Puyero: Venezuelan street food coming to Queen Village
Specialties, which will be ordered at the counter, are arepas (cornmeal pockets) and patacónes (sandwiches built not on bread but on green plantain that's been sliced lengthwise, fried, and pressed flat, plus plenty of sauces and Venezuelan beverages.
Queen Village - a hopping part of the city these days, restaurant-wise - soon will get Puyero Venezuelan Flavor, serving Venezuelan street food.
The colorful eatery - whose name is an idiom meaning "to have a good time" - is taking shape at 524 S. Fourth St., a storefront next to the charming Don Quixote Tapas & Things, a Latin BYOB. It's expected to open in early December.
Maracaibo-raised brothers Gil and Simon Arends, and Gil's wife, Manuela, are working with the parent company behind Bon Burger, a small, Venezuelan better-burger chain. (Gil Arends is a lawyer, Simon Arends is an architect, and Manuela teaches yoga; flexibility, after all, is a good trait for a restaurateur.)
Specialties, to be ordered at the counter, are arepas (crunchy, filled cornmeal pockets); patacónes (sandwiches built not on bread but on green plantain that's been sliced lengthwise, fried, and pressed flat; and pan con queso (sandwiches built on hot dog buns), plus plenty of sauces and Venezuelan beverages.
Queen Village, meanwhile, has seen a spate of openings lately, including Village Taverna (a Greek BYOB), a branch of Plenty Cafe (an all-day cafe), and Teresa's Mesa (a Mexican cantina).
Also on the way - perhaps as soon as Nov. 28 - is a branch of Ambler's Mi Lah Vegetarian, replacing Hostaria da Elio at 615 S. Third St. This location will specialize in dim sum and small plates.