Américas is a lot of fun, especially the Galleria flagship: picture a Gaudí art-nouveau mansion transplanted into a South American rainforest, then repurposed as an Amsterdam coffeeshop. There’s hardly a bad table amid these rock tunnels and archways of cascading colors, psychedelic glass lamps, and, of course, the tree standing in the middle of the restaurant; service, however can be charmlessly chainy.

The platings are as bold as the décor. Irrepressibly smoky, but otherwise unremarkable, are “marineros” (crab claws), surrounding a deliciously sticky, starchy yuca cake. A seafood tower starter is a meal unto itself. Ceviche is inoffensive but not great, tackily served in a carved-out pineapple, and even more tackily served with those same smoky crab claws. Still, these are fun entries to something solidly enjoyable like tender churrasco steak, well seasoned and carefully cooked, and not a half-bad deal. We also like the grilled quail, with great texture and crispy skin, available in a mixed grill on some nights or bacon-wrapped as a “taquito” side. Fish mains have come medium-dry and uninteresting. And then there’s that famous Cordúa tres leches: lots of hype, lots of sugar, and not much condensed-milk flavor. Cachaça cocktails are decent, as is the Argentine Malbec selection—mostly, they make great excuses to gawk at the surroundings.