Los Muchacos Grilled Chorizo, Fried White Cheese w/ jalapenos ($6.75)

De Pabellon Shredded Beef, Black Beans, White Salty Cheese & Sweet Plantains ($7.00)

Cocada Coconut Milkshake w/ Shredded Coconut & A Touch of Cinnamon on Top ($4.75)

Fried Cheese? Chorizo? Jalapeno? How can you go wrong?

The Los Muchachos arepa ($6.75) was the better of the two. Sauteed peppers are standard but I asked for none. The result was a spicy but balanced flavor trip. The salty and perfectly fried cheese was the perfect middleman for the smokey chorizo and fiery jalapenos hidden beneath. The subtle sweetness of the crisp and chewy arepa brough all the spice to a manageable level. I would definitely get this arepa again.

Read The Rest Of The Arepa Menu Here

Who Knew Plantains Could Be a Dominant Flavor?

The De Pabellon arepa ($7.00), features savory, sweet and tender shredded beef, perfectly cooked black beans, crumbled salty white cheese and mushy sweet plantains, the last of which became the dominant flavor. As a result, there was no real differentiation between the ingredients, resulting in a pocket of plantain flavored mush. Not that this is a bad thing, per se. If you like sweet plantains, you’ll enjoy this arepa.

Spicy & Sweet House Sauce

If a bottle of House Sauce (below) is not on your table, look around and grab one because it’s delicious. A sweet and almost fruity initial flavor disappears surprisingly fast, revealing a fleetingly spicy pepper undertone. The ironic thing is that when Caracas first tried to create their house sauce, they came to the present one by accident and it stuck. Amen for that.

Coconut Lovers, Welcome to Heaven

While waiting for my arepas I noticed the helpful counter man Emmanuel pouring what looked like a vanilla milkshake. In actuality, it was a Cocada ($4.75), shredded coconut and milk blended with ice and topped with a touch of cinnamon. This is one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. It tastes like coconut ice cream mixed with chopped ice and shredded coconut. The cinnamon adds a nice touch.

For those of you who don’t like coconut, and there’s really no inbetween, you can also order one of their ever-changing natural juices ($3.75), a Papelon Con Limon ($3.50) made of water, raw sugar cane pulp and lime, a Chicha ($4.75) made of rice, milk, sugar, ice, and cinnamon, a Camburada ($4.75), a banana milk shake with a touch of cinnamon, or lastly a Toddy ($4.75 cold, $3.50 hot), a Venezuelan chocolate milk shake.

Caracas Arepa Bar

Caracas To Go