Delicious crispy pastelitos. I ordered three mix-n-match pastelitos with shredded chicken, ground…read morebeef & potatoes, and sweet plantains & cheese. Shredded chicken was all right (a bit dry, in my opinion), but ground beef and sweet plaintains were great. The beef one is my favorite by far -- very juicy and flavorful! The sweet plaintains one was pretty unique, both sweet and savory. The texture of the pastry was crispy, and the accompanying cilantro lime sauce complemented the pastelitos well. Only con is that they take a pretty long time to make (maybe 20 minutes?), but the vendor makes everything, including the pastry dough, from scratch, so I can't complain about the fresh quality. Next time, I'll try their empanadas, which look delicious. Great friendly service.

Great addition to the relocated Southwest DC Farmers Market (now at the southern end of the wharf)…read more Arepas were made to order and even after walking home they were hot, fresh, and DELICIOUS!! These are probably the best Arepas I've had in the DMV!

I wish this place was open when I went to UMD!…read more 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!

Idc what anyone says...I LOVEEE Arepa Zone! I will TREK on a lunch break to eat here hunny, in 4…read moreinch 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!

Love this business and the ladies that run it!…read more I stumbled across Round Pocket Arepas at the Southwest Farmer's Market. There was always a line coming from their stand, so I used to just pass by with mild intrigue. Then one morning, I decided to wait in the line. As I waited, I took note of all the choices I was going to have to make. You can have your arepa filled with so many different combos and I didn't want to get to the front of the line with order fright. You can choose between different types of dough (chia, beet, yellow corn, white corn and spinach) and then choose your fillings. This is when things can get a little crazy, but it's okay to go wild. They have eggs, sausage, plantain, chicken, cheese, beans, corn (and maybe a few other fillings that I'm forgetting.) Typically, I opt for a breakfast style arepa filled with eggs, sausage and cheese. Oh, and you've got to add some of their fresh sauces to top them off. They have a parsley-cilantro, a tomato-onion and a spicy sauce. The combination of all three is where the magic happens, so do be scared to really sauce it up. The eggs are freshly scrambled on the stove and I love that the sausages are almost more like hot dogs. This combo is so addictive and comforting in a way. It's also very filling. If I eat one at noon I'm usually not hungry again at all until dinner. I also always order the raw cane sugar juice. It's served in a cup with lots of ice and it's really simple, fresh and not too sweet. It's the perfect summer drink to sip on while you listen to live music at the farmer's market and wait for your arepa to be made. Since every arepa is custom to each order, you may have to wait 5-10 mins, but it's worth it because everything is being made freshly right in front of you. Additionally, the owners Mila and Maria are awesome! Repping Venezuela and Colombia, they're so willing to share and educate. They're passionate about what they do, upbeat, warm, fun and you can tell they truly care about their customers and service. They only launched the business 6 months ago and for now you can only find them at the SW Farmer's Market. But they have plans to eventually expand and this girl right here (yup, me) is rooting for them. Wishing Round Pocket Arepas nothing but continued success!!

I will start with, Arepa Zone...be on the lookout for these two! Straight forward, authentic…read morecombination of Columbia and Venezuelan cuisines with a very popular, national dish. Maria and Mila are great! If you have not been please go! The arepa selection is amazing and taste great! The beverage is great too, especially on one of those warm sunny days. I know the summer is coming to a close and they will close for the season but don't wait! Get there!

We stumbled on this place looking for a simple place to grab a meal. This has to be the best…read morechicken I have had in years. They are fast and the food is amazing. Then we found the bar in the back. Again, interesting whisky choices, you won't find those hard to find big names, but you will find a hand pick selection of some unique whisky's. The bar tender (sorry I wish I remember your name) took her time talking about so many of them and she offering me a recommendation. Great experience and chat. Don't pass this spot by!

I have to give Chicken + Whiskey credit. It takes a special kind of arrogance to serve food that…read morelooks like this while also lecturing customers through a mandatory "fair labor fee." Let's start with the obvious. If labor matters so much, build it into the price. Every other business manages to pay employees without turning the receipt into a public relations campaign. Instead, Chicken + Whiskey wants customers to admire them for charging extra after the fact. As for the food, the chicken looked less "wood fired" and more "insurance claim." One piece was so aggressively charred it appeared to have entered the atmosphere and returned. The sides were forgettable, the presentation was indistinguishable from a middle school cafeteria tray, and absolutely nothing on the table justified the premium pricing. The entire experience feels engineered by a marketing team. Keep the menu prices looking lower than reality. Add surprise fees later. Call them something noble. Hope nobody notices. We noticed. The funniest part is that the restaurant seems convinced the labor fee demonstrates transparency. Real transparency would be putting the actual price on the menu. What they're doing is the restaurant equivalent of an airline advertising a cheap ticket and then charging separately for the wings. For a place so concerned with fairness, they seem remarkably comfortable being unfair about pricing. I left feeling like I'd paid admission to watch a TED Talk about compensation practices while eating chicken that looked like it had been recovered from a structure fire. The food wasn't good enough to justify the price. The price wasn't honest enough to justify the policy. The policy wasn't clever enough to justify the attitude. One star. Raise your prices. Pay your staff. Stop expecting applause for it.

First time in but it won't be our last!…read more Service was amazing. Our server, Spence, was great! Very knowledgeable about the menu and always there making sure we had what we needed. Do not sleep on the cocktails! The Lessons In Alliteration will bring me back here, it is so well balanced and goes down a little too easy. The food was incredible. We started with the Tequeños and Patacón Salvaje (the best bite of the night for me!). Then came the Caribe Atómico (a little too salty) and Caribbean Surf & Turf Salpicón. For our entrees we tried the Duck Atollado (the rice in this dish was amazing and so flavorful) and the Pelao Guayanés. Everything was well prepared and so tasty. Dessert was the Vanilla Quesillo and Cacao+, would skip, dessert was our least favorite course.

What can I say... I had a lot of expectations as this place has been open for a while, but I was a…read morebit disappointed. We had to get an early reservation as they were fully booked at dinner time. The food was just okay: the appetizer with the plantain and fried calamari was okay, it lacked a little bit of dimension and was too acid forward (needed more salt to balance it). The main was the "olleta" which is a vegetarian meal; it wasn't exactly memorable. It has an incredible amount of olives and capers and not enough tofu/plaintain/mushrooms. It was also very acid forward and lacked layers/balance to the flavor. Lastly, we tried two desserts: the flan (I believe it was called quesillo) and the chocolate one. I LOVED the flan with the foam on top, and the chocolate one was towards the bitter side (which was pretty good) but I wouldn't get it again. The desserts were very overpriced for the size of it. The place is well maintained and I love the plants all around. I would like to give it another try as I like to support my fellow Latinos

Tried Arepateca for lunch and I'm already planning my next visit! I had the Porky Pine arepa and it…read morewas incredible, smoky pork with a little sweetness from the pineapple habanero sauce, and the pickled onions tied everything together perfectly. My only tiny note is I wish the cheese was melted just a bit more, but overall it was the perfect portion and absolutely delicious. Do NOT leave without trying the tres leches, it's amazing. I also took home frozen tequeños and made them for the Super Bowl... so good and now officially my go-to party snack. Service was excellent, super fast, and the girl at the counter was so sweet and really knew the menu. The ambiance is great too, they have coffee, wine, board games, and books, which makes it perfect for hanging out with friends. Definitely recommend checking this place out!

I've admittedly only had their arroz con leche but it was AMAZING and the best I've ever had.read more

From the owner: We are a Venezuelan cuisine restaurant, focusing on Arepa's with a concept of fresh off the grill…read moreoptions.

Great food!!! Plentiful , tasty and reasonably priced. We were just traveling through - wish we…read morecould return.

First time here, traveling from out of town, found the recommendation on Yelp. Caroline was very…read morehelpful us select two different entrées, they were excellent! Had the BRAVA and CACHAPA CONSENTIDA and the CHICA rice drink was also wonderful! Locals love the place. Great experience, will do this again next time we're in the area

This was my first time visiting this place. Thanks to some photos from other reviews on Google, I…read moredecided to check it out! I got a small side of fries and the Carne Asada Bowl lunch special which, according to the website, it comes with - Arepa, Rice, Beans, Plantains, Fajita Veggies, Pico de Gallo, Corn, Lettuce, & Cheese -- I got mine with the Nata sauce (Venezuelan Sour Cream), but also no rice or plantains. The food was absolutely excellent. I loved every bite of it. The portions were great, the meat was flavorful and tender. The fries were great - though a little under-salted and quick to go cold because of how thin they were. But no worries, I can understand why for both. I'd like to have seen a bit more cheese and a bigger side of sauce. Has at least 41 options for Gluten-free menu items. Has at least 7 options for vegans. Has at least 18 options for vegetarians. Items are clearly marked on their website as such. The location is good, right between Pizza Hut and Food Lion. Plenty of parking. Happy staff and very polite. Order was easily identified and received. The food packaging was eco-friendly by being recyclable, if that matters to you! The bag had plenty of napkins, a fork, and a knife. Everything you need!

Food is delicious and customer service is always 10/10. I appreciate how much of the menu is…read moregluten free and they take care to make sure they have separate fryers. Highly recommended!

I came here with my girlfriend to watch the Mexico World Cup game. The place is a small but…read morewelcoming space. The customer service was really great. The hostess and waiter were very friendly and attentive. Our glass of water was never empty. We ordered some chips and Guac while we waited for our bean and cheese pupusas and taco salad. The chips and guac were good. Nothing amazing. The taco salad was fresh with amazing veggies. The grilled steak was good. However it was missing beans. It was ok, but not my favorite. The pupusas however were 5 stars. There were so good. I highly recommend them to anyone. Their curtido was also so delicious. We loved them so much we went back another day to order some more. The next time we are in the DC area we plan to stop here again.

Came here with a large group and we sat outside. Half had a pitcher of margaritas while most of us…read morejust had pupusas. I also shared the yuca which was incredible and fried perfectly. Pupusas were amazing and so cheap. Service was a little slow, but very friendly and accommodating for a large group. They were able to split the check and pay by QR code which was incredibly convenient! I live by their other location but this is a great spot if you're in the area!