The Arepa Station — Restaurant in Orlando

The Arepa Station is easily our go-to spot for authentic Venezuelan food. Stopping by there on our way home from work for empanadas is a fairly regular occurrence, and when we want to take our friends and coworkers to a place to give them a taste of Venezuelan culture, this is the spot. We've taken a lot of people here.

FOOD: In case you're unfamiliar with Venezuelan food, you really should try the empanadas from this place. Their pabellón empanada is a traditional full Venezuelan meal wrapped up in a deliciously slightly crunchy shell of sweetcorn meal. It has wonderfully seasoned shredded beef, black beans, and sweet plantains inside it. Their vegetarian arepa is my personal favorite. It's quite filling and every bite is delicious.

SERVICE: Venezuelans tend to be very loving and genuine. The staff at Arepa Station are certainly no exception to this. Every time we go, we are greeted with a very warm smile. Every time we call to place an order, they greet us like one would a cousin. We're not unique in this regard. This is their normal way of treating everyone who walks through their door. This evening we were greeted Dayanara. She has consistently gone out of her way to make us feel welcome, but again this same can be said of the entire staff there.

ATMOSPHERE: They occupy the left third of a gas station. They keep their part of the station very nice and clean. The location probably precludes this from being an anniversary dinner, but it is much nicer than most diners and certainly nicer than a typical fast food restaurant. One notable thing about the atmosphere that I've always appreciated is their music. They typically have very authentic, very classy Venezuelan music playing. You will not have to worry about shielding the eyes or ears of little ones from embarrassing lyrics or videos.

In December as the holidays approach, consider picking up some hallacas from them. These are really special. They're difficult and time consuming to make, so they're often not found very easily. The Arepa Station has them every December. The big family meal on the 31st would simply not be the same...

This was our first visit and of course we had to order the Arepa Burger $7.99 and we also ordered a side of Tequeno’s $4.99. We like arepas like what you get at some of the festivals, craft and art shows. In this form as a burger, it’s interesting but not our favorite. These come with a decent sized burger patty, a fried egg, bacon, ham, potato sticks, cheese, lettuce, tomato and a mayo/ketchup mixture and this is surrounded not by a bun but by grilled arepa corn cakes. The Mayo-ketchup mixture was a bit heavy for my taste and overwhelmed the rest of the flavors. I can’t really say that the rest of it was fully flavored because I just couldn’t tell. This was interesting to try but it’s over now and I don’t need to try again. It was sizable too as I did not and could not finish mine. The Tequenos were served in a tray of 5 short ones. They were very tasty and worth getting again and again. They have several sauces to choose from and we liked the corn sauce which is a light creamy white sauce that was nice with the Tequenos, although they were fine by themselves. This fast food restaurant is in a gas station and has at least 11 booths to sit in. You order at the counter and they call you to pick it up at the counter when your food is ready. I rated this 3 stars just because the burger wasn’t my favorite. This may be an amazing experience for...

I have visited this restaurant for several years. We felt like they had attained a level of cooking consistency. Our concern has always been the gas station setting and the bathroom odor throughout the restaurant. During our last few visits we noticed that the tables are always dirty and we always end up cleaning a table with napkins. Yet there is always a clerk sitting idle at the cash register or taking in the kitchen. Last time we stopped by, 2 weeks ago, the cachapa was far from tender. First time I left disappointed with the food. Burgers were good. We bought 6 hallacas this past Christmas and the Venezuelan flavor was definitely not there. They even had large chunks of unseasoned meat. I don't recommend the hallacas. Based on their previous record, this restaurant had potential. With the customer following this place has, this restaurant would do much better if it moved to a shopping center near by and open for breakfast. Venezuelan breakfasts can be unmatched. A new location would provide the flexibility required to provide a great atmosphere and customer experience. During the last two times we stopped by, on one occasion the bathroom was completely down and on the other they had no natural juices. Management needs to make some critical decisions before it...