Los Vecinos — Restaurant in Albany

This place is too good for Albany (sorry Albany). We have had stuffed arepas in Columbia, Mexico, and Las Vegas, and we are surprised to admit that our favorite stuffed arepa is in Albany Oregon of all places. The picture I shared is of the Venezuelana. It is stuffed with seasoned beef, avocados, black beans, and fried plantains. This is a common food in Venezuela. Don't expect something quite Mexican though. I know it looks like a Mexican food truck, but I can tell you as a Mexican that it is a bit different but very good. It is served with the white creamy sauce which you might not know what to do with but it's not salsa and it's not ranch it is a garlic-based sauce. I really want everyone to go here and at least try it because the guy working in the cart told me that they might open a place in Corvallis and I would really like that to happen. In my opinion, I think Venezuelan food might be one of your favorite foods; you just haven't tried it yet. If you haven't tried something like oh I don't know Guatemalan food, that's okay! You do need to. Try this though....

Disappointed. The meat empanada was tasty, and the chicken empanada was just okay. Nothing special about the seasoning or juiciness (rather dry) of the chicken. The 2 cheese arepas had cold cheese in them, instead of warm, melted cheese, as is traditional. The empanada exterior resembles a cheap corn dog’s, and the arepa exterior resembled an English muffin.

The most disappointing part was the service. The cashier never made eye contact with me, never greeted me and never said thank you. He did, however, make sure to ask me, how much tip would you like to leave today? My tip is for you to learn good manners, better cooking and show a little humanity. I...

I walked up to the truck just browsing over the menu, and the owner greeted me with the offer of trying anything I was interested in. The amazing customer service won me over, so I opted for the rice bowl and we also got an order of the plantains and a cup of both the strawberry and the original horchata. We were shocked at how good everything was! It was full of flavor and you could tell everything was really fresh. My husband and I are going to make this a regular. I would go back just for the horchata!! Freshly made by the owners mother who works the truck with him. Don’t know what more I could say except definitely DEFINITELY go...