Today’s Venezuelan food joint Arepas El Cacao review is brought to you by Mr. B, with short commentary by yours truly. Tomorrow, for Traveling Through Food Monday, I’ll be talking more about the origin of arepas and cachapas. Additionally, I’ll give you some delicious recipes to try at home. This post though…it is just the humorous account of a gringo’s first encounter with Venezuelan food. Enjoy!
Arepas El Cacao, Co
3283 S John Young Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746
Arepas El Cacao review: Venezuelan food in Kissimmee
Venezuelan food is a lot like the country: Full of amazing resources, but serious violence once you are deep inside. We walked toward Arepas El Cacao, a place with a giant cherry on the top of the building (these guys know what they are doing). There were only two side windows, both plastered with massive menus that covered them in their entirety. We stood confused at where the entrance was when, magically, a window opened and a boy of the ripe age of 9 was ready to take our order.
Maria led the way, as I assumed the language of origin of the people inside was Spanish. But even this edge did not help with the completion of our order. We were allowed to stuff 5 things into the cachapas (actually, the arepas Mr. B) or whatever and we decided on some meats. Additionally though, I decided to add some handmade cheese (queso de mano) because it confused me (I thought cheese came from cows?).
Arepas El Cacao menu is plastered all over the windows – and prices upon request only
Yet, before we could make our fifth choice, the 9-year-old was off — back into the abyss of blackness that was the kitchen. We asked if they accepted cards, since they didn’t have a sign to say otherwise. And…surprise! Only cash accepted. Luckily, Maria and I dug out the amount of money needed, we were handed over our ¾ finished order, and we were on our way.
When we finally sat down and started eating, we had some major realizations: 1) We got ripped off. HARD ($14 for an arepa and a cachapa? Umm, no bueno) and 2) One looked like a pancake wrapping around italian cheese, while the other looked like a hard tac biscuit with some meat from the Walmart tubs in it.
Cachapa mixta: The only good thing we tried from the Arepas El Cacao menu
When I started to eat the flapjack (umm, the cachapa, Mr B), it was a pleasant surprise. You can taste corn, meat, cheese, and with the weird mayo-ketchup mix it was top notch. The hard tac (aka the arepa) on the other hand was a tad harder to chew. It seemed to be crunchy in all the wrong ways. Meaning, it was a tad stale. However, the cheese that came from the 9-year-old-boy’s hands was great.
Arepa stuffed with handmade cheese, chicken, and pulled pork
Overall, we are glad we gave Arepas El Cacao a try. I mean, I see it every time I drive down to see my woman, so it was nice to finally cross it off the list. Unfortunately, I have put it on the Never Go Again list as well. I felt bull coming out of my a** about 30 minutes after I ate there…no bueno!
TLTR: Flapjacks (cachapas mixtas) are nice, hard tacs (arepas) are not, and a couple Venezuelans ripped us off.
Arepas El Cacao review: The Latina pitches in
While Mr. B was pretty spot-on with his Arepas El Cacao review, I must admit that I would probably hit this joint again. If just to have another cachapa mixta. It was good. But…but…at $7 a pop, it is not a Venezuelan fast food place in Kissimmee you want to visit often. Specially when you are trying to pay off $40,000 worth of student loans in less than 2 years, as your annual salary is about that more or less…
All this said, though, I found out that there are two Arepas El Cacao joints: The one we visited in Kissimmee and a food truck in International Drive. I read many rave reviews about the latter, by the way. Maybe we should hit that one up next time we visit the theme parks in Orlando. Seems like their arepas are much better!
Say no to an arepa (top); say yes to a cachapa mixta (bottom) at Arepas El Cacao. Ironic, si…