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!

I finally got to check out their brick and mortar location! It is a cute, dimly lit cafe that has…read moregames, beer, wine, coffee, tea, and very cozy seats. I didn't count the tables, but maybe you can seat about 20, and there's a table in the middle that I saw a bunch of folks standing around. Connect Four and some other games were on there. It has been a long time since I last had them, and I was excited for my friend to try them. We each got an arepa, and we split tequenos and chicken empanadas... Yes, we were hungry lol. The chicken salad arepa I was as good as I remembered, and I got a glass of white wine that complimented it perfectly. It was my first time having their tequenos, and they were nice and cheesy. I'd take those over mozzarella sticks for real. There was only one woman working, and she was efficient in handling orders. I would come back just to hang out... But if they got music, that would really set the vibe.

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!

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

Brazza on Steaks is such a solid place for good Latin American cuisine. The owner seems to be very…read moredevoted to the quality of the food and the steaks really could not be any tastier. I do think that a mix of the steak and other dishes is a good balance but it would've been great to have more greens as an option. But then again, this isn't something that is unique to this restaurant alone or the type of cuisine. I would love to watch a great soccer game or other sports event here to root on a local team. It is the perfect combination of solid food, genuine vibes, and great service.

I first heard of this place when Yelp sent an email with suggestions on where to eat in the area…read more Having never had Venezuelan food, I was curious about it. I looked at their menu, then set out to learn about their various entrees. My husband agreed to give it a try. Before going, we settled on trying "Pabellon Criollo" which is considered the Venezuelan national dish. We were here on a Saturday around 5 p.m. and were surprised to see a few large parties dining in. Also, people came in to get their takeout orders. Not sure as to how the ordering worked when dining in, we made our way to their counter. The owner, Carlos, spotted us and got 2 menus. We confirmed that we wanted to dine in. Carlos is very friendly and welcomes customers with a smile. He also was our server. To drink, I had a lemonade while my husband had a can of Coke. We let Carlos know that we were both having the Pabellon Criollo. This dish consists of black beans with a bit of shredded cheese on top, white rice, carne mechado (which was shredded), 2 arepitas (small arepas) and some platanos maduros. When the food came, it was obvious that the platanos were freshly made. Carlos also brought a bottle of brazza sauce (also called "salsa de amor). He told us we could put it on any item we wanted. It's a mild sauce which is mayonnaise based with cilantro. We enjoyed this dish. Everything was mildly seasoned yet still well flavored. Nothing went to waste! When it was time to pay the check, Carlos rang us up. We both say we would like to return and try their steaks. From start to finish, we had a great experience.

Went here to grab lunch with a larger group and was very thankful for the patience of the woman…read moretaking our order. Very friendly and was helpful with recommendations. It's a small seating area, but we managed to find a spot that worked. We ordered three arepas, a cachapa, tequeyoyo, and a pastelito. To drink we got a tamarind beverage. The arepas were all very tasty and just what we were looking for. They had a good texture, were a decent size, and were stuffed with filling. The cachapa was something new for us. It was full of cheese and generously topped with chicken. The picture on the menu is very accurate. The sweetness of the cachapa provided a nice contrast to the savoryness of the chicken and chimichurri. The tequeyoyo was a great option to have for the kids as was the pastelito. All of the sauces paired well and we ended up mixing and matching. The tamarind drink was a real star and was a great tart contrast to all the food. I'm realizing more and more that I just want tamarind drinks. Overall, great experience and will definitely come back when I'm in the area!

Truly wonderful! Warmly greeted on entering both in Spanish…read moreand then English, probably because I looked at the Spanish. I do get mistaken for a Spanish speaker an awful lot. Freshly prepared food that the lady serving apologized for taking up to twenty minutes to make. Better fresh than buying off the shelf! Delicious! I got the cheese Arepo, and the tropical. For the same price as a subway, you got a whole lot more flavor and texture. The wife got the chicken and cheese, she declared then worthy of being on our rotation of places we go to.

Definitely recommend RicArepa for authentic Venezuelan food. Delicious, well seasoned, very juicy…read moremeat, very filling. Served hot with extra condiments to make the meal very tasty. All served with a warm smile! Great food for the whole family.

From the owner: Ricarepa Venezuelan Food Truck & Cateringread more