Firstly, the service is amazing. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and super clean. The staff…read moreare incredibly nice and the owner offered to get my dog water as we sat outside. The food itself is very much worth it, the Arepa is as beautifully cooked nice and crispy on the outside and the flavors were nicely balanced. The garlic and picante sauce paired perfectly. Nothing was over powering or underwhelming. I would def come back here again! Thank you for a delicious meal!

We drove quite a distance to see what an authentic Venezuelan arupa was all about. While it was a…read moredelightful experience overall, I would not be tempted to drive that far in the future on a whim. We ordered two Arupas, one cheese and one fried pork. The corn flour dough is salty and moist, almost the consistency of mashed potato, but is crispy on the outside. While good, the garlicky fried pork filling did not appeal to me so much. The cheese-filled one had a huge serving of chilled shredded and jack cheese inside. It was plain and the cheese not melted, but I really thought this one was the more delicious of the two. Shredded beef platter. Loved the tomato-ey sauce it was stewed in. Very rich tasting, and the meat was very tender. I would kill for the fried Plantains. These came with the platter and were ripened to a sweetness that is uncomparable.. Loved them. Black beans, well seasoned also came on the plate. Loved them, too! It was a real treat eating them mixed with the plain white rice and the overflow of gravy from the meat. A great choice. I am completely incapable of passing by an empanada opportunity. So, we ordered just 1 beef empanada which the owner made on the spot because she had run out. Big and showy. We had hoped for the spicier ground beef version, but instead, it was filled with the same tender, beautifully seasoned beef as the beef platter, but without the tomato sauce. The dough was fried, but had a different consistency than Cuban and Mexican empanadas, not tender or flaky as I had hoped. I would liken the texture closer to the heavier texture of a chinese sticky, rice flour even though it is probably made from corn flour. I was not in love with this dough, even though the shredded beef inside was tasty and generous. This is a very cute place with a very big heart. The owner is a lovely person, and was taking in generous donations, huge boxes of necessities to send to the victims of the massive earthquakes in Venezuela, June 2026.

TRADITIONAL VENEZUELAN CUISINE…read more I love when I'm at a festival and see a mobile restaurant with a non-traditional food for sale. Don't get me wrong, I love a good, crispy corn dog and a soft serve when I am at the fair, but I also like trying new things. Arepas Bululu is a newer company and their third event was catering at the Cajun Festival in Isleton. I hope they did well competing with the crawdad sales for business. I stood in their line for a lemonade and was happily surprised with the refreshing blend of flavors in my $2 cup. One of the ladies working came around and asked if I'd like more ice in it. She happily added some which was really appreciated on the hot day. You can find them this coming weekend (6/22-23/13) at the Placer County Fair in Roseville. They won't be at NorCal's largest County Fair (Alameda County, Pleasanton) which is unfortunate because their food looked awesome. I hope I see them again locally sometime soon!

Baracoa Cuban Restaurant was an amazing discovery when we stopped for a lunch pitstop on our drive…read moreup towards Tehachapi. I can easily see them being a favorite in the Palmdale area. There was plenty of parking in this lot. The entrance is located through their patio, which can be a bit counter intuitive. We came at opening and the restaurant got really busy during our time there. Initially we were looking at the sandwiches because it was lunch time, but then we were going to a wedding that night so we decided to eat something more filling since the ceremony and speeches always delay the eating. All entrees here are served with black beans and rice or congri, and 3 fried plantains. My boyfriend had the Ropa Vieja ($28) with the congri and I had the Lechon Asado ($25) with the rice and beans. Our food came out pretty fast after we ordered. My boyfriend's Ropa Vieja is a Cuban braised beef. The congri is basically a mix of the rice and beans. This dish was super tasty and the shredded beef was so tender with the bell peppers and onions. I can really taste the red wine and tomato sauce in the base. I took a few bites but in general I preferred my dish more, and vis versa he enjoyed his dish more. My lechon asado is a roasted pork that is super super tenderrrrrr. It was so sweet with the grilled onions and it had the perfect amount of fattiness without being over bearing. SO GOOD! Love the plaintains too. I'm glad I got the rice and beans option because I would have gotten too full too quick with the congri. I barely touched my beans and only got through half of my rice. Both dishes came with this super tasty garlic butter sauce that I poured on my rice and made it even tastier. It was so good. One thing I didn't enjoy about the experience was the flies attacking us and our food. Since the door is open and connected to their outdoor space, it leaves the opportunities for flies to come in. We had to play defense with the flies the whole time. The service here is a little slow. Especially when I was trying to get back on the road I wasn't feeling too patient. I waived down multiple staff members too. Also I got hit with an undisclosed 3% surcharge for using my credit card. I only found out after I got the receipt. I would have paid in cash if I knew. *dislike* LOVE LOVE LOVE the food. Might be the best Cuban food I've ever had... and I've been to Florida where there was a lot of Cuban spots. Room for improvement with service, flies prevention, and the disclosure of the credit card fee.

Absolutely the best guest hospitality and food quality my family and I have ever experienced eating…read moreout. The atmosphere and ambiance of the restaurant is always lovely, fun, and lively. The food quality is spectacular! I always get the Baracoa Cubano sandwich and it never disappoints. The ingredients are fresh and organic with each dish I've ordered. Since I have allergies to ingredients used to preserve frozen food, it's always been so hard finding a restaurant with a menu that doesn't cause me issues--and Baracoa has never compromised with their ingredients! The organic quality of their food is something you'll taste on your first bite. And finally--the service is impeccable and I have yet to see such excellent hospitality at any restaurant I've visited, even in Los Angeles! The waiters are always kind, attentive, and energetic with their behavior and service. It's very easy to tell they love the work they do and it shows in their work ethic. In addition to that, the managers are always making sure we're having an excellent night and have transformed it to a level of service we've never seen! My parents and I went a week ago and talked to Daniel the Manager about how much we missed a Piña Colada from a closed restaurant which would make it in the pineapple itself--and he said if we promised to be there in a week he's make it himself. We came on Friday, and the joy that my family felt was palpable when Daniel came out with the drinks we've wished for years now since that restaurant closed! Honestly, I've never heard of someone caring for their guests so much to do that--truly everyone should visit this establishment and experience true fine dining. I don't think I'll ever eat anywhere else for a special occasion ever again.

I am so impressed by this place. The quality of food is superb, the taste of the food is delicious,…read moreand the presentation of the food, even in a to-go plate, is beautifully done. Everything is fresh and cooked to order. The service is friendly and quick and I appreciate that. I had the Reina con tajada arepa, and not only was it delicious, it's incredibly filling. The price point is definitely worth it and I will be back!

Delicious food, it seemed like it was all from scratch. Ordered pabellon criollo, which has a…read moretexture similar to Mexican ropa vieja. The meat was tender and a little sweeter, though, with a different flavor. A friend suggested mixing the beans/rice/meat all together, and he was right: the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.. Green sauce was very fresh tasting and flavorful, but orange sauce may burn a hole in your hole. Parking in Glendale has AIDS, so either bring lots of quarters, download the "pay by phone" app in advance, lest you stand there for 15 minutes trying to figure it out it while the sun peeks from behind the clouds to make your phone virtually unreadable, or figure out the 888 number on the side of the meter.

I can't believe that I haven't left a review for Amara yet, because this is one of our very…read morefavorite places. Everything we've tried is fresh and delicious, but our personal favorites are the arepa la suegra with black beans and plantains, the churros (just a little bit crunchy and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside and not too sweet), the guava pastelito, and of course the Venezuelan drinking chocolate. As much as we love the food, what really keeps us coming back is their hospitality and sense of community. As locals, we really feel welcome and it is great to see the same faces week after week. (Our husky is always especially delighted to see her BFF, Valeria!) Finally, while the small inside area has a nice cafe vibe, the sidewalk seating and covered patio have been perfect for us with our husky. Amara is the kind of place that makes Pasadena special, and I definitely recommend them if you are in the area!

I m glad I found a this place. Their hot chocolate was pretty close to European style. It was milky…read moreand thick. Their place was a bit tricky to get to. It's located right next to entrance of the public parking. They have both indoor and outdoor seating and ambiance was casual. The service was great. The server explained different hot chocolate styles they have and recommended me. Their empanadas were also delicious. I can't wait to come back here again. Highly recommended.

The place has a food atmosphere. The service is great, and the food doesn't disappoint!read more

Mama Roomba is a fun place to eat. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and our server was very…read morefriendly. We had empenadas, jerk chicken, arepas, fried shrimp, and a side of beans with plantains. It was all pretty good, but nothing really blew me away. I really like the jerk sauce on the chicken, but the chicken itself was just a slow cooked breast without much flavor or texture. The arepas were just cornmeal and cheese, without any of the other ingredients I've usually seen in the past (although they did come with a tasty green salsa). I think my favorite item was the salt and pepper shrimp, which had a really good flavor. Plantains and beans are also delicious. There were a few other dishes we wanted to try, such as the ceviche, but unfortunately they were out of it that night. I would come back again to try some other dishes in the future.

Such a great market that has been here for a long time. Great family. Great produce and drinks. The…read morepeople here are community forward and a lovely family owned spot that's well respected! They are always friendly and loving. This spot is 10/10!

Food has great flavor the Cuban sandwich the prices are bit high on products. The service is…read morehorrible it's a young lady at cashier..she just looked at me and my friend and was rude. Rung us up with attitude. Not planning to go back.

This place great! They are located in a home beautiful garden area. There are a lot of flowers and…read moretrees. Overall, very nice area! Food is so delicious. Also, they have very reasonable prices (very hard to find now on days) and portions are big! My go to is the pabellon. The guys working there are also very nice! Highly recommend it.

As we waited you could tell they put extra care into the order. There was music playing in the…read morebackground and it created a welcoming vibe. The food was fabulous and we are definitely making plans to come back again. We dined in their front yard seating area. We brought back the pabellón for my mom who is a native Venezuelan which she approved of as totally authentic. We hope continued success for either careering or for a more permanent location in the future.