The Cottonwood Restaurant & Café and Snakebites Cantina create a Southwestern version of stuffed jalapeños: snakebites. To make these spicy specialties, a substantial-sized shrimp is stuffed into a jalapeño, accompanied by a sprinkling of jack cheese. It's then dipped into a textured corn batter and quickly fried. Cilantro mayo, served in a star-shaped corn tortilla cup, is the perfect dipping sauce for this signature-dish appetizer. An order of Snakebites (three jalapeños) costs $6.95 at Cottonwood (1815 Mass Ave, in Cambridge; 222 Berkeley Street, in Boston) and $5.95 at Snakebites Cantina (next door to Cottonwood's Mass Ave location).

- Stephanie Lipka