Tianguez

Why it matters: run since the mid-1990s by the Sinchi Sacha Foundation, Tianguez is a certified World Fair Trade Organization member whose cafe and craft-shop earnings generate income for low-income Ecuadorian artisans and Amazonian producers. It sits right on Plaza San Francisco, pairing traditional highland, coast and Amazon dishes with a craft store whose long corridors feel almost like a museum. Order a fair-trade coffee or a tropical fruit juice on the patio and watch the plaza go by. Local tip: come on a Wednesday-to-Sunday evening when live Latin American music plays – one of the few reasons to be in the Old Town after dark.