Little Chango — Restaurant in Asheville

I've been so excited to try this place and have been following the news, biding my time til I could get away during the day. Finally, today was the day. The inside is tiny, maybe 6-7 seats at the bar. You order at the far end of the bar. Initial impression: great presentation, friendly staff, wildly underwhelming food.

The last (Colombian) arepas I had before I his were fried golden, with the lightest crispy exterior, the filing beautifully seasoned. I had that in my heart when I ordered the pernil.

The arepa was boring. It was white, under-seasoned, and treated like a means to hold up the filling, rather than the star it's supposed to be. The pork was fine, it was soft, but it was under-seasoned. The tostones were dry and bland. If there were spices, I missed them. The dipping sauce reminded me of watery thousand island, with just enough kick to choke down the tostones.

My friend ordered the chorizo arepa and hers was equally forgettable. The beans and rice just tasted like rice. She'd spent the last few months in Costa Rica and was looking forward to eating a flavor bomb, so we both left more than a little disappointed.

And to be honest I'd really hoped these would be served as pockets. Eating an arepa with a knife and fork just feels wrong.

All this to say, the concept is GREAT and I'm thrilled they're not another pizza place. I'm hoping this is just part of opening and working out the kinks. I hope they figure out where the seasonings are, because I want this...

This is a very small place. There are about four bar stools against the counter in the main part of the building. There is no air conditioning. It can get really hot because the kitchen is right there. Outside there are about three two-person tables and maybe three or four short picnic tables and again bar stools up against the enclosure to the building. It is open with a metal roof. Unfortunately, we picked the hottest day of the summer, thus far, to eat there about 6:00 p.m. The place was packed on a Tuesday night in the South Slope Asheville. I'm glad to see it. Because all of us living here so desperately want our city to recover. From Helene. We had the ropa vieja it was ok, but the meat was a bit tough. Yucca fries are good as well as the escabeche. Personally, I would stick to the sides and if you want a little meat, get one of the meat dishes and share it. And go when the weather is nice. The Arepas, the base, are quite good. The experience was just OK. Of course, it was hot as hell and thundering...

Go here.

Super accommodating to vegans. I believe all of their sides are vegan, but be sure to mention it so they don’t add any sauces that may not be vegan.

Their vegetarian arepa was vegan without the cheese, and it was delicious, savory, and satisfying. A fine example of removing non-vegan items from a meal and still maintaining flavor. Every vegan will understand the struggle of getting the “vegan” option from a non-vegan restaurant, only to be disappointed because you received a piece of lettuce wrapping some bean patty. You will not find that here. Please support this restaurant.

I mentioned I was vegan and they took special care to ensure everything was made vegan, they reassured me that they even consider this when frying some of their items to ensure it was properly made vegan; I didn’t even ask for that, they just get it.

To the non vegan friendly restaurants of...