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Issa’s Venezuelan Restaurant

3.4 (27 reviews)

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Arepa Domino
Nina Z.

My husband and I love Venezuelan food so we were excited to try this spot when visiting family in the area. We ordered arepas, tequeños and yuca frita. Both the yuca frita and traueños were good. Unfortunately the arepas we ordered were a disappointment. Now in their defense we may be completely spoiled as my husband use to work at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC so we had some of the best food available but with that reference in our mind these were sub par. The arepas themselves were very thin and hard. Sad because the spot is cute and staff was overall friendly so I would've been a repeat customer when we come to town quarterly for a month at a time but unfortunately we won't.

Beef, chicken, and Pabellon Empanada
Kia K.

Found this place on a cocoa crawl. It was very cute and Christmasy inside. The employees were very nice. The empanadas were good. I knocked one star for only bottled water. Ordered 3 empanadas to split. Our rankings were: 1. Pabellon 2. Ground beef 3. Chicken We ate them with the sauce as well. I believe it's a garlic sauce but it kind of tasted like mayo to me. Would come back again.

2 Ground beef Pastelitos
Joanna B.

I visited Issa's Venezuelan Food Place in Schaumburg location 3 times already. The place is small, but has a good vibe. My favorite food here are ground beef Pastelitos - yum. The service is fast, the price you pay for the food is acurrate and they allow dogs to eat with you inside! I recommend Issa's - THANK YOU SARA!

Tried this place with husband Didn't love it. Tried the platter that came with empanadas, pastelists, etc - plentiful and it wasn't bad - particularly the cheese things. Some of the empanadas were a little crusty. Husband got the grill for one - again plentiful. Fries were typical fries, meat was so so. Pricing was reasonable. Server was nice.

Vegan Salad (Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, Onion)
Patricia W.

The food, fresh, delicious! My first time having Venezuelan food, but it will not be my last. They accommodate vegans extremely well. The service was excellent. The wait time, there was none. The order was made and the food arrived promptly.

Heaven in fried dough.  Go.  Now.
Jeff V.

My daughter and I had empanadas in the city recently and today she asked if we could get some around the burbs. I remembered that Issa's opened in Bartlett and checked their menu. Bingo! Our lunch date was set! We actually ended up ordering pastelitos instead but aside from being circular, they were very similar to empanadas. My daughter ordered a pizza one and a potato and cheese one with a side of rice. I had a ground beef and a shredded chicken. They were all incredible and made to order. Our server, Valentina, was awesome. She is super friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive! The restaurant looks great, with awesome art and backlit signs on the walls. My daughter was in heaven and said that she just found her new place in Bartlett. I definitely agree! Thank you for the delicious meal! See you very soon!

Empanadas, pastelitos, arepas, plantains
Giannetta F.

Service was perfect! Food was flavorful and delicious...I recommend starting with the variety platter. Arepas, pastelitos, plantains, empanadas, etc....10 out of 10.

Venezuelan chicha
Kelly P.

I am going to go bold with this one and say, get out of your American comfort zones and go get Venezuelan food at Issa's! My husband and I happened upon this cute place tonight, walking into it blindly, not having enjoyed it before. I think I had in my mind that it would be spicy and instead, it was a mix of sweet and savory that even though I'm stuffed, I'm now craving more! The walls are colorful and I noticed each of the wait staff were multi-lingual. We walked in and our sweet waitress Valentina was a willing and lovely person to introduce us to this cuisine. She was patient and helped us make the best decisions based on her favorites, and I'm so glad we listened and were adventurous. We started with a Venezuelan chicha drink, which tasted phenomenal-like a vanilla and cinnamon milkshake. It was quickly followed with a chicken pastelito and a ground beef pastelito, which are a little like empanadas with a slightly sweeter dough. Try it with the sauces on the table if you'd like to add a little heat or garlic, or they were tasty on their own. Then my husband and I shared the pabellon arepa (black bean, braised beef, cheese, and plantains wrapped in a crisped shell. We also shared the fried pork cachapa, which tasted like sweet corn and was stuffed with a mild cheese. Take all of the elements into one bite and you've got a party in your mouth. If you're looking to get out of your comfort zone, this is the place to go. If all of the waitstaff are as friendly and wonderful as Valentina, you will have a great night and be glad you tried something new.

Front of the business
Sara A.

The food is ok... service is not the best, they always forget something I. The orders and is extremely expensive. Willing to spend over 60.00 for samples, go ahead.

Empanada and pastelito

Went to dinner there, for starters, the waitress barely spoke English. However I didn't have an issue since she was really trying to communicate and used her phone to translate. A+ to her for not letting the language barrier prevent me from ordering. I ordered a beef empanada and 2 pastelito (one beef one chicken). I received a chicken empanada and 2 beef pastelitos. Overall I guess that didn't really matter since they basically were the same thing (the deep fried breading tasted the same). The issue I had is that the pastelito was very cold in the middle. It's obvious the food isn't fresh and they take it out of the freezer and deep fry it (which they couldn't even do correctly). I'm hoping at the very least it's made there and not bought frozen and sold.

Menu front page. One of many wonderful pages of delicious, authentic Venezuelan food

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3 months ago

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19 days ago

This location has closed. New tenant is a Lis Campos...a great Venezuelan and Mexican (2 different menus) place.

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Ana E.

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2 years ago

Such great arepas and authentic. A small little place and always busy. Not fancy, just good

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Issa’s Venezuelan Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

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Bolivar & Lincoln Venezuelan Cafe - The Cowboy

Bolivar & Lincoln Venezuelan Cafe

4.8(300 reviews)
27.4 mi•Lakeview
•$$

These arepas are AMAZING!!…read more I got the Queen Arepa and my friend got the Divina Arepa. First off, the arepas are huge! Packed with all the stuff. My queen arepa was soo good. The only thing to note was that it was so thick, I mainly ate most of the chicken avocado salad first, leaving the rest of my arepa with just gouda. I couldn't finish the whole thing because it was all gouda and too much cheese for my preference, but I would absolutely get it again. Also, do not miss out on the fries. It is very well seasoned and the garlic sauce it comes with is so delicious. There is a plenty of seating area, inside and outside. We first tried to sit outside, but due to the rain that came a few days beforehand, there were many mosquitos and bugs, so we went inside. The staff were so nice and conversational! Whether you are visiting or living in Chicago, this is an absolute must place to eat! If I could, I would bring this place back home with me.

i only have good things to say about this place! an absolute standout of a restaurant with amazing…read morefood and incredibly kind people. the arepas were amazing. the divina had cheese, avocado, grilled onion and mushroom and grilled chicken. in combination with the sauce on the side and the arepa itself it was the perfect lunch that was so filling and the flavors worked well with one another. it was an incredible savory dish. we also got the queen arepa with had shredded chicken, cheese and avocado with fries on the side. i loved how seasoned and crispy the fries were. i will definitely be back! i loved how attentive and kind the people working there were.

Photos
Bolivar & Lincoln Venezuelan Cafe - Inside

Inside

Bolivar & Lincoln Venezuelan Cafe - Queen Arepa

Queen Arepa

Bolivar & Lincoln Venezuelan Cafe - Carne Cachapa

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Carne Cachapa

Bienmesabe - Pabellon Arepa with mushrooms

Bienmesabe

4.1(629 reviews)
26.5 mi•Lakeview
•$$

I liked Bienmesabe years ago when I first went here and have been here a few times since, although…read morethere's been a gap between my most recent visit and the one before that. I'm happy to report that when I went recently, we still really enjoyed it. It was my boyfriend's first time and he is now a fan and we both recommended it to our friend who lives in the area. You can also make reservations if you'd like although the times I've been, walking in is also fine. Last time we got the Bienmesabe Sampler, which is enough appetizers to share with four people lol. Our ranking of the items in the sampler were the tostones (soooo good), tequeño (my boyfriend loved), mandioca, and then the empanadas. The empanadas are my least favorite - I'd prob see if I could sub it out for something else in the future. I do like that they provide an assortment of empanadas. Then we got a cachapa with chicken - the cachapa itself was so good although next time we would try a different protein. Lots of delicious cheeses to be found - lactose-intolerant people should prepare accordingly.

I love this restaurant! Their patio is big and since they built the walls up, you can't even tell…read morethe road is right there. They have a huge menu include many gluten free and vegan dishes. It was so nice to have so many options! The servers were very nice and although we had a reservation, we probably didn't need one. I tried the passion fruit drink - yummm! It was very refreshing on a hot day. I also got the vegan patacones, which here is almost like a sandwich (like a jibarito) and it was SO good. The portion sizes are huge and all the food came out fairly quick. I'll definitely be coming here more often!

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Bienmesabe
Bienmesabe - Crab arepitas

Crab arepitas

Bienmesabe - Patacones

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Patacones

Carato’s Venezuelan Restaurant - Cross bite of trio empanada - YUM!

Carato’s Venezuelan Restaurant

4.7(15 reviews)
5.0 mi

My Venezuelan friend took me and my office colleagues to this place for quick lunch…read more My colleagues arepas and they were huge while I got chicken rice bowl. The food was delicious. It's a very cozy place and good service. I would recommend this one for Venezuelan food.

I finally got around to coming here. Hours are a little weird. It says they close at 7:30 PM on…read moreGoogle but at 7 PM on their website and Yelp. To be on the safe side, come here before 7 PM. The parking lot is shared in this little plaza. Spaces are limited. Inside the restaurant has plenty of tables to dine in. You order first, then sit down and wait, and you pay when you're finished eating. I ordered tequenos with cheese, chicken arepa, cordon bleu with chicken empanada, the trio with beef, cheese, plantain, and sugar cane with lime drink. The service was great. The staff was very kind and attentive. Prices were cheap and food portions were big. The staff knows some English, so better brush off on your Spanish from school. Or you can just point. -tequenos with cheese 5 - very cheesy and addicting. -chicken arepa 5 - way better than the ones I had at Top Arepa in Schaumburg. This arepa does not crumble so easily, it holds everything inside very well. -cordon bleu with chicken empanada 5 - crunchy exterior with loads of chicken inside. -trio with beef, cheese, and plantain empanada 5 - crunchy and very flavorful. This one was my favorite. -sugar cane with lime drink 5 - very tasty drink. I could drink a gallon of this. Not sweet at all.

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Carato’s Venezuelan Restaurant
Carato’s Venezuelan Restaurant - Their party box ! Mini empanadas and mini arepas

Their party box ! Mini empanadas and mini arepas

Carato’s Venezuelan Restaurant

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Sabe a zulia - Shredded beef empanada

Sabe a zulia

3.4(21 reviews)
22.3 mi•Cragin

This place was great, I don't know what some of the reviewers are complaining about! I always like…read moreto try Venezuelan food whenever I have the chance to. I tried numerous little items from this place, including the mandocas or corn fritters, pastelitos de queso or cheese pastelitos, and the shredded beef empanada. Everything was really quite good flavor wise, very cheap, and overall just gave a nice street food kind of vibe. The corn fritters were really good. Fried crispy on the outside and a bit oily, but not in a bad way. They were surprisingly quite sweet and fluffy in the inside. Cheap and delicious. The beef empanada came in a large portion, and I really enjoyed it. The beef was well seasoned, flavorful, and had a fantastic texture. It wasn't too bready. I loved the green and slightly creamy sauce they served with the empanada. Great. The cheese pastelitos were probably my least favorite of the few items I tried, I thought they weren't all that flavorful, but definitely weren't bad by any means. Filling was decent with a good amount of cheese, but just not a ton of flavor to them. All in all, a very nice place to get street food type of items and more substantial items too, like cachapas and arepas. I'd definitely recommend this spot.

Venezuelan food is new to me but I've been having it a lot lately. I decided to go try it in a…read morerestaurant and I don't remember what this was called but it was essentially surf and turf and it was incredible. We tried a few different things and everything was good. I already have a list of what I will try next. Also I don't speak any Spanish and I didn't prevent me from getting what I wanted. It is a nice ambiance with a lot of people going in and out rotating tables. Very busy place but even still there was no wait. If you have not tried Venezuelan food you are missing out. Go try this place. Happy Fooding!!

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Sabe a zulia - Side sauce

Side sauce

Sabe a zulia - Corn fritter

Corn fritter

Sabe a zulia - Cheese pastelitos

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Cheese pastelitos

Issa’s Venezuelan Restaurant - venezuelan - Updated October 2026

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