down.

Daily, 6am to 1am

A Parkchester fixture of more than forty years on Metropolitan Avenue, doing Caribbean and American cooking with a full bar attached and music on weekends. It opens at noon at weekends and one in the afternoon on weekdays, and it runs to eleven most nights and midnight on Friday. Parkchester's commercial strip is the closest thing to a real high street on this bench, so it is worth the walk even without the food.

Mon to Thu, 1pm to 11pm. Fri, 1pm to midnight. Sat and Sun, noon to 11pm

The New York Public Library's branch for this part of the east Bronx, on Glebe Avenue a block off the square. It is a place to sit down with free wifi and a bathroom in a neighborhood that does not have much of either, and the Bronx local history shelves are worth ten minutes on their own. Closed Sunday and shut by five on Friday and Saturday.

Mon and Wed, 11am to 7pm. Tue and Thu, 10am to 6pm. Fri and Sat, 10am to 5pm. Closed Sunday

An Italian bakery under the elevated 6 train on Buhre Avenue, started in 1968 by Carmine Zeppieri on nothing but S-rolls and pane di casa and now run by his sons and grandsons. The counter carries bread, sfogliatelle, cannoli and coffee from six in the morning until eight at night, seven days a week. It takes cash only, so stop at a machine on the way.

Daily, 6am to 8pm. Cash only