Folks in Latin America learn how to make lemons from lemonade. That's not to say, good food can't come from poorer part of town.
My favorite meal, that is bolivian that I will take pics of when I get the guts to try it out (won't do it justice to the street food I fell in love with as a kid), is "anticucho" which is essentially cow heart in slivers shishkabobed made with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. My favorite food growing up off the streets...and later on....after some drunk nights out.