Review: Arepa Grill brings Venezuelan bounty to Roswell

The bar offers a short list of cocktails, wine and beer. Since Latin America has a rich heritage in both spirits and wine, the limited beverage menu seemed to be a missed opportunity.

The restaurant’s offerings appear to encompass the entire menu from the original locations, plus a large selection of tapas and entrees. Large parts of the menu are dedicated to classic Venezuelan street foods, such as the obligatory arepas, plus cachapas (like sweet corn pancakes) and patacons, made from two pieces of fried plantain sandwiched around a filling.

There are a few appetizer options that offer “tours” of certain dishes. It’s a great way to try several different dishes at once, especially if you’re not familiar with Venezuelan food.

Credit: Henri Hollis

Credit: Henri Hollis

It was clear when I ordered the Venezuelan tour that the cooks here are magicians with the deep fryer. Fried dough easily can become dry and overcooked, especially when the dishes are smaller. The miniature arepas, cachapas, empanadas and tequenos on my platter all were cooked beautifully and were lighter and crisper than expected. The only filling offered with this option was cheese, which made the dishes a bit repetitive, but the tour provided an excellent preview of the full-sized dishes.

The menu’s tapas section is where the restaurant begins to look beyond Venezuela‘s borders, with such dishes as patatas bravas, fried calamari, beef burger sliders and salmon tartare. Cauliflower fried in a tempura-like batter once again showed off the kitchen’s golden touch with the fryer. Also, a seafood salad that was like a mixed ceviche with calamari and white fish was served in cups made from nicely fried plantains.

The restaurant’s eponymous dish easily showed why it gets top billing — the arepa sandwiches are huge, impressively overstuffed and come with a variety of interesting fillings.

Credit: Henri Hollis

Credit: Henri Hollis

The arepas themselves were excellent, with crisp-fried exteriors and a tender, toothsome crumb. They can stand up to heartier fillings, such as the braised beef of asado negro, and can serve as a full meal.

There’s also a section of the menu dedicated to vegetarian and vegan versions of the arepas.

The main dishes focus on homey Venezuelan comfort food. It doesn’t take a South American background to appreciate sauce-smothered dishes such as bisteck encebollado (a tender steak covered with onions and brown gravy) or pollo con champinones (chicken cutlets covered with savory, creamy mushroom sauce that would feel at home in Italy).

Credit: Henri Hollis

Credit: Henri Hollis

From there, the menu keeps going; it would take 10 empty stomachs to explore it all, as it has three versions of paella; a mixed grill meant for multiple diners; a variety of cachapas, empanadas and pastelitos; and eight different types of hamburgers.

It’s hard to be too critical of the bloated menu — which mainly seems to be the product of overenthusiasm — because there’s good, passionate cooking at the core of this restaurant. However, in the same way that steaks need to be trimmed of fat and diamonds need to be cut, Arepa Grill Kitchen & Wine would benefit from following the old saying that less is more.