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    Rica Arepa

    4.7 (19 reviews)
    Open 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

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    RICA AREPA ATMOSPHERE

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    Wall decor
    Joe B.

    So excited for a new cool restaurant to come to the neighborhood, especially one with already established locations deep in the heart of the bustling city. Wicker park and lake view add this new addition to the north side, serving up Venezuelan street food along with some more traditional fare. All served with the freshest ingredients, though the shredded beef was a bit on the tougher side, and would have liked to have seen an accompaniment side with the entree for the price, but the flavors were nice, sweet plantain was absolutely delicious. This quaint and hip place is worth giving a try!

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    Dyamond D.

    Fire!! I can't wait to come back. I came to this recently opened location yesterday and I was happily surprised. I never had arepas before but this was a perfect introduction to Venezuelan cuisine. I ordered the soursop juice which tasted fresh and light. I also had the pabellon arepa which I devoured quickly and I also tried the tres leches. I was hesitant about tres leches because I feel it's very easy to mess up but this one of the best I've had, it's not too sweet and the cinnamon flavor was prevalent - which I enjoyed. I also didn't feel super uncomfortable after all that food. Although the overall service was quite slow, I would highly recommend.

    La Parrillera arepa 
 Sirloin steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, handmade cheese, and guac sauce.

    I was looking to try out the Italian Beef tamale (secret menu) at Santa Masa Tamaleria on Addison but it turned out to be closed on Monday & Tuesday. However, Rica Arepa was in the same building a couple of doors away, so I decided to eat there. I do like me some arepa... The place is well lit, clean, and has plenty of tables. The young lady at the register was very nice and welcoming. She & the cook seemed to be the only servers. You can check out the menu for yourself - it is limited in the sense of serving only a few things, but there are several variations of those things. The La Parrillera arepa - sirloin steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, handmade cheese, and guac sauce - caught my eye. Absolutely delicious, and this is not my first arepa. The homemade cheese is a kind of upscaled mozzarella, and works very nicely in the sandwich. The corn meal shell consists of two slices rather the sort of pocket version, so my advice is not to take it out of the wrapper to eat it because it will fall apart. I'm diabetic, and this arepa did not spike my glucose level, even with some extra sauce. I note that there are a couple of other locations in the city, and you might check to see if they are closer to you.

    Went today with my mom, husband, and son. Everything we ordered was delicious!!! Super fast and delightful service. Place is cute. We will definitely go back!!!

    Ann B.

    This place is amazing! Delicious food, super tasty & fresh!! Great vegetarian and vegan options. Juices too! Honestly, I fell in love instantly with this place, and am so excited to go back. I will be a regular. So grateful they opened a location here!

    Rica Bowl Mixto

    The food was so good. Loved the flavor. Excited that this location open in the neighborhood.

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    9 months ago

    Ordered dinner for delivery and the portions were massive. Can't wait to dine in and try more from the menu.

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    1 year ago

    We ordered takeout: The order process was simple using yelp. The food was outstanding! And it was ready when I arrived.

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    Bienmesabe

    Bienmesabe

    4.1
    (625 reviews)
    7.5 mi
    $$

    Amazing authentic Venezuelan food. The food was high-quality and not salty and not oily either…read more Every dish was high-quality and tasted amazing. The drinks were good as well. Staff was very attentive and nice.

    Came here on Memorial Day in the afternoon. I told my husband that the food is great since the…read morecompany I work for caters and it's always been on point. I was exited for him to try their arepas and appetizers. We sat outside. There was about 4 tables with guests outside as well. I started off with the chicha and we asked the waitress if the lunch special was offered. She said because of it being Memorial Day, there was no lunch special. Ok so that was fine. She came back with the drink in about 5 min. At that time all the tables outside had cleared out. We asked if we can have a few more minutes so my husband can decide on what he wanted. She left and we figured she would be back in 5 min to get our order. 15 minutes passed by and she did not come back. There were no other tables being serviced. Why would she take that long? My husband was so disappointed that he suggested we just leave. We went inside to pay for the drink and saw that there was hardly any customers inside. Our waitress was chatting with the cooks. Such a disappointment. She didn't even look back to acknowledge us. I just found the next waitress to pay for my drink. My husband never wants to come back. Sorry Bienmesabe.

    Photos
    Bienmesabe
    Crab arepitas
    Crab arepitas
    Ceviche

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    Ceviche
    Carnivale Chicago

    Carnivale Chicago

    3.9
    (2.7k reviews)
    9.6 mi
    $$$

    I went here with my best friend and my hubby to celebrate my birthday with a great birthday dinner…read more We were in the Chi already visiting Atlas Stationary as a self-proclaimed station and fountain pen freak so we figured why not?!? I had heard great things about Carnivale prior to so please note that prior reservations were already made but regardless, it was all our first times there and we were stoked to finally try this place out. When we first got there, the outside was very unassuming. Some awesome graffiti on the wall (yes, angel wings included) and lots of color which made me so happy! As we entered, we were greeted by lots of colored flora on the walls and the floor. It led to a beautiful lounge where we checked in. The hostess was quite kind and they escorted us to another room that had multiple floors, two I believe. We were sitting in the main dining area where dining tables were set up and the ceiling lights and decorations were super-duper colorful. It was brightly lit and festive. Seriously, the colors alone could make anyone happy and do a serious dopamine overload which was fine with me. We sat down, was introduced to our server, Oscar and then given menu's. I genuinely thought that this place was pretty small initially because it looked small from the outside but boy was I wrong! This place was MASSIVE. But! I digress, now that we had our menu's-- Let the party begin!! We started with the ceviche tasting which included four types of ceviche; shrimp, Yucatan style hamachi, salmon and tuna. All were really good with their own really distinct flavors but our top favorites were the salmon and the tuna. The salmon had a kick while the tuna had a great balance of heat and sweetness. Great way to start of this dinner! My bestie ordered coconut shrimp and smoked mushroom croquettes for her main meal. My hubs ordered the carne asado while I ordered the lechon asada. I also want to add that we ordered Mexican street corn on the side alongside mashed potatoes and Peruvian Jalea. Ah and before I forget, we also ordered our drinks which consisted of a: sangria, margarita, Cotton Candy Cosmo and Salva Honduran Pilsner. All were spectacular and made the night that more enjoyable as well! When we received our food. We were all really enjoyed it as we all shared our bites amongst one another. The coconut shrimp was well breaded and you tasted the coconut as well. The shrimps were large and juicy. The smoked mushroom croquettes were good with a smokey flavor and good breading, however, the breading may have a been a little thick because you couldn't really taste the mushroom,m unfortunately. The carne asado was the star of the show. Well seasoned steak, cooked medium rare which was juicy and succulent. The lechon asado was good. Although I'm not used to eating lechon asado that is covered in sauce, the sauce was super tasty so I didn't mind the tender, juicy pork that was covered in it. I really enjoyed it. I think the only thing that I wish was different with regards to my lechon asado is that I wish it were hotter because it was luke warm when I received it. Other than that, it was....*chef's kiss*. The Mexican street corn was alright, it honestly just tasted like regular corn with mayonaise in it with some cheese. Didn't add anything significant to the meal. The mashed potatoes were soft but not too soft and buttery. They were really good and then the Purvian Jalea was another favorite, super good! The calamari, fish and shrimp with the Purvian Jalea were absolutely delicious; fresh, tasty and well breaded. It was absolutely yummalicious. To top the night off, they gave me a little birthday treat of cotton candy and carmel popcorn. We also had some tres leches which was so yummy because the fruit was fresh and you could taste the milk in the tender cake and then we had the chocolate cigar. The chocolate cigar was also really good, everything except the label was edible, It was smokey, chocolately and delectable. It's presentation was also so creative. We all loved it. Overall, this restaurant is SUPER PRICY but SUPER WORTH IT. I am so glad that I was able to go there to celebrate a special occasion because it would not be a place that I could go to on a regular basis but as much as I wish I was, ya girl ain't rich like that. The service was superb, the employees were kind, the food was fire and drinks were scrumptious. If you're looking for a fun, Latin cuisine inspired, creative, yummy way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other special occasion with a fun Latin twist--look no further, that is it! Check it out and you won't be disappointed. Now, I'm sorry for my novel and you may now go back to your normal programming schedule. If you do end up coming here and loving it -- i told ya so ;)

    I'm not sure how long it was when I first visited Cranivale but it was definitely before yelp…read morereviews and it definitely wasn't this big so fast forward to maybe 20 years it's definitely more beautiful. Very nice and what a great entrance it has. The rooms and the different feeling each one gives is pretty awesome. The upstairs is where we were invited to attend the party bc of the invite and it was very lounging and nice. There's a Latin room where we wanted to go but next time we will. Then there a bigger room with lots of dinner tables and another upstairs.

    Photos
    Rumba Bar
    Rumba Bar
    Carnivale Chicago
    Ropa vieja - a must!

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    Ropa vieja - a must!
    Sabe a zulia

    Sabe a zulia

    3.4
    (21 reviews)
    3.3 mi

    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!!

    Photos
    Side sauce
    Side sauce
    Corn fritter
    Corn fritter
    Cheese pastelitos

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    Cheese pastelitos

    Rica Arepa - venezuelan - Updated July 2026

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