THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Deli-Arepas

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Deli-Arepas Restaurant Review:

Striking out on a new wave for Atlanta dining establishments, Ramón Arocha and his colleagues from Venezuela have brought to Atlanta the city’s first taste of not only Venezuelan food, but Venezuelan food from Margarita Island. Dishes are based on corn, the fresh kind, cut off the cob by hand one cob at a time, then made into arepas, empanadas and cachapas. What are they? Arepas are flat, thick, griddle-baked corn cakes filled with a choice of ingredients: shredded beef (very yummy); jerked chicken; fish; chicken salad and avocado; tuna salad; and cheese or black beans. We’ve had them in a lot of restaurants around town, but nowhere have they come out as good as these. Empanadas Venezuelan-style also are made from corn, rather than a white flour pastry dough, which encloses the filling entirely (they're finally fried in oil.) Re-tasted recently, the empanadas seemed crisper than in the first days after the restaurant opened. We like the cachapas---a uniquely Venezuelan dish---based on a corn pancake bursting with fresh corn kernels and filled with white cheese or any meat. The carne mechada is an excellent choice for either the arepas or the cachapas, and make sure to get some tomatillo sauce. House-made desserts include a Venezuelan cheesecake called quesillo, literally little cheese; it’s like flan, but dense. House-made sangría and beers are the only alcohol served.