I wish this place was open when I went to UMD! This was my first time having arepas (and Venezuelan food in general), and I loved it. Even though they're known for arepas, the pabellón bowl ended up being my favorite it tasted like a comforting, home-cooked meal in the best way. The staff were also super helpful and took the time to explain their options. The space itself is so modern and clean and there's a cute little market area on the side with things for sale. Would absolutely go back! read more

Arepa Zone - Pabellon and arepas - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Idc what anyone says...I LOVEEE Arepa Zone! I will TREK on a lunch break to eat here hunny, in 4 inch heels and all! My go-to-order here is the Pabellón Arepa. While it may 'look' small in size, it packs enough of a punch to fill you up completely. It's stuffed with flavorful, moist shredded beef, chunky queso fresco, savory plantains and black beans. It comes with a side of garlic cilantro sauce to seal all the flavors together, though you lowkey end up wishing you paid for another one by the time you finish ;) What's more, they offer a free arepa of any choice when you tell them your birthday, which is an awesome customer loyalty perk. When I'm feeling extra spicy, I order an empanada or two (usually carne molida), and I'm beyond satisfied. I will make the journey here every time! read more

Stellar restaurant serving arepas, empanadas, tequeños, and cachapas. Portion sizes are rather large and you really only need one arepa or cachapas per person. I really liked the Full House cachapa and the Pabellón arepa because the ones with plantains are delicious. They also a vegetarian and vegan option too! read more

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I love that this place has a selection of regular and mini arepas so that you can do a pick 3 of the minis and try more flavors. Originally I came in for the Reina pepillada but all 3 were delicious. My partners favorite was the pernil (pork). I also got a pabellon empanada and it was hot and very flavorful. Counter service was pleasant and the seating area is bigger inside than how it looks from the outside. They let me mix the mango and passionfruit drink flavors- a little too sweet but I still enjoyed it. read more

Stopped and got some of their salsa and an arepa with plantains and beef. It was so good and savory with melty cheese balanced against the sweetness of the plantains. I also got their cappuccino type drink it was very tasty and rich. read more

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I had never had arepas before and wasn't sure what to expect, but now I can't wait to come back! I came late on a saturday and the staff was really nice. The service was also very quick. A homeless person came in and started harassing us and the staff was really quick to come help, which we really appreciated. The portions here are huge and the flavors are great! read more

Came here recently for the first time and was so happy with my visit came back to buy their take home sauces. Which are just awesome. Everything was delicious and don't think you can go wrong with whatever you order. Service was good and were quick to assist or fix anything. Will certainly be coming back to try more and they have a happy hour menu, which is always something to keep in mind :) read more

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Its so nice we came here twice in 4 days! Back in Seattle there was one fantastic Venezuelan restaurant that had introduced me to arepas. We we're not sure where to eat while in DC, but Arepazone was only a couple blocks from out hotel, we decided to try it. Its also rated very high on google. If you've never had an arepas, you're missing out! Now Arepazone had a good variety of delicious choices. My absolute favourite was the Presidencial Cachapas! (A cachapa is a traditional Venezuelan dish that resembles a thick, slightly sweet corn pancake or crepe. It's made from fresh corn kernels that are ground into a batter and cooked on a griddle, often with a slightly lumpy texture due to the corn kernels.) Thank you google AI! A sweet corn pancake shell with a thick layer of melted cheese (queso de mano) and topped off with a thick layer of perfectly seasoned shredded beef! If they served it with a cilantro sauce then it would be perfect! What we tried: -Arepa Trio (your choice of protein) we got the shredded beef, chicken and pork. It comes with the cilantro sauce. - Shredded Beef Pabellon Bowl. Includes rice, black beans, fried plantains. They had so many things to order its hard to choose just one. If you've never had Venezuelan food then an easy foot in the door is Arepazone. I'm looking all over Vancouver, Canada for a place that offers arepas, but it seem to be very far and few between. DO go and try it! It will make your tummy so happy! read more

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Quick, clean, modern, and easy café-style Arepa joint. Friendly service. I was impressed by the wide selection of menu items . While my Pabellon wasn't the best arepa I've ever had, it was not far off- very delicious and filling. It seems pretty authentic, and many of the patrons were of Latin American heritage and definitely heard some Venezuelan Spanish. read more

Arepa Zone - Arepa Pabellon - beans, barbecue beef, cheese - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great arepas and tequenos. I've always gotten the pork pabellon arepa which has pork, plantains and cheese. The tequeno pops are cheese balls with a delicious green sauce. A small with 5 is $8 and 20 are $15. You will want the 20. Food comes out quick and you can take it to go or eat there. There are indoor tables which is very casual with some tables for larger groups of 6. read more

Arepa Zone - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great food at a reasonable price. We had tickets for Studio Theater and it was a perfect location. Would love to go back and sample more of the menu. read more

Bustling on a spring Sunday lunchtime. We took ours to-go to nearby Franklin Park. - Full House Cachapa ($16) was a hit, with a big, sweet, fun-textured, neon yellow corn patty wrapped around a glob of savory stretchy cheese, sweet plantains which made it even sweeter, beans, and shredded beef. Filling, fun to eat with a fork and knife - Mini Arepas ($12) let us mix and match protein fillings, but compared to the cachapa sweet corn pancake the arepa itself was less exciting. - Passionfruit juice ($4.50) was a bright, refreshing beverage to offset all that savory. read more

I found Arepa Zone while exploring the area around the Madison Hotel, where we stayed for a four nights when we were in DC. My husband wasn't feeling well, so I searched for a vegetarian friendly spot where I could order takeout. Arepa Zone was a Godsend - so many vegetarian and vegan options. I ended up over ordering for him so he/we could sample all the different veggie safe options. Here are the veggie friendly options that I ordered: - Capresa Vegetariana arepa - the favorite; so good! - Domino arepa - with black beans and cheese - Arepa with maduros and cheese - Marquesa de Parchita - Passion Fruit flavor is so good! I also ordered a non-veggie item to try out - Empanada Jamon y Queso. Very tasty, especially with the green sauce. The green sauce is mandatory, a must. I ordered takeout but there's a lot of seating at this Arepa Zone location for dine-in. The eatery has really high ceilings. From the storefront, it looks small, but it's pretty spacious. Recommended! read more

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This is a place full of yum!! I'm a strict vegetarian, so I don't often lean toward South American food. However, I peeked at the menu and was pleasantly surprised. I did a mini trio of the veggie arepas, and wow, they were so good!! The flavors were unique (not just the same ingredients put in different orders), and they were filling, too. The space is cozy, but there are plenty of tables. It's counter service, so not much to comment on in terms of service. For the food, though, definitely put Arepa Zone on your list!! read more

Arepa Zone - veggie arepas - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

We stopped here for dinner because it was close to our destination. We were unsure of it since it is Venezuelan cuisine but decided to give it a try. It's counter service. You order your food and they give you a buzzer. It didn't take long for our food to be prepared. We had their bowl with chicken. It included rice, black beans and plantains. The food was excellent! We were very pleased and glad we stopped in. BTW, I had a Peruvian beer and then a Columbian one. Both were good but the Columbian one was better. read more

Ordered mini arepas trios and oh boy. Each of arepas had the full of flavors! Honestly, it was such a great value as you get to try their food with different ingredients. It is a quick and convenient place to grab food but with more flavors and better food quality than traditional fast food places. read more

visited dc for the weekend and came here three times lol. I ordered on grubhub and when I walked in and said that they were like ok so. so maybe there's an online order issue going on there tho but these empanadas are chefs kiss. I got one pabellon and one queso. I like the queso better. also the avocado and chicken was very good and made me feel healthy lol. better for you than a mayo based chicken salad for sure. overall I can't wait to go back. almost forgot. I enjoyed the patacon also. I don't like sauces on my food and it also had cole slaw or something that I would normally remove but I just went with it and it was pretty good still read more

Arepa Zone - also patacon - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Fantastic stop before the show! Way more delicious vegetarian options than I was expecting. The mini arepa trio let's you choose 3 to try and is a great option if you don't know what to get. I had the sifrina arepa which was packed with cheese and chicken avocado salad. Very filling. The service is fast casual so you'll order at the register and sit until the buzzer goes off. Price is spot on at 10 or 11 for an arepa, 12 for the trio. Definitely recommend. read more

Arepa Zone - Trio of mini arepa - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I think it's good. Skip Chipotle, and give this place a try. I'd skip the queso arepa, as it's not melted, just a pile of white cheese that falls out when you try to eat it... otherwise, the food is pretty good. I like the bowls and I add fresh avocado and cheese. Fast, efficient service. read more

Fast service good food convenient to a couple of hotels without much around and reasonable prices

The arepas are huge!! I had one and couldn't even finish it. They are packed with ingredients. Average price per arepa $8-$10 and so worth it. So many choices. Clean restaurant. Fast service. read more

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I was excited to try Arepa Zone for the first time and it was a total success. Their flavors are on point and the portions are filling. I particularly enjoyed the empanada trio platter (thanks Yelp!) and also decided to try the pabellón arepa. I definitely enjoyed the pabellón arepa more, the meat was juicy and tender. Moving forward, I'll definitely visit this spot again. I highly recommend it! read more

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The food was okay. It wasn't great, but it was ok. Traffic and Parking was a real challenge. read more

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Ordered delivery for lunch. Food was still warm when it arrived but the FLAVOR was the real star of the show. I got the canosa arepa and the pollo empanada. First the size of the arepas are huge, two would be more than enough. Second the ingredients are fresh and the food is seasoned so well. The garlic salsa is to die for, get extra My coworker got the cheese empanada and the bowl, she agreed that the food was delicious for her as well. Will definitely be trying them again and maybe next time we can dine in for the whole experience! read more

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I was staying in the area for the weekend and was looking for a place to have an early dinner. Arepa Zone was in the area and I have never had them before, but have been wanting to try them. The location was easy to find, but at the time of visiting everything but the entrance to store was boarded up and I wasn't sure if they were actually open or not. I ordered the Mini Trio to try a few different ones. I ordered Pernil, Pollo Mechado, and Carne Mechada. Each one had so much flavor within each, but my favorite was the Pernil because of the additional ingredients than just meat like the other two. Ordering was interesting, the cashier spoke to me in Spanish and my Spanish isn't the best, but she was very patient with me, even when I asked questions in Spanglish. It was fun speaking/ordering with her. After ordering you're given a buzzer and there was ample seating throughout and TV located on the higher level of the restaurant. Will definitely be back to try the vegetarian options next time I'm in the area. read more

Arepa Zone - Mini Arepa Trio - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Fast food Venezuelan dish. I had the Pabellon - shredded beef with plantains and beans. I like the taste of the ingredients separately...together it's a bit weird for me as I'm used to plantains as dessert. I probably just need to get used to this flavor combination. But I do love the shredded beef. The arepa bread is like a larger English muffin made with corn flour. Since this corn flour, it's a bit denser. read more

Arepa Zone - Pabellon arepa - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Got the pork and shredded beef one. On the smaller side from what I would have liked but it was pretty good and flavorful. The green sauce served on the side was delicious and I enjoyed it. Service was pretty fast and the food came out fairly quickly considering they were pretty busy. We wanted to get the pick three trio option but that wasn't available when we were there. read more

Arepa Zone - Pork - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Food: filling and decent Service: It was okay. Ambiance: lots of seating, really good music, clean and smells good. read more

Arepa Zone - Reina Pepiada, Carne Mechada, pernil I believe. Tequenos original, y queso de empanada - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

We went to the location on 14th Street and had a FANTASTIC experience, being that it was our first time trying Venezuelan food. This is an order at the counter, pick up once food is made and either take out or you can enjoy staying and eating while it's hot and freshly made. There's 2 levels of seating, back is in a loft area with good amount of tables. Soda in cans are offered as well as beer. Friendly and efficient service and everyone behind the counter were working hard. We came in at the tail end of happy hour, so most people were finishing their meals and tables were opening up. I decided to try the Patacon with beef. OMG, it was HUGE for what I was expecting and GREAT value. I was stuffed and it was SO good! Full of flavor without being spicy. The shredded beef was quality, not a single bit of fat noticed and the crispy shell on top and bottom were delicious. A great first introduction and now I'm hooked. My husband had the Sifrina Arepa. Though I was surprised at how small it looked all wrapped up in it's cute paper, when I picked it up to hand to him, it had considerable weight. My husband said it was delicious, but wasn't overly flavorful and needed the sauce that came on the side that gave it some extra pizzazz. He was full by the time he finished. Overall, great experience, service was great, tables need to be tended to little more often after patrons leave but other than that we definitely would return either to this location or find another closer to home. read more

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Both the chocolate drink and Fresca were delicious and cold on a hot day, but the chocolate drink was more like chocolate milk more than anything. The mini arepa trio was very yummy, especially for a carnivore like myself. You get to try the different meat and all three were well seasoned. Definitely use the sauce because they do tend to be a bit dry. It's a fast arepa chain to get good Venezuelan food. My friend really liked it and brought his friends, and they loved it too! Definitely try! read more

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Arepa Zone was a nice find. It was my first time trying Venezuelan food and it did not disappoint. I tried the mini arepas, tequernos and a lemonade. The tequernos were little bites of buttery, cheesy , goodness! The lemonade was made with limes and pure cane sugar. It had a unique taste and was a lot sweeter than I expected. The restaurant is on the smaller side and the line gets long, but it's worth the wait! read more

Arepa Zone - Lemonade with cane sugar - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Arepa Zone is exceptional. Their service is very friendly, place is nice, clean and just the right size, and their food is delicious. I've tried their pabellon arepa along with a few others- the veggie margherita one, the sweet plantain and cheese one, and the chicken avocado one. They're all great. The chicha de arroz is so good when you're starving and need calories ASAP. It's like an instant boost of energy. I got it without ice the first time and it was basically condensed milk and cinnamon... soo rich! I love their cachapas, patacones, and empanadas too- I tried the cheese one and a chicken one. The The tres leches cake is very similar in taste to the chicha de arroz but it's definitely worth it read more

Arepa Zone - Patacn Pollo - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I'm surprised I've never reviewed this spot! It's one of my go to places, and I've eaten here many times. I hate hate hate DC's fast casual, make your own bowl, "cheap" but actually overpriced lunch-ish restaurants. In downtown DC, it's a lot of huge buildings so most of the restaurants are either bad chain restaurants or super expensive to afford the rent. Arepa Zone is the antithesis of that. It's flavorful, put-fat-on-your-bones arepas & Venezuelan food that is fast & delicious & affordable. Everything just hits. The food literally drips with flavor. You see people from all backgrounds/walks of life in here. I've been here at night when they legit put out speakers in this tiny spot and blasted music so the Latinos can dance. Downtown DC can feel really stale and imposing and soul-less with its concrete and glass - but Arepa Zone is this little spot holding it down. read more

Excellent food a great service! Clean restaurant and wonderful Music!!! I will come Back and bring my office team! read more

Arepa Zone - Cachapa Clássica e Empanada Mechasa - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Excellent place for lunch! Stopped here as it is next to my hotel, and I wanted to try something new. I've never had Arepa's before and they were excellent. Ordered the trio so I could try three different kinds. They were all great. Flavors were excellent! The service staff were very patient and kind. It was lunch, so there was a bit of a wait. Not a deal breaker. Washrooms could use some help. Highly recommend! read more

Another visit to this place and it sits in the category of "can't miss.." I truly enjoy coming here while visiting DC, the place itself (super clean and modern) to the people working there (super nice) makes my visit a highlight. Even though the place may give a bit of a vibe of a larger chain of restaurants, it truly have the traditional flavors of venezuelan food. From the cachapas, to the pabellon everything is good. The empanadas which are crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside are straight fire. Looking forward to coming here again. read more

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First time having arepas and was not disappointed Lots of different styles of arepas to choose from, and there's something for everyone. The cashier was very patient with me as it was my first time and gave suggestions on what I would like. The Arepas we got are listed below- Domino- Black Beans and Queso Frecso Vegana- Plaintains Avocados and Black Beans Catira- Chicken and Cheese Capresa- Avocado, Tomato, and Queso Fresco Sifrina- Chicken, Avocado, and Queso Fresco (winner!) If you're looking for a milder arepa, definitely get the capresa domino, but go for the catira if you're looking for a little hint of spice. Make sure to top with the cilantro lime crema for a tangy kick! I also got a Chicha de Arroz, which is a rice pudding drink that is sweet and cinnamony. I really liked the thickness and richness of the drink! The food does add up in price pretty quickly though, so I would say it's slightly on the more expensive side, especially if you need 2 arepas and a drink to fill up Overall, 4.5/5! read more

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Came here for my last lunch in DC as it was near my hotel and I felt transported to somewhere else. Not a lot of english spoken here, and Latin music blasting. I got the mini 3 meat arepa platter and the worker seemed annoyed when I asked her what she recommended. I ended up getting one beef, chicken, and pork along with an apple soda. Grabbed a seat and about 10 minutes later I was given my arepas. They are small but filled with meat. The cilantro garlic sauce was the best part for me. Creamy and garlicky deliciousness. The carb part of the arepa was pretty good as you can see them making it in house. I found the pork to be a bit dry. The beef was okay, but didn't care for the sauce it was covered in. The chicken in the avocado sauce was surprisingly my favorite. Overall it was okay but I was underwhelmed due to the great reviews. read more

Arepa Zone - Meat trio - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I got a pabellon arepa (sub chicken) and it was very tasty and super filling. Great value for the price! read more

Arepa Zone - Pabellon arepa, sub chicken - Venezuelan Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Incredible everything my good god what are you doing if you're not eating arepas filled with jamon, shredded beef, braised pork or pernil, and washing it down with a side of tequenos?? read more

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