Arepa Zone opened its first Maryland location Sept. 1 in the retail space beneath the Aster apartment complex on Calvert Road.
The Venezuelan fast-casual restaurant specializes in arepas, corn patties with various fillings including meat and cheese. The menu also features cachapas, a corn pancake, and tequeños, a fried cheese stick.
“Our main focus is to introduce those people that have never tried Venezuelan food before to what we’re all about,” Gabriela Febres, the restaurant’s co-founder and co-owner, said.
She also said she wants the restaurant to be a hub for people to connect with other Venezuelans.
The restaurant offers coffee, juice and a full bar with 10 specialty cocktails, some made with homemade syrups, Febres said. Customers can also order desserts like tres leches and shop at a small in-store market for Venezuelan art, candy and more.
The chain has six other locations in the District and Virginia, but the College Park restaurant is the only one with a bar. Febres added that part of the reason she and the other co-owner, Ali Arellano, opened in College Park was because of the success of their location near George Washington University.
“We realized we do really well with the college communities,” she said.
On a recent Friday at dinnertime, Mahogany Lyles, a management and program analyst, and Sheena Styles, a teacher, ordered a chicken arepa, a shredded beef empanada, a shredded chicken empanada and an empanada with beef, plantain and cheese.
“Everything’s good, well seasoned,” Lyles said. “All of our food came out so hot, which was really great.”
She added that the restaurant adds “a splash of color” to College Park and will thrive because of the city’s diversity. She said she likes the blue-and-yellow decor, the greenery and the openness of the restaurant.
“Any restaurant/market combo is a plus for me,” Styles said. “They have a store, and then you come over here, you can go to happy hour.”
Kealyn Saavedra, a College Park resident, ate dinner at the restaurant with her mom, who is Venezuelan. She said the food was authentic and described the interior as a “chill spot” for college students to come study.
Samuel Marquez, a senior physics major at the University of Maryland, ordered a cachapa with butter and cheese. He said he has been to Arepa Zone locations in the District and is happy to have a closer location.
“I feel that there’s not so many Venezuelan restaurants in the area, so that’s one of the things that make this perfect,” Marquez said. “I’m happy to know that there’s more of my culture here.”
Daniel Fredes, a criminology and criminal justice graduate student at UMD, got the vegan arepa, which is filled with plantains, avocado and black beans. He said he is happy to have more options for vegan food in the area.
Febres said she plans to hold events such as karaoke, live music and trivia nights in the future.
“[We’re] just happy to be in College Park and getting to know the community,” Febres said