New Food, Goodbye Food - San Jose, Costa Rica

Downtown welcomes the only Arepas cafe, Caracas. The arepa is popular in Venezuela and Columbia. To me, it's a mix between a stuffed pita and McDonald's breakfast sandwhich. It's really like neither. The arepa is like a corn tortilla but much thicker, almost like a biscuit (american biscuit) and then filled with whatever you like. I've had a breakfast arepa, carne mechada (shredded beef in tomato sauce) and reina pepiada (chicken salad with avocado). They were all spectacular! 

The ambiance is friendly, energetic and fun. I love the orange. The cafe also offers a variety of smoothies and salads, and they also have a venezuelan casado. They accept credit cards and have wi-fi. Most importantly they have a large pull down screen for world cup viewing! M-F 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. 

Sadly, several food joints downtown of closed down for various reasons. Cafe Valandra, Pachamama, Maple Leaf Cafe, and Cafe Urbano have all closed. Cafe Urbano will be opening in a new location soon. Equipment at Maple Leaf and Pachamama is for sale.