Finding the best arepas in Miami

The Hungry Post is on a mission to find the best arepas in Miami thanks to:

Our official ‘arepa duties’ began in September. We’ve embarked on a month-long quest to find the best arepas in Miami made with Harina P.A.N. Our journey will take us to both well-known establishments and hidden gems, all of which can be suggested by you in this video below:

 

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Our objective is to try the arepa offerings of at least 15 restaurants during this culinary tour. To help us in our decision-making process, we’ve assembled a panel of three esteemed judges.

From The Hungry Post team, we’ve enlisted content creators Gaby Valdano from Ecuador and Emi Hellebrand from Venezuela, along with Puerto Rican culinary expert, Jose Mendin, chef and owner of Pubbelly Sushi, Casa Isola, and more.

Together, they have established the ‘arepa criteria’—the defining characteristics that make an arepa delicious and distinctive. While we’ll delve into these criteria further along the journey, we’ll initially be focusing on attributes such as crunchiness, filling, thickness, size, and creativity.

We’ll also be trying three different arepas from each restaurant as explained in this video:

 

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After our month-long adventure, these three discerning judges will unveil their top 5 arepas.

So, stay tuned as we embark on this arepa journey! You can keep up with our arepa updates by checking this article throughout September.

Our Arepa Journal

Here are our observations from the different arepa destinations we’ve visited:

We stopped by Bocas Grill & Bar located on Coral Way. This restaurant serves Latin fusion dishes with a big focus on Venezuelan flavors. Their menu is overwhelmingly extensive. They cover burgers, cachapas, arepas, wok-style noodles, and over-the-top milkshakes. We stopped by specifically for the arepas. These were the biggest arepa we’ve tried. Good luck trying to eat them with your hands. We ate them with a fork and knife to avoid getting messy. We enjoyed their pabellon filling that came with shredded beef, sweet plantain, black beans, and shredded white cheese.

We headed into Key Biscayne for two spots which we really loved and honestly didn’t expect. The first stop was the rustic-looking Artisan Kitchen and Bar. The arepas here are grilled and then baked which made a big difference in taste and texture. Truly delicious! Our favorite arepa was the Pork Shoulder Arepa with tomato and avocado. The pork was juicy and finger-licking good. Our second stop in Key Biscayne was a short walk away. Mestizo’s arepas were super crunchy.  The filling was the perfect ratio and we loved the hint of lime we could taste in the Reina Pepiada.

Of course, we had to make a stop at Doggi’s. They have 5 locations and for this arepa hunt, we visited the one in Biscayne Blvd. This is one of Chef Jose Mendin’s favorite spots for arepas. He stops here often and always gets the Reina Pepiada and adds crumbled, crispy bacon to it.

Up next was La Latina, our favorite arepa stop in Midtown especially when we are looking for late-night eats or when we want to nurse our hangover. This time we stopped by in broad daylight and we can’t help but admire the beautiful floral wallpaper that was an excellent backdrop to our videos. The arepas at La Latina are thin and crispy. We love their La Latina Arepa with gouda, bacon, & avocado. If you want some mini arepas, we recommend their Boliarepas with a side of nata. Oh and a fun fact, you can now visit La Latina at their second location in Downtown’s newest food hall Julia & Henry’s.

Finally, we explored Budare in Coral Way, a late-night hotspot next to Budare Marketplace, known for its Venezuelan and Latin snacks. They use a special round griddle, giving their arepas a delightful golden-brown exterior.

THE HUNGRY POST

Finding the best arepas in Miami