When Heller’s Bakery, a Mount Pleasant staple of 80 years, closed, Elle moved in and just removed a few letters from its predecessor’s sign. The space is now a cafe by day and a full-service restaurant and bar by night. Pastries are baked, and locally roasted coffee is brewed every morning with gluten-free options.

This Salvadoran-owned restaurant serves some of the best pupusas and fajitas around and offers live music almost every night. When nearby restaurants require reservations, Haydee’s will always make room for one more guest. (Although they may make you wear a sombrero.)

This dimly lit cafe with pictures of Karl Marx on the walls serves Mediterranean and Italian cuisine with live music. The saganaki, or a square piece of Greek cheese, comes to your table on fire, creating an experience to remember.

While on vacation in 2010, President Barack Obama visited a small but beloved ice cream parlor in Maine. Several years later, Mount Desert Island Ice Cream came to Washington, making small-batch ice cream with bold flavors like mango habanero, butterscotch miso and honey-baked apple. Don’t worry. It has the classics, too, like vanilla and chocolate. It also whips up milkshakes and floats.