Arepas Cafe has come to North Merrick offering authentic Venezuela cuisine. The primarily takeout restaurant on Jerusalem Avenue offers, as its name suggests, a large variety of arepas, cornmeal cakes filled with flavorful mixtures of chicken, beef, pork, cheese, sweet plantains, beans, and seafood. Arepas start as a gluten-free bread made of ground corn, then grilled, baked, or fried.
There are more than 25 types of arepas to choose from. A couple of traditional choices include Jamon y Queso filled with ham and white, Gouda or Guyanese cheese, and Perico with scrambled egg with ham. Vegetarians have several options to choose from such as an arepa with black beans and white cheese, and there’s a vegan black bean, avocado, and sweet plantain arepa on the menu as well.
Tajadas Con Queso
Beyond arepas there are Venezuelan favorites such as Pabellon Criollo (shredded beef, white rice, black beans, sweet plantains, and white cheese) and Cachapa Pabellon (Arepa de choclo. sweet fresh corn pancake, shredded beef, cheese, black beans, sweet plantains.), plus sides including Cochino Frito (fried pork chunks) and Tajadas con Queso (sweet plantains with grated white cheese.)
Round out your meal with some fried yucca sticks and a tasty cilantro dip, refreshing Papelon con Limon drink (Sugar cane with fresh squeezed lime juice) and something sweet like the popular tres leches cake.
Arepas Cafe is located at 1371 Jerusalem Avenue in North Merrick. Hours are 12 - 9 p.m., Monday - Friday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Saturday, closed Sunday. They offer catering, as well as delivery through most major delivery apps including Uber Eats, Yelp, Grubhub, and DoorDash. For more information call the restaurant at (516) 447-6969.
