The outdoor seating at this modern Vietnamese lunch counter with a corner location in the former Mission Chinese space offers picturesque views of the neighborhood, and lots of one-dish meals diners can wash down with wine and beer. Helen Nguyen is the chef, and her hot fried chicken sandwich concocted along banh mi lines is justifiably famous. But there are plenty of other highlights, too, on a menu that changes frequently, which may include crab fried rice and a brisket pho, brilliant in its simplicity, served with the broth on the side.

It started out decades ago in Flatbush, when Gavin Hussey opened his jerk chicken stand, sharing space with a fish market. Now, a fourth branch has opened on the Lower East Side, and the jerk chicken, fragrant with allspice, is as good as ever. This gussied-up branch also offers a choice of escovitch fish in a peppery vinegar sauce, a fine fried chicken sandwich, and curry goat, in addition to expected sides like mac and cheese and callaloo, a leafy Caribbean vegetable also known as amaranth. Minimal seating, but why not picnic on one of the benches on tree-lined Allen Street nearby?

Yes, this Lower East Side Greek gem has turned into a mini-chain, but the original is still the best and most charming. The interior is made to look like it has been transplanted from an Aegean island, with its brilliant white and blue decor and chunky wood furniture, and the menu specializes in the small dishes called mezze, many of them vegetarian. Other budget-wise choices include rolled sandwiches, of which my favorite is a tubular burger flame-cooked with feta and french fries stuffed inside the pita, for a wonderful starch bomb.

This new Haitian restaurant presided over by chefs Marie Charles and Dominique Hermann makes some very stylish cocktails (don’t miss the Barbancourt rum, which is featured in several), but the food is equally compelling. The restaurant occupies a comfortable corner location with plenty of windows, decorated with paintings, including portraits of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Chadwick Boseman. The food runs to the malanga fritters called akra; fish filet in Kreyol sauce (rich and tomatoey); griot pork confit in big chunks accompanied by piklis, a spicy relish; and chicken wings in a variety of styles. It’s a good place for a snack and a drink or a full meal.

The Bun Hut is one of the city’s rare restaurants from the Bahamas. The bill of fare highlights steamed and folded Chinese bao filled with island specialties, courtesy of chef Kermit “Ray” Mackey. The fillings include cracked conch, fried shrimp, and the vegetarian jackfruit, slathered with a brightly colored sauce that might remind you of a spicier version of Russian dressing. Also available are more typical bao fillings such as pork belly and shiitake mushrooms. Indo-Caribbean rotis stuffed with jerk chicken and curry goat are other standouts.

If you’re familiar with the century-old Russ & Daughters flagship on Houston, wherein dozens of forms of preserved fish are sold, you’ll want to pay a visit to this offshoot cafe further south, which opened in 2014. The menu is a compendium of Eastern European Jewish fare, in a slick diner setting. Highlights include matzo ball soup, pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel, mini potato knishes, a platter with three kinds of herring, and a carob egg cream, Operators are Niki Russ Federman, great-granddaughter of the founder, and her cousin Josh Russ Tupper. Here’s one place that will take you back more than a few decades into Lower East Side history. Note shortened pandemic hours.

Decades ago there were probably two dozen Dominican and Puerto Rican cafes on the Lower East Side, with menus that rotated on a weekly basis, and often with similar decor and design: twirling stools along a lunch counter, a heated cabinet for rotisserie chickens, and a press for hot sandwiches. Named after a region in Puerto Rico’s northwest, Cibao is one of a very few remaining, owned by Milagro Thina. Cuban sandwiches make a popular quick lunch, but there are also nourishing meal-size soups, pork roasts, paprika-rubbed chickens, and red and black beans served with yellow and white rice.

With food originating in the Chinese province of Henan, this tiny cafe facing Sara Roosevelt Park opened in 2012. It’s run by Wendy Lian, with her husband and children, and specializes in Henan’s broad, hand-stretched wheat noodles. Try them with the well-stewed brisket topping, along with a serving of the garlicky cucumbers common in northern Chinese restaurants. The cafe’s most famous offering, however, comes from Xinjiang province: “big tray chicken,” a burbling wok of bird parts in hot oil with enough Sichuan peppercorns to blow the top of your head off (or at least cause a profound metallic tingle on your tongue). Pork-stuffed dumplings are great, too.

Though this delightful, postage-stamp-sized place with the bright blue sign characterizes itself as a Sichuan restaurant, it also offers a handful of Dongbei dishes from China’s extreme northeast, as well as others associated with Beijing. Among the Dongbei ones are a delectable dish for gnawers called chicken skeleton, and there’s also a summery cold noodle wrap based on a Beijing bing. From a pleasing list of other noodle dishes, find wang za noodles, which incorporate ground pork, spinach, and, somewhat surprisingly, yellow split peas. Owners and co-chefs are Kiyomi Wang and Karen Song.

Founded by Scarr Pimentel in 2016, Scarr’s is distinctive among New York City’s pizzerias. The menu, with its round and square pies, channels our neighborhood pizza parlors, but the pizzas, available by the slice or pie, are kicked up a notch with artisanal ingredients and flour milled in the basement. The place was an early champion of cupping pepperoni, for example, which catches the paprika oil in the upturn that results from baking the sausage slices. The result is one of the best and richest pizzas you’ve ever tasted.

Tucked away at the southeast corner of the Lower East Side, far from the frenetic bar scene and facing a park, this spare, brick-walled space with modernistic light fixtures makes a great romantic date spot. The menu from chef Ryan Bartlow features Basque fare and dishes from other Spanish regions. Madrid-style tripe comes in a brick-red sauce in a crock, while Iberico ham from acorn-eating pigs is served with homemade potato chips. A special of gorgeous roast mutton was served on a recent visit. The restaurant operates only in the evening, but there’s an all-day cafe for smaller bites and coffee that opens early in the morning. This may be the chillest spot on the Lower East Side.