La Arepa

Best empanadas I've had. The corn flavor in the dough really shines, and the filling is savory and flavorful too.Food: 5/5

Delicious. Food has hot and fresh. Very clean inside and staff was ni e and informative. Would definitely visit again and have a couple drinksFood: 5/5

My first review of any restaurant but I had to! The perfect find, my boyfriend and I happened upon it on the way home from a fun day out. We consider ourselves lucky in finding special unique spots but this place is not like any other, it truly transports you through its food and its ambience. The service is incredible and personable, you feel so welcome and it feels like home and family. You can truly feel the pride they have in their food through the service and the flavors. I always love the familiar tastes of food I’ve had time and time again, but this was all new and provided comfort in its flavors while expanding your understanding of authentic Venezuelan food. We tried the beef, chicken, and pork arepas, as well as one of the plates where you build your own arepa. It is delicious meat and beans and cheese and sauce and avocado, anything you select, sandwiched within delicious corn pancakes. We never indulge in dessert out but we even had to take a coconut flan to go. Everything down to the drinks and sodas are authentic, I often find that a drink is the same most places you go but here the “Auyantepui” surprises with flavors of tamarind within spiced rum. This isn’t just a restaurant, it’s an experience. If you want to try something new, this is the place for you. You will feel wrapped up in its warmth instantaneously.

La Arepa serves the best traditional Venezuelan food, perhaps, in the entire United States. A beautiful restaurant interior with friendly attentive service and the food that they serve is high quality, all natural, fresh ingredients. Lots of tables space for couples, families, you and co-workers or a party...so come enjoy your next delicious meal. They have a nice bar and awesome drinks as well. You deserve great food...so please give them a try, you won't regret it.

The food was delicious!!The prices were fair and the food portions were more than satisfying! The waitress Bernardo was one of the best I have ever come across!! He was kind, attentive, and efficient. He was the only one waiting all of the tables and did a phenomenal job!! The service was great and quick! Would definitely come again and recommend it to my friends and family!!

I love this place. They just moved a couple doors down same building several months ago and expanded to have nicer dining room available and to have a special door just for takeout customers. Excellent customer service. Fresh and delicious food. Definitely worth stopping by! Did take out and everything was nicely packaged. Sauces in their own little baggy and another little baggy with forks and knives.

Some Gluten free options, just ask your server. Beautiful atmosphere, great food, beautiful plating. Personally I just wanted to try something new. I found the food to be okay in flavor, but the visual was outstanding. Def a spot to try something new on your cultural palate. Not bad.

Excellent service and fantastic arepas! The empanadas are amazing. The decor is very authentic, and the restaurant is very clean. I highly recommend it. ¡Viva Venezuela!

Camarones! Just tried these for the first time this week. Absolutely delicious! The shrimp one was my favorite, and I also got the chicken one pictured below. It’s hard to describe what these taste like. It’s just something so different it’s refreshing lol. Unfortunately I did not go and pick these up so I cannot comment on the overall establishment and staff. But I will say if the food taste this good, the staff must be just a great to go along! Would recommend!

La Arepa may not yet be one of Providence's most well-known restaurants, but it is a Venezuelan eatery that is serving some of the best food you will ingest in the Providence metro area. During my recent maiden visit, I ordered the "Pabellon Arepa," consisting of shredded beef stewed for hours in a Venezuelan spice mix, with savory meat-braised black beans and queso fresco. All of this deliciousness is sandwiched between crispy white corn cakes and served with fresh avocado slices. At $7.50, this thing is surprisingly HUGE and a full meal for a normal person. It is served with homemade green sauce guasacaca aka homemade avocado sauce and pink sauce salsa rosada aka mayo-ketchup based sauce. I've dined at areperias all over the United States, and La Arepa's over-stuffed, juicy, fat 'arepas rellenas' are my favorite I've had outside of "Caracas Arepa Bar" my gold standard in New York City. What really makes this concoction special is the pinguid shredded beef and glorious black beans, both of which taste and smell like they have been slow-cooking the entire day. We call this "abuela" food where I live in San Diego, which is about the highest compliment I can give a plate of food these days. I also ordered the "Parrillitas Cerdo" grilled pork plate, which featured golden nuggets of tender pork with crispy edges, resting on top of grilled baby potato chunks absorbing the grease and juices of the pork. This beautiful marriage of pork and starch is accompanied by fresh avocado and a salad to make you feel better about demolishing the mega-calorie meat feast laid out before you. La Arepa is owned and managed by wife and husband team Nohemi Rodriguez and Jorge Garcia. Nohemi is responsible for the food, which she has based on recipes passed down through her family. She ensures the food coming out of her kitchen is as authentic and fresh as possible, even insisting on making all of the arepa dough from scratch in-house when it would be both cheaper and easier to buy and use pre-made, pre-cooked dehydrated masarepa flour. Some kitchens are unwilling to take short-cuts if the food suffers even a little, and diners of La Arepa are the beneficiaries of Nohemi's refreshing refusal to compromise. Service during my visit was also superb, delivered by a friendly young gent who I suspect was part of the family and, even if not, could have been by his enthusiasm for the restaurant and his excellent customer service. He indicated to me that La Arepa is growing, recently opening a bakery next door, and with near-term plans to expand and add a bar. This is exciting news, and should hopefully attract more patrons to enjoy the excellence of this presently unassuming dining destination. An "under-the-radar" jewel in Pawtucket, La Arepa is fortunately dead simple to get to from I-95 and just minutes away from Providence. With the average entrée being sold at less than $10, La Arepa is the rare restaurant with full waiter service that checks all of the boxes of good, cheap, and fast.