Food in South Bronx / Melrose

The Saavedra family's Oaxacan restaurant on Willis Avenue, where the moles are made from scratch and there is a lending library of several hundred books in the dining area. The family are undocumented and have been open about it for years, and the place ran a free kitchen through the pandemic that fed tens of thousands of people. It is a small storefront with a handwritten feel.

Tue to Sat, 10am to 5pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

A taqueria on the Jackson Avenue corner that runs from nine in the morning until eleven at night, carnitas being the thing people come for. There is a mezcal list alongside the tacos and a proper sit-down dining area rather than a counter. It has been on this corner long enough to be the default Mexican place in this part of the South Bronx.

Mon to Thu and Sun, 9am to 11pm. Fri and Sat, 9am to 11:45pm

A family restaurant on Prospect Avenue whose name means six neighbors, for the Central American countries and Mexico that the menu draws on. Pupusas from El Salvador and baleadas from Honduras sit alongside Mexican plates, and the prices are neighborhood prices. It serves from ten in the morning until midnight seven days a week, which almost nothing else in the South Bronx does. There is a dining area and outdoor seating rather than a counter.

Daily, 10am to midnight, for dine-in and takeout