Arepas Cafe, a new Venezuelan restaurant recently opened in North Merrick, an offshoot of a popular Queens location, which is a welcome addition to the area, according to online reviewers.
This cafe is bringing the traditional South American meal to Long Island. Arepas are dried corn cakes pounded into a cake and filled with a choice of meat. Their shredded beef-filled arepas have white rice, black beans, sweet plantain, and white cheese ($11). The chicken, pork, and shrimp versions are similarly packed. The Jamon y Queso arepas has ham with white cheese, gouda cheese or guyanese cheese ($8). You can also get mini-arepas like the con nata, five bite-size crispy arepas with Venezuelan sour cream. ($7).
They also feature specialty drinks like a parchita, a passion fruit juice ($4), toddy, a Venezuelian chocolate shake ($4), and malta polar, a sweet black root beer ($3).
On Yelp, Jacqui C, from Levittown, gave it five stars.
“If you know me, I LOVE arepas,” she wrote. “And I'm constantly on the lookout for good authentic arepas on the island, and I'm happy to say that Arepas Cafe is an amazing addition to the island! This is a sub-restaurant to the Arepas Cafe in Queens and I'm so happy they decided to branch out.”
Terry B, from Merrick, said he has been waiting for Arepas Cafe to open.
“We had been noticing the arrival of this spot for weeks, and found that they are a branch of a hugely popular Venezuelan place in Queens,” he wrote. “We went on day one, and encountered some opening day jitters. When we came back after a week or so, we can safely say that they have caught their stride. The arepas were a huge hit with my family and we loved the fried cheese appetizers... Service is fast and efficient, and the room is cheerfully decorated. We are delighted to have this two minutes from our house.”
Location: 1371 Jerusalem Avenue, North Merrick, (516) 447-6969.