The Best Arepas You Can Find In Every State

Over the past few years, it's become increasingly easy to find great arepas in nearly every state in the U.S. These grilled or fried cornbread sandwiches come from several countries in South America and the Caribbean. However, the majority of arepas on our list are inspired by culinary traditions of Venezuela or Colombia. The main difference is that the Venezuelan arepas are stuffed with ingredients, while the Colombian ones contain stacks of ingredients.

As Venezuelans immigrated to the U.S. over the years, arepas have become more popular across the country. We've located the best arepas in every state so far – except Delaware, North Dakota, or Wyoming, which we hope to get around to eventually – featuring both authentic and fusion flavors. Most are restaurants, some are in food trucks, and one is even in a mall. You'll want to look up some of these amazing sandwiches on your next road trip.

It's not easy to find arepas in Alaska. However, there's a Mexican restaurant in Juneau that offers Colombian specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Among the specials at Mar y Sol (Sea and Sun) are arepas. You can order an appetizer of arepas that come with a dipping salsa, or a larger platter like the calentado paisa or bandeja paisa with arepas. 

If you're accustomed to eating Venezuelan arepas, you might be perplexed that Colombian arepas are different. Rather than coming split and stuffed like a sandwich, Venezuelan-style arepas entail piling ingredients from your plate on top of the cornbread.

You can find Arkansas' best arepas at The Boardwalk food truck court in Springdale. We've found Na'Guara's arepas to be truly wow-worthy, as the name indicates. The arepas here are among the best we've tried. They're enormous and are cut into pockets that hold all the filling without making too much of a mess. You'll likely end up taking half of your order home with you.

The filling is extremely flavorful, whether you choose a meat-based sandwich or a vegan one. The creamy sauce that comes on the side tastes like homemade ranch with freshly pulverized garlic, and it provides a crave-worthy flavor punch for your meal.

If you're looking for the best arepas in Colorado, you'll want to visit the Quiero Arepas restaurant in Denver. Google reviewer Kessashun Arthur said, "Their arepas by themselves are perfection — super crispy edges, soft inside, and hold up well despite how stuffed they are." It appears Quiero Arepas likes to stuff its arepas full of tasty ingredients.

You won't walk away hungry after consuming one of these bad boys. Whether you're an omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan, you'll find something at Quiero Arepas to satisfy you.

With so many Venezuelan immigrants living in the Miami area, it's no surprise that Florida's best arepas are in the Miami suburb of Medley. The Arepa Pico e Gallo food truck serves some of the best arepas you've ever tasted. The beef comes from grass-fed cows, making an excellent accompaniment to all the other fresh ingredients in the sandwich.

You won't leave disappointed in any of these heavily loaded arepas. While Arepa Pico e Gallo is based in Medley, you might sometimes catch it in Doral or Miami.

Hawaii has several places to get arepas, but the best are at Miss Arepa in Lahaina on Maui. The anthropomorphic arepa logo for Miss Arepa celebrates Venezuela's first Miss World from 1955, Susana Duijm. Duijm has her own arepa, the reina pepiada (curvy queen) arepa, which you will find on the menu. Also on the menu are a few fusion ingredients, like kālua pork pineapple salsa and jackfruit.

Of course, there are plenty of traditional versions with meat, beans, and cheese, too. Google reviewer Gabriel Jacks calls Miss Arepa "Absolutely the best Venezuelan foods outside of Venezuela!"

While this popular Chicago cafe serves a variety of tasty Venezuelan dishes, the arepas are among the most popular menu items. When Google reviewer John Mjoseth visited the restaurant after a trip to Colombia, he said, "B & L's arepas more than held their own against their South American cousins." When you get one from Bolivar & Lincoln, you know it's going to be overflowing with delicious ingredients.

You'll have to visit the town of Ames to find Iowa's supreme arepas. Botanero Latino is a couple of miles from the university and has a fun, bar-like vibe and sometimes even has dancing.

The menu contains various items, including arepas rellenas, which come stuffed. You can choose ordinary options like cheese, beef, chicken, and pork, or go for something a little different, like shrimp. Since Botanero Latino serves Colombian-style cuisine, some dishes like Colombian bandeja paisa come with unstuffed arepa flatbreads on the side of a larger dish.

Louisville's Señora Arepa restaurant is the best place to go in Kentucky for Venezuelan-style arepas. No matter what type you're craving, you're likely to find it among the 15 different types of sandwiches on the menu.

Traditional versions of the Latin sandwich abound. However, some we haven't seen on menus elsewhere include one with skirt steak, caramelized onions, and chimichurri; one with cheese, tomatoes, pesto and basil, and a vegan arepa with heart of palm. Plus, it has the ubiquitous ham and cheese arepa that's popular with home cooks.

The best arepas in Maine come from MAIZ Colombian Street Food. This restaurant got its start in a street food booth at Portland Public Market House and grew popular enough to have five stands at farmer's markets (in Scarborough, Freeport, Bath, Boothbay, and Damariscotta) and two full restaurants (in Brunswick and Portland).

Arepas are the most talked-about items MAIZ sells. It has a typical Colombian arepa just filled with cheese. However, it also sells ones with other fillings, like chicken, pork, cheese, and chorizo. Veggie ones have inventive ingredients like cauliflower and garbanzo beans.

When you're looking for the best arepas in Massachusetts, look no further than Viva Mi Arepa in West Roxbury. It's a tiny restaurant that only has a few tables, but those are sometimes the best types. You'll want to plan to spend some time waiting for your made-to-order meal, but it's worth it.

As a restaurant that's popular for its stewed meats, it does meat arepas right. Google reviewer Ariel Cussen gushed about how crave-worthy the chicken and cheese arepa is and said, "I'm sure everything here is delicious, I just haven't been able to try anything except the arepa."

When you visit Minneapolis' Arepa Bar, you can expect traditional Venezuelan food made from scratch. You won't go hungry ordering at the Arepa Bar because the portions are humongous. Google reviewer John G calls Arepa Bar "'the 'Whopper' of an arepa joint compared to other arepa restaurants around the Twin Cities."

The cornbread has a soft and fluffy texture, and the flavor level of the ingredients inside is perfection. However, you can elevate it even more with the restaurant's garlic aioli.

Maize and Wheat serves Colombian-style arepas near Memorial Park in St. Louis. There's plenty of Colombian cuisine to try, and they're even popular for breakfast, which is our favorite time to eat arepas.

While most places only use white corn for their cornbread, Maize and Wheat offers a choice of both white or yellow cornmeal. Another difference is that you'll find a tuna arepa on the menu, which we don't see too often in other places.

The arepas at Arepón are pretty close to the only ones you can find at a restaurant in Nebraska. The restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food is amazing, and the star of this Bellevue Venezuelan restaurant is definitely its arepas.

The sandwiches here feature steak, shredded beef, chicken and avocado salad, shredded chicken, or seasoned shredded beef. Arepón also has an interesting twist called a tostada, which involves coating the cornbread in flavored butter before deep-frying it to golden perfection.

If you're looking for arepas in New Hampshire, your best bet is probably Casa Blanca in Nashua. The food here is Colombian, and there are four arepas on the menu.

The house arepa comes topped with shredded beef, a boiled egg, pork rinds, and cheese. The other ones are topped with cheese, chicken and cheese, or shredded beef and cheese. Fortunately, the accompanying sauces include guacamole, which is popular pretty much everywhere.

Guava Tree Cafe is a Latin American cafe in Albuquerque. The founders of the restaurant grew up in Colombia and Puerto Rico, two places where arepas are common.

There are three arepas on Guava Tree's menu. One comes with shredded beef, black beans, plantains, and cheese. Another adds avocado to that lineup. The vegetarian option includes all those ingredients, minus the meat, plus mushrooms, caramelized onions, and roasted peppers. All come with Colombian salsa and green plantain tostones.

Guasaca has six different locations in North Carolina and serves the best arepas around. You can find three locations in Raleigh, two in Durham, and one in Cary-Morrisville. The restaurant chain features cuisine from a variety of South American countries. However, the menu items that get the most buzz are the arepas.

There are 10 signature arepas on the menu, including some we don't usually see elsewhere like one with crispy chicken and another with salmon. Another option that seems like a no-brainer when it comes to Americanizing these sandwiches is a BBQ grilled chicken one.

There's no need to go further than El Arepaso Venezuelan Cafe in Tulsa to find the best arepas in Oklahoma. We've found them to be lip-smackingly flavorful, especially when paired with one of the house-made sauces. We like to add different sauces for different bites to get the full effect.

The restaurant has eight arepa varieties, but the pabellón is the most popular and our favorite. It also has the reina pepiada and domino varieties along with a ham and cheese arepa. 

The best arepas in Pennsylvania come from a Lancaster food truck called Chellas Arepa Kitchen. There are four different arepas on the menu, ranging from a honey BBQ pulled pork, two with steak, a chimichurri chicken, and a vegetarian option.

Google reviewer Dan Garrett calls the pernil arepa (barbecued pulled pork) "mind-blowingly good." The chimichurri sauce at Chellas is the showstopper, so don't ignore it as a sauce for your sandwich. You also won't want to miss the yuca fries as a side.

VeneTown is a Venezuelan market and food truck in Charleston. You can get a wide variety of pre-packaged Venezuelan foods and snacks in the market. Meanwhile, you can get freshly made Venezuelan foods from the food truck. Both are on Mount Pleasant Street.

The food truck serves five varieties: cheese, pork belly, steak, shredded beef, and shredded chicken. They all come with heaping amounts of cheeses you can buy from the VeneTown market. You also won't want to miss the green sauce.

You have to go to the Nashville Farmers Market to find the best arepas in Tennessee. The Caracasville food truck serves other Venezuelan foods like empanadas, but the truck's fresh arepas are the menu item most people talk about. Google reviewer Dakota Soto declares it the "Best Venezuelan food in Nashville!"

Available varieties include chicken, pork, black beans, cheese, beef, and chorizo. If you're an early farmers market goer, there's also a ham, egg, and cheese one that's perfect for breakfast.

If you're looking for the best arepas in Utah, there are three Arempa's restaurant locations from which to choose. You'll find one in Salt Lake City, one in Orem, and another in Midvale. Each menu is slightly different, but they all serve delicious, large Venezuelan arepas.

You can get a scrambled egg and veggies breakfast arepa until noon. The other varieties feature beef, chicken salad, steak, chicken, pork, ham, and veggies. One oddity at Arempa's is that most of the sandwiches come with garlic sauce and ketchup.

Arepa lovers living in Virginia can find the best ones at Pa'l Carajo Arepa Lounge in Virginia Beach. You can find 14 distinct versions of the Venezuelan sandwich on the menu.

For a little more than $25, you can try a sampler platter filled with five types of mini arepas, which can give you an idea of which ones to buy the next time you visit. After trying the fried mini sampler, Google reviewer Rafael Bueno said, "The shredded beef arepas are to die for." However, you might find a different favorite.

For the best arepas in West Virginia, you'll need to visit El Gran Sabor in Elkins. As of this writing, if you visit on a Wednesday or Friday, your meal will come with a side of live music.

You can order arepas a-la-cart, plain or stuffed. The lunch arepa platter comes with both a grilled and fried arepa stuffed with your choice of meat or mushrooms. It also comes with rice and beans. The dinner portion also comes with a soup or salad. There's also a mixed arepa and empanada platter option.