Arepas

It’s not an Arepas place anymore. It has a mix of Chinese and Mediterranean food.
We got too excited for Arepas and so disappointed when we got there.

Affordable, tasty, fresh South American street food. The menu actually has quite a few options considering how little their prep space is, and I’ve liked everything I’ve had from them so far.
The sandwiches are stuffed — the breads look small but they’re filled to capacity and then some. They can be a little messy to eat (you’ll need that fork, btw), and the last few bites will probably get soggy under all those delicious fillings.
The Arepas platter has everything except, ironically enough, an arepa. It’s a decent amount of food, and one of the best deals you can get for that price downtown. Just writing this review is making me crave plantains.
Service is really friendly — sometimes a little slower than your average Subway or fast food place, but the guy who works there makes sure to pay attention to every customer and their order, so those extra two minutes are worth the wait.
Oh, and they serve churros!

Really nice sandwich something really different and honest. I had the beef with some hot sauce and it was outstanding, The pork with green sauce was very good.
I love it when I can hand somebody’s few dollars, and they hand me back a bit of their pride and culture. This is a place like that. Great Unilocal find…

Come for a quick bite with low’ish expectations and you’ll leave satisfied. Because even a bad arepa is good. The fillings leave a lot to be desired (most of the veggies/​beans appear to be straight out of the can), but the guys stuffing your arepas are really generous with the quantities.
Sometimes I get the roast pork and the ham and add cheese and garlic sauce and pretend it’s a cuban sandwich, which it definitely isn’t, but you know what? Who cares.
tip: ask for plantains in your arepa.

I saw the reviews on this place so I decided I had to try it. It’s possible that my expectations were too high from this reviews, which led to inevitable disappointment.
Anyways, there wasn’t anything special about Arepas. I tried a chicken one and a steak one. I liked that they had a decent amount of toppings that aren’t widely found, including peppers and a bean creation.
I had the hot sauce on one Arepa and both hot sauce and avocado sauce on the other.
The toppings were fine, the meat was ok. Not too dry. The bread wasn’t to my liking. I just didn’t like the flavour or texture.
The kicker was the hair that I found in one of them. It definitively wasn’t mine. Gross.
At $ 6 each for a relatively small sandwich, I just don’t get it.
I’m thinking 2 stars, but I will give them 3 because the fact that my experience was so different than the experience others had makes me think I caught them on a bad day — but I really don’t think I did. 3 stars is being generous here.

I am originally from Los Angeles. I grew up on a diet of pretty much Mexican food and even after I moved away it is still my native/​comfort food. I have been searching all over Montréal for something that would remind me of the little «whole-​in-​the-​wall» places with great food that I ate at while growing up. This is the closest thing I’ve found to it in Montréal.
The food was excellent. I had the pulled beef which was very similar in taste and texture to barbacoa. I had them make a «plate» so I got to sample a little of their salad, rice, slab of cheese, black beans and plantains. The worst of that group was the rice. It was OK but the rest just melted in my mouth. I was instantly transported back to my youth. Sort of like the scene from the movie Ratatouille where the food critic, Anton Ego, samples the ratatouille that Remy the rat (main character) has just made and is transported back to his childhood. While I am not as old as that character appears to be in the movie am not in my 20’s either.
I set at the little breakfast bar that passes for the shared eating are (with the falafel place) and savored every morsel. Each nibble was sort of a trip down memory lane for me. The tastes, while not exactly identical, were so similar that it was as though time had temporarily reversed. I didn’t snap out of my trance until I went to stab the next tasty bite and realized almost nothing was left to spear with my fork.
The avocado sauce was tasty and of course I had to try the hot sauce. I grew up on very hot peppers and love them all if they have good taste. I don’t like spicy without good flavor. The hot sauce had just enough kick to satisfy my spicy food craving. If you are a gringo, it might be a bit to spicy so try just a little at first.
My only complaints were the rice was nothing to get excited about and I wish there had been more plantains than the 3 I received. I even felt compelled to speak in Spanish to the person working behind the counter and comment; muy sabroso! So while my French may be my handicap here, my Spanish finally found a place worth using! I likely may be back every day while I am here.

I came to Montréal for a weekend, and was looking for something Spanish mostly Mexican cause lets be real you can go wrong with Mexican, but being from NY, I know my way around some Spanish food. I saw this place on Unilocal and I was hooked. When there, the place it’s small but good small. Food was great I had two arepas (chicken in advocado sauce and Chicken chorizo with grill onions and peppers) and my girl had the breakfast arepa ham and cheese with perico (scramble eggs) and their natural juices where great. Highly recommended. Had a great time. Enjoy.

That’s one messy sandwich! Great, cheap street-​style food. Had beef and chicken arepas, cornbread pocket sandwhichs filled with braised meat. Yum!

The arepas here are so amazing.
So the address is 521 St. Catherine Street West and it shares the space with 2 other restaurants (Crazy Falafel — which obviously sells falafels, and Nathesa — which sells a Hodge-​podge of things like fried chicken, Creole chicken — with plantains (!), spaghetti, pizza, burgers, sandwiches, fries and salads). So it’s like one big open space with the 3 restaurants in the corners — kind of like a mini food court. There is very limited seating, like maybe 8 seats or so along one wall. Best to do takeout, but you can eat in too if it’s not too busy.
I had the beef arepa ($ 6). The pulled beef was so tender and they were not stingy with the meat at all. I added shredded cheese, tomato, green and red peppers, cucumber and avocado sauce. The toppings were stuffed into the fluffy flatbread made from corn flour and were over-​flowing. Everything was so flavourful and delicious.
My husband had the arepa combo which was $ 10 for an arepa, 4 tequenos and a fountain drink. He also had the beef arepa and enjoyed it as much as I did mine. The tequenos were cheesy and delicious (tasted like cheese spring rolls).
They told me that they just opened 11 months ago (from the time I’m writing this), so they are relatively new. I hope they stay around. I will certainly be going to this place again the next time I’m in Montréal, and the time after that, and the time after that… it’s just that good.

Des arepas juteuses, savoureuses et bien garnis. Du vrai street good vu le local. Les arepas les plus généreuses que j’ai mangé à Montréal.

Came to this neighborhood restaurant on our very short stay in Montréal. The restaurant is tucked on a street away from the main street. We had an early dinner here and we were the first diners. This tiny restaurant prob has less than 10 tables. I ordered a dinner plate which came with steamed white rice, 4 pieces of plaintains, a big portion of black beans and some stewed pulled pork. I enjoyed the meal alot. We have alot of Hispanic foods where I“m from so I’m used to what they serve. The pulled pork was flavorful as they marinated it well. Additionally they have 2 home made sauces (alvocado and some red sauce which was quite spicy) if you want to have an extra kick to your food. They brought over samples of juices they make, too. I was filled. Wish we stayed longer so that I could get the arepa. We should have gotten that to-​go for our next day’s breakfast. :)

Les arepas sont de délicieux sandwichs chauds vénézuéliens. On en mange aussi en Colombie. Les petits pains sont fait à partir d’une farine de mais blanche et cuits sur la plaque chauffante.
Pour 6 dollars, vous pouvez choisir parmi différentes garnitures à sandwich. J’ai essayé le jambon-​fromage espagnol, un classique. Le fromage était particulièrement bon et fondant et j’ai englouti mon repas encore chaud en me promenant sur Ste-​Catherine.
Il y a aussi un menu spécial à 9 dollars: un arepas avec garniture au choix, une boisson, des chips de plantains et un brownies. Bön si vous êtes très affamé, sinon, un arepas suffit amplement.

I’ve never had an Arepa before so I have nothing to compare it to. I think I’d classify it as tasty and quick street food. The shredded beef was well seasoned and the Spanish cheese reminded me of cheese I had in Nicaragua. It was topped with a spicy and quite tasty avocado sauce.
Its all stuffed into a grilled bread that was both fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The guy cooking was very nice and happy to explain what everything was, I’d definitely suggest dropping by here if you want a late night snack, plus right down the street were some break dancers who apparently are there pretty often. So you can eat your Arepa and watch some cool dancing.

This tiny restaurant shares a space with two other little food shops and, on the outside, doesn’t look like much at all. But seriously, go in.
The menu is short and sweet, and the price is very good. One arepa is $ 6 and you choose your fillings from a variety of meats, cheeses and seafood as well as extras. There are different sauces to choose from and the owner is happy to explain each one to you and recommend his favorite for your combination of fillings. I had an arepa with chicken, Spanish cheese and a bean mixture with a spicy avocado mint sauce. The meat was stewing in a flavorful sauce and melted in my mouth. The avocado sauce was aromatic and completely delicious. The «bread» was fluffy and flavorful. I loved it.
The owner will make sure you know how to eat an arepa without making a mess all over yourself before you leave, which is a plus. You can easily enjoy your arepa while walking the streets.
In summary: Great food, nice owner, low price.