Caracas Arepa Bar

Living in the East Village, I go out to lots of delicious and inexpensive spots. I like to try new places, but there are a few spots that are standbys. Caracas Arepa Bar is one of them.
It has its downfalls to be sure - it's situated in a teensy-tiny space, there is always a wait on weekends, and they have the smallest napkins on the planet to accompany a deliciously messy meal, but it is one of my favorite spots to eat at and, very often, order delivery from.
This weekend, I had a friend visiting from out of town. She's a vegetarian, so sometimes eating out can be an ordeal. I also went out with my celiac friend, so talk about difficult to eat out with! Caracas was the perfect spot.
As mentioned above, there is always a wait. So when we arrived at 7:00 on a Saturday night, it was no surprise that we were told that there would be a 45 minute wait. We decided to grab a drink down the street at 7A. 30 minutes later, we were back at the restaurant and they had already given our table away! So we had to wait a bit in the cold, but at least this time we had some drinks inside us to keep us warm.
Finally, we were seated at a minescule 2 person table that they made into a 3. But arepas were to be had, so it's all good.
Above is some of their deliciously spicy, messy sauce. I am obsessed with it. I keep meaning to ask if I can purchase some to put on everything, it may even be able to replace ketchup in terms of top condiments (have I mentioned my affinity for ketchup?).


Food at Caracas is served in rounds. The tables are so tiny, I suppose it makes sense. Stefi (the celiac)'s first arepa was the A-12 De Pollo ($5.75) -grilled chicken breast with caramelized onions and cheddar cheese (I know, I know - blurry camera!).


Stacy (vegetarian) started with the A-9 De Guasacaca ($5.50) - venezuelan style guacamole with paisa cheese. She proclaimed "it tastes like falafel," which I thought was a strange thing to say about an avocado arepa.

And I started with my favorite - A-8 De Pabellon ($6.75) - shredded beef, black beans, sweet plantains and aged cheese. The flavor of the sweet plantains, mixed with the beef and cheese.....mmm, it is perfection.


For her second arepa, Stacy followed Stefi's choice - an A-12 with tofu instead of chicken. This one she loved, it was not falafel-like at all.

Stefi went with a classic cheese arepa, the A-3 La Paisa ($4.25) - paisa cheese (mild but tasty white cheese). While tasty, I find the plain cheese arepas to be a little boring, especially when presented with so many other exciting and interesting options!


My final arepa was the A-14 La Jardinera ($5.75) - grilled eggplants, sundried tomatoes (antipasto style), caramelized onions and guayanés cheese. This is one I hadn't tried in a while, as I usually stick to spicy or meaty, with plantains. It has a very mediteranean flavor, balanced by a creamy cheese. I think i prefer arepas with meat in them, but I was not disappointed by this choice.

Two arepas is always enough at this place. While they are cheap and little, I always find myself happy and stuffed to the brim when I leave. Long live Caracas!

Caracas Arepa Bar is located at 93 1/2 East 7th Street (at First Ave)
212-529-2314

The take-out joint, Caracas ToGo is located at 91 East 7th St
212-228-5062