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!

I was in DC and it was my first time visiting the location. I went with my mother and my cousins…read more Me and my mom ordered the Full House Cachapa and my cousins order other food inside the restaurant. The food was great and it was delicious. The atmosphere was great and it was warm. Overall if you are in the area, stop by Arepa Zone, I would definitely recommend it. 10/10.

I got to try Arepateca at National Night Out. I have seen them at the local farmer's markets and it…read morewas great to finally give them a try. They have two arepas marked as vegetarian. They let me know the Sweet Domino arepa can be made vegan with no cheese. I ordered this and really appreciated how kind and accommodating the woman at the register was. The arepa came out quickly and HOT. I had to wait a little for it to cool before taking a bite. The black beans were so flavorful!! I love how well seasoned they were. The sweetness of the plantains added a nice contrast to the savoriness of the black beans. Additionally this arepa was PACKED with filling. I was shocked how small yet satiating this meal was. Overall I would definitely order this arepa again and am very thankful they were able to make a vegan option for me.

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.

We had a dinner party of 20. the service was outstanding. Our Catering manager Susan kept us up to…read moredate with menu options. The wait staff was great, drinks and food came in shifts no waiting for anything we needed. Food was delicious, and having never been there before we were a bit nervous. A wide variety of options for the vegetarian folks, and those who love meat. And the restaurants ambience was lovely. Can't wait to to back.

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.

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