It took me over a year to realize Gusto Gourmet was more than just a cute cafe but a legit option…read morefor Venezuelan cuisine. Their unique position as one of the only Venezuelan spots in the loop becomes even more niche when one realizes that part of the menu is also Mediterranean / Middle Eastern (#1). If that's not Houston in a nutshell, I don't know what is. The place sports a casual vibe with a clean and bright interior. It's been practically empty with every visit, but I suspect the takeout game is strong here. There is limited parking in the back of the restaurant and the narrow alleyway entrance is somewhat easy to miss. Food wise, I am not disappointed. Their cheese cachapa is the stuff of dreams and includes a number of stuffings from ham to shredded chicken / beef. My vote is for their pabellón, which is a nice combination of shredded beef, black beans, and sweet plantains. For cheese lovers, the double cheese is perfectly indulgent with the sweetness of the cornmeal. The main draw for me was the arepas, which is something I missed having had so much of it back in NYC. La Pelua (shredded beef, mixed shredded cheese) is one of my go-tos, but my all-time favorite is the reina pepiada, a shredded chicken mixed with avocado topped with sprinkled salty white cheese. It's a staple in the Venezuelan arepa game and while their version is very solid, I'm just extremely thankful that it's available. Their breakfast platters are a big draw, which mainly consist of scrambled egg combos paired with arepas and various proteins. I think their yuca buñelos, tequeños, patacones, and especially their mandocas are incredibly underrated. The latter is practically dessert since it's mashed plantains with the cachapa stuffed with sugar and cheese. While they're not known for their empanadas, I do think their cazon (#2) is unique and their potato and cheese is always hearty. The shredded beef is a nice alternative to their arepas or arepitas (side) and make for an excellent snack on the go. Fans of Venezuelan cuisine who find themselves in the inner loop owe them a visit and I highly recommend calling ahead of time to ensure they have items available and to get a jump on the wait time for takeout. They are a slept on gem in the neighborhood and one that I hope sticks around for a very long time. _____________ (#1) The owners are Venezuelan and Syrian. The sweetest couple. (#2) Dogfish? It's really a mini shark.

Great Venezuelan food! I have celiac (gluten-free) and I'm vegetarian and they have multiple…read moreoptions available. They even have a gluten free fryer separate from a regular fryer, which is great! The restaurant itself is very casual, few tables and friendly staff at the counter for helping decide. I tried the caxapa with cheese, 3 empanadas with various fillings, and the plain mini areas. All the items were good especially the caxapa and the empandas, though I think the combination of items I picked was definitely fryer-heavy. The sauces they were served with with are also a nice accompaniment. We got to go and excited to try out more of their menu!

Used to live in the neighborhood so decided to come back and celebrate my upcoming birthday with…read morefamily. I missed the guava and cheese pastelitos which were still as good as I remembered. The shredded beef with plantain and arepa were a great breakfast. So much food. Well worth it. The feel hasn't changed over the last so many years. It is a simple decor. Nothing over the top but foods just right. Honestly I wish it was closer to where I live now to go back more often. The Venezuelan coffee had the perfect level of sweetness. Only downfall was a bit of a hiccup with the food but it worked out in the end.

Love this place. We ordered a gaggle of food. Almost all of the pastelitos, a couple empanadas, and…read morea couple arepas. My fave was the pepperoni and cheese -- the cheese is the special part. In addition, we ordered a couple guava juices, pineapple juices, and even a funky grape soda. Our food was ready in a reasonable amount of time, including the time it takes to ake the drinks. The restaurant has a good family vibe to it also. I really like businesses like these. 5/5

Great ambiance and fantastic service. We really enjoyed ourselves. Kid friendly and priced…read morereasonably. Will come back.

Finally, we have Venezuelan food in the area!!! Great atmosphere, fast service and friendly staff…read more Food: 10 out of 10. Anything with carne mechada (shredded beef) is delicious. I had arepas, empanadas and a burger and were amazing. 100% recommended. No more driving to Katy. They also have Mexican food, beer and a TV to watch games.

Amazing food for a great price. Really chill spot. Great service…read more Grabbed breakfast here a couple times already definitely going back.

Awesome little Venezuelan hole-in-the-wall! Super friendly service and great food. Roasted pork…read morepatacones and ground beef pastelitos are excellent, but we haven't really had anything we didn't like.

Amazing Food!, Latin American, Venezuelan Burgers, Arepas, Empanadas, Pastelitos, And More. With…read moretraditional flavor, great sauces, Music, and Friendly Atmosphere and Service.

A truly authentic Venezuelan experience, took me back to my visits to Venezuela as a child. The…read moreportions are great and the food is fresh and delicious. Highly recommend the burgers.

I used to enjoy the food here MANY years ago and recently had the opportunity to come back to give…read moretheir food another try. They have an online ordering system now that is very convenient and works well, and my food was ready on time without any mistakes. The interior is on the smaller side, but apart from that I can't comment much on the ambiance as I've never really dined in even in the past. I was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite items were still on the menu, and just as delicious as I remembered. My family and I ordered: - Pollo Patacon (Fried Plantain Sandwich w/ chicken): I'm a huge plantain lover. Ingredients are fresh, chicken is a smidge dry but flavorful, and messy to eat - Queso de Mano Cachapas (Sweet Corn Pancakes w/ Venezuelan cheese): mildly sweet and savory, and reminds me a little bit of Filipino bibingka - Carne Mechada Empanadas (Empanadas w/ shredded beef): great texture fresh and leftovers reheat well in the airfryer Can't believe it's taken me this long to make my way back here. This is a great small business that needs more appreciation.

We have been going here for many years and the food is,consistently excellent. It's a small…read morestorefront shop with a few tables, counter service and a nice friendly ambiance. They also now have a very good online order facility for takeout. If you're not familiar with Venezuelan cusine, I highly recommend the sampler,that gives you a small portion of a number of their specialties and a lot of food for the price. They have some lovely vegetarian arepas for those do inclined. I love vegetarian food but the pork here is just too delicious to avoid.

This place was such a pleasant surprise that I invited a group of friends to meet me there a few…read moreweeks later. The edamame falafel was so moist & delicious. We had yuca fries, empanafas, the cheese (both fried & cold). All were good. The best thing for me was the sandwich they make with flattened, fried plantains that serve as the bread. I loved it & ordered it both visits. It's called a patacon. The restaurant is small but clean & has plenty of tables. There's usualky a game on the tv. Our server was very sweet.

We came on a Sunday afternoon after finding this on Yelp. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but…read morewere immediately greeted by the owner behind the counter. The server was very friendly and explained the menu to us. I love the fact that there is a QR code at the table that pulls up a menu with all the photos. It's great for someone who doesn't know what the items look like. You can also pay by scanning the QR code. The downside is that they charge you extra hidden costs like tap water and a whole lot of many other things. I would have bright my own purified bottled water from Costco that cost a a fraction of what they charged. The prices didn't not align with what was reflected on the menu from scanning the QR code and they were not upfront about it until we got the bill. The menu states that one of the orders came with brown rice so that's what we ordered, but they tagged in extra $2.50 for that on our tab. With the patacon, there was lack of transparency that you would be charged extra for each additional ingredients which was not started on the menu and they don't tell you until the very end when it shows up on the bill. Price and transparency 1/5. Pan De Jamon was Sweet and savory with reasons, ham, olives. They're homemade and fresh. 5/5 Patacon - you can add a variety of means but they charge you extra for each one. The plantain part was good, but I felt mixed about it because certain ingredients were hot, lukewarm and some cold. Lack of consistency. 3/5 We also ordered the pabellon plate, It came with plantains (the best part about it), black beans, brown rice according to the menu through the QR code. The meat was tender but not much flavor. 3/5 Love trying out local hole in the walls and finding hidden gems, but this one didn't meet expectations.

Good friendly workers…read more Look like a family's team everybody doing Dooers! Good tasting Fast Flavors and sizes. Maybe one recomendation (refill.the nestea) Definitely ill come back Btw (by the way) Ask for tequeños (cheess fingers)

Tienen la mejor comida Venezolana y la VERDADERA CHICHA!!…read more Yo soy mexicana, y cuando mis amigas Venezolanas me dijeron de este lugar.... Voy o pido comida UNA VEZ A LA SEMANA! Love you guys!

I was so happy to find the Venezuelan place inside the market. The ladies were so sweet and…read morewelcoming. We ordered 12 tequeños and 3 arepas: chicken, carne mechada, and carne molida. All 3 were fried perfectly and were delicious. The green sauce was also a perfect compliment. My favorite was the carne mechada one. The tequeños were also cooked perfectly and they were cheesy and delicious. My kids were really pleased with them. I would definitely come back here for my empanada fix and to try other items on their menu. I also ordered a cafe con leche and was so happy to see Cuban coladas on the menu. There is a lot of room to sit down and eat, but we chose to take ours to go due to COVID. I love to support Latino-owned businesses, and I would definitely recommend this place. We'll definitely be back.

The food court at Harvest Natural Market is under renovation, but Arepas de Pilon is a separate…read morebusiness and is still serving. I stopped in the other day for lunch while shopping and had an empanada, an arepa, and a passionfruit drink. The empanada was a Mechada, filled with shredded beef. It was deep fat fried and pretty greasy, with a hard shell. Now, I don't mind grease at all--that puddle at the bottom of the container is a sign of good things to come. I very much enjoyed my empanada, the beef was tender and flavorful and I love a crunchy shell. But some may be put off. For the arepa I chose the Venezuelan Queen. An arepa on its own is a corn pancake. These arepas are split and filled, making a sandwich, and it's kind of like eating a sandwich on an english muffin. The Venezuelan Queen is a chicken avocado salad arepa. It was generously filled with a smooth and tasty filling. Not super flavorful but just fine. Either of those items would make a good meal. I washed them down with the passionfruit drink, which was sweet and refreshing. I tried the sugar cane lemonade and don't recommend it unless you specifically know and like sugar cane drinks. Yelp needs a new category for restaurants. This is South American food, and I couldn't find a good category for it. We will see more of it as refugees from South American start businesses here.

Top tier drinks and service! Great place to go for a night out, or after a long week. Food is high…read morequality, but menu needs a refreshing as it has been the same since opening.

Quick service, reasonable prices but a bit loud for conversations…read more The chicken was very tender but I wasn't expecting the tomato to be diced and cooked. Same with the cilantro, I prefer it fresh not cooked. The green beans were tasty.