Luis's Arepera

Me and my dad love this place, we've been going since their first location. The arepas are so fresh and it's great bang for your buck- plus they've added a ton more selections since they first started! We love this family run business!

My husband and I are new the Portland area and our Neigbhor graciously recommended Luis's Arepera! I finally placed an order yesterday for pickup and we were not disappointed! I was greeted with a friendly hello. Our food wasn't quite ready yet so I waited. While I waited I read about the history of the restaurant and the family behind the cuisine. What an amazing story and how cool to be able to be in community and support local restaurants!

The food was amazing! Different flavors my tastebuds haven't tasted yet! The Yuca fries are really good. Back in Texas we tried Yuca Fries at this amazing restaurant called Boca 21 and while their Yuca fries were good they were very fibery. These Yuca fries at Luis's are perfection! You have to try them. Just writing about them makes my mouth water.

I love the simplicity behind a good rice and bean dish. Their rice and beans are so good and filled with flavor! We ordered large and it was enough to feed four people easy. It's only us two so more for me, lol!

The Empanadas and Ground Beef Arepa were tasty! I can't wait to try their shredded beef. I hear amazing things about how they slow cook that meat! Can't wait to try this place again and best of all they are located right down the road! What a win!

P.s,

Very friendly service and great conversation while waiting for our food!

Best empanadas I've had in my LIFE. Perfectly golden and crunchy. Words can't describe how much I love these. I also highly recommend their sauces and guava juice.

Shown here: chicken empanada, at least what was left of it before I inhaled it.

I get sick of eating the same thing all of the time so we ventured for some new cuisine. I had never ordered Venezuelan food so I took a shot in the dark as far as what to get. Turns out, we (my two kids and I) liked it all! As expected, the cinnamon churros were the crowd favorite. If you've never had them, they are basically long horseshoe shaped fried dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. I learned there are different versions of fried plantains. We chose to go with sweet and didn't regret it. You can also opt for to be more savory, paired with avocado sauce. The fried yuka is what I'd describe as their version of a french fry. They are slightly chewier, due to the vegetable being naturally more tough. But again, the kids loved them. The arepas (shredded chicken and shredded beef) were served on a thick fried corn tortilla, not like a chip or bread, but more like pressed ground corn. It was different than any other sandwich I've had, but a welcomed change.
My favorite part of the whole experience was talking with the lady that was working. I assume she was an owner because she was so invested in our conversation and making my meal perfect, but I can't be sure. When I told her it was my first time trying their cuisine, she was quick to offer suggestions on sauces and dips that I should pair my selections with. She threw in some complimentary samples so I could find exactly what my pleased my palette. She was wonderful.

Food: They served six different empanadas here so I had to split them among my party to try them all. The cheese empanada was so flavorful! I'm not sure if it was the blend of cheeses used or if additional spices were included but this was so ridiculously delicious. This empanada literally made me exclaim out loud about how amazing it is. The rice and cheese empanada was similarly delicious. It had some added herbs from the rice that were delicious in its own way. The chicken and potato empanada tasted like chicken noodle soup in empanada form. The beef and rice empanada was my least favorite one just because I was hoping for shredded beef not ground beef but it was still good. Both the bean and rice and the pabellon empanadas used beans in them. The beans meant that the empanadas did not have much moisture in them but these were still tasty and I just took sips of my drink between bites. Finally I split churros between my group for dessert. These are by far the best churros I've ever eaten. They are crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. They had the perfect mix of cinnamon and sugar on the outside. These were an amazing way to end the meal.

Service: The guy taking orders got a little overwhelmed because several people showed up with big orders all at the same time but he handled it well. He brought out my group's food to us so that we could leave the shop and make room for others. He also checked up on us as we were finishing the meal and offered to top up our coffee before we left. To top it off he accidentally made too many churros so he gave us an extra order of them for free. The food was already incredible here and I planned on returning to try out everything else on the menu but the service here really puts this place over the top as a place that I am so eager to return to.

Ambience: This shop allows you to order inside but there is no inside dining area. There are picnic tables outside that you can use. The shop is small and can get cramped easily when three or more parties show up at one time.

OH MY GOD! This spot is so freaking good!

As some of the previous reviews mention, an Arepa is a stuffed corn cake, full of pretty much anything and everything. I have been to this place 3 times now, and each time I have gotten an Empanada (which brings me back to my college days, when my roommate, Holly, would make homemade Empanadas after a night out on the town... ah those were the days), and an arepa. Both could throw down in a food fight. The bean and rice Empanada is a score, and the Arepa with plantains and beef is a win.

The service has always been friendly and welcoming. This isn't fast fast food, it may take 5-10 mins. to get your order, but it's well worth it!

Highly recommend checking out Luis's for some "COVID takeout" - it's fast, delicious, and honestly the most affordable option I've had so far while being the tastiest food!

I had:
Fried Yuca - perfect. never change.
Small Salad - good but a little forgettable for the price
Pabellon Criollo Arepa - fabulous! had it with chicken
Cachapa beef - the menu doesn't really explain this correctly (unless you already know what cachapas are). It's under the platters part of the menu, but it's similar to a sweeter arepa stuffed with shredded beef. It's delicious, but at $4 more than all the arepas, I'd probably go with an arepa next time.
Avocado sauce - chunkier than I've had at other Venezuelan places, but tasty. A little pricy at $4 for 4oz.
Churros - amazing!!

They have a to-go window right now for social distancing. So, altogether, I'd highly recommend this place. An important note: arepas are all about those yummy yummy sauces, and none are included here. Make sure you order them extra!

We ordered food here for an elementary school classroom and this last experience is one of the reasons why I continue to support Luis's.

Firstly, their food is just great. Getting a bunch of Empanadas, Churros, and Yucca Fries is an economical and delicious way to both feed hyperactive kids and make them so excited to try something new. I didn't even get a chance to taste the churros they were gone so fast.

Secondly, ordering is a breeze, and pick-up is just great. The last time I went to pick up food for a school function, they had made a mistake and so I was stuck waiting for a while, but I got free Yucca fries out of it. This time, we had someone else do the pickup and for ordering so much, they gave her an extra empanada and threw in extra arepas. And they helped her carry everything out to her car. Just above and beyond service, gratitude, appreciation, and overall geniality that makes ordering from them such a pleasant experience.

I'll continue to both eat here personally and order from here because of continued experiences like these.

WOW!!

This spot is so authentic and the owners are SO nice! My husband and I stopped in at 6:50p last night not knowing they close at 7pm. We figured we were too late and they opened the door and said, c'mon in! We're just cleaning up and can help you.

We ordered an arepa, chicken bowl, friend pantains, and 1 empanada. Because they were closing up, the owner gave us some extra empanadas on the house!! The beef empanadas were my favorite. Their guacamole is made from heaven. The chicken bowl (large) was HUGE and had a delicious salad, rice, chicken and beans!

The shredded chicken arepa is a do not miss, do not pass go, do not collect $200 UNTIL you eat this arepa. It's so good. Their prices are affordable, too! They don't have a lot of seating inside but in the summer they have picnic tables.

I'm so happy that so many great, authentic, restaurants are available on Forest Ave. It helps balance out some of the cultural appropriation spots downtown that are overcharged for rent and up-selling diners. This place is the REAL deal. Make sure to check this spot out on Forest Ave! You will not be disappointed!

When I lived in Santa Cruz de Tenerife there was this arepas place that we frequented (especially late night after drinking). I remember having no idea what I was eating, but absolutely loving it. When I came back to Maine there was nothing similar... fast forward and Luis' Arepera & Grill is finally filling a hole in my culinary heart that I have waited a very long time to fill!

What's an arepas? It's a flat, round really dense dough made of ground maize that's lightly fried and filled to overflowing with amazing ingredients. It tastes like nothing you've had before, and once you've had one you'll absolutely want another. Here's my suggestion if you're a vegetarian: order the avocado arepa (the filling is made of chunks of avo, tomatoes, lettuce, and something wet to bind them all together that I can't quite figure out) and a side of fried plantains (which are verrrrrry good, and NOT sweet if that's what you're expecting). Stuff the plantains inside your avocado arepa, and drizzle sriracha all over it. Wanna take this party one step further? Order a side of fried yuca. Fried to golden perfection nuggets of yuca that are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and served with a tangy sauce that I think might be my spirit spread. Actually, y'know how the kids are using "sauce" to describe style of confidence? They're actually talking about the stuff at Luis'.

The prices are Maine prices, but not Portland prices (if that makes sense).

Luis and his staff are friendly, thoughtful, accommodating, and quick. Despite the fact that they were super busy when I came, they still took the time to answer our questions while greeting each and every person warmly as they entered. The turn around on our food was way faster than I thought it would have been, and while sitting at the picnic tables we had multiple people come out to see if everything was okay (I have a feeling this is the kind of place that would go the extra distance - and do so graciously - to fix an issue if you mentioned something wasn't right with your food).

Sure the parking can be a bit tricky and the seating is severely limited, but none of that matters when you've got affordable, delicious food in generous portion sizes, by people that genuinely care. That's what it's all about. What a welcome, welcome, welcome addition to the Portland food scene!