Here’s Where to Find Venezuelan Food in Columbus
With the South American country thrust into the headlines, we decided to give some love to local restaurants serving Venezuelan fare.
Here’s Where to Find Venezuelan Food in Columbus
by Bethia Woolf
When Columbus Food Adventures began planning a “Taste of Venezuela” dinner for January 2026, we didn’t expect that Venezuela would soon dominate the headlines. The dinner event sold out quickly, confirming that there’s real enthusiasm for and curiosity about Venezuelan cuisine in Columbus. Here, we decided to highlight some of the key Venezuelan dishes to know and where to find them in Central Ohio.
A Few Venezuelan Staples to Know
The most well-known Venezuelan dish in the United States is likely the arepa, a cornmeal disc served either whole or split to create a sandwich-style pocket. Arepas have a crispy exterior and a soft, doughy interior. Popular fillings include combinations of black beans, shredded beef and cheese. “Domino” filling—used in both arepas and empanadas—refers to black beans paired with white cheese. One iconic version is the Reina Pepiada (or “Curvy Queen”), made with an avocado chicken salad and named after a Venezuelan beauty queen. Arepas are typically gluten-free.
Another Venezuelan staple is pabellón criollo, often considered the national dish. It features shredded beef, black beans, white rice and fried plantains, sometimes topped with a fried egg. Rice, black beans and both sweet and green plantains are essential elements of Venezuelan cooking.
Tequeños, deep-fried, bread-wrapped cheese sticks, are wildly popular and can be found at every Venezuelan restaurant we’ve found in Columbus.
Tostones, twice-fried and smashed green plantain slices, are commonly served as a side dish or snack. They’re also used to make patacones, sandwiches that swap bread or an arepa for plantains. At Arepazo in the Brewery District, its version of patacón is prepared with a whole ripe plantain that’s flattened and deep-fried, then topped with cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado and a choice of protein, making it more of a knife-and-fork meal.
Other Venezuelan Dishes to Look for
Cachapas: sweet corn pancakes, often served with cheese and cream (available at Arepazo and Cilantro)
Quesillo: Venezuelan-style flan (found at Cilantro’s restaurant)
Hallaquitas: Venezuelan tamales made from pork belly and corn (available at Cilantro)
Empanadas and pastelitos: Empanadas are more often corn-based, while pastelitos are typically wheat-based. Both are popular throughout South and Central America in various incarnations and with many regional variations. Arepazo serves full-size empanadas at lunch as well as mini empanaditas.
Where to Find Venezuelan Food in Columbus…
515 S. High St., Brewery District
Opened in 2005 by Carlos and Carolina Gutierrez, who hail from Venezuela and Colombia respectively, Arepazo is the longtime standard-bearer for Venezuelan cuisine in Columbus. Now operating a single location in the Brewery District, the restaurant and bar offers Venezuelan, Colombian and Ecuadorian dishes. Arepazo’s signature cilantro sauce has a devoted following.
303 Green Meadows Drive S., Lewis Center
Launched in September 2022 under chef Yohalex Medina, Mordisco quickly gained popularity for its arepas and empanadas. The truck’s official home is Olentangy River Brewing Co., where Medina offers Venezuelan staples such as arepas, empanadas, pabellón, tequeños and plantains. The truck also serves breakfast (including a Venezuelan breakfast bowl) at the brewery, which houses an outpost of Roosevelt Coffeehouse.
4852 Sawmill Road, Northwest Columbus
With three trucks and a restaurant, Cilantro has grown quickly. Its first truck had already been operating for about three years when the restaurant opened in 2023, taking over the former Chile Verde location at Bethel and Sawmill. Cilantro’s Latin American menu includes both classic dishes and creative Venezuelan-inspired options, such as its popular 614 Arepa filled with flank steak and handmade cheese, topped with their signature cilantro sauce. While arepas are usually savory, Cilantro offers mini sweet arepas made with cane sugar and anise seeds, topped with nata (similar to creme fraiche) and panela cheese. Cilantro also offers a brunch menu.
Inside Si Señor, 1456 W. Fifth Ave., Grandview
Launched only in December, this Sunday-only pop up inside Si Señor Peruvian Sandwiches impressed us with its quality. The small menu includes five arepa sandwiches, tequeños and alfajores (cookies). We especially liked the arepa perico with scrambled eggs, sausage, peppers and onions.
…And Farther Afield
We’re reading good things about The Cactus Restaurant in Powell as well as Abuela’s Kitchen in Urbana, Ohio. If you’ve been to either, we’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.
In Case You Missed It…
love this feature — excited to try these recommendations!
The Cactus’ arepas were delicious! They also had some fun cocktails.