El Arepazo Latin Grill

El Arepazo Latin Grill 
47 N Pearl St, Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 228-4830 
http://www.elarepazolatingrill.com/ 

Well, I found myself in Columbus, OH for the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival. It was a good day for walking. I stumbled upon this gem just a few blocks from the Convention Center.  El Arepazo has three locations in the greater Columbus area and focuses on serving authentic traditional Arepas, corn pancakes from Colombia's and Venezuela's gastronomy with many other traditional dishes. While the restaurant facade does not have all the bombast of my usual Philadelphia haunts, don't let it fool you into thinking the quality of the food was any less than stellar.  I would not take the time to write a review if I felt it was not up to par. 

The restaurant has a modest interior with a counter upfront to place orders.  The food is then brought to the table awhile later. It was a busy lunch time rush when we came in so there was some pressure to get the order in quickly.  Drinks are self-serve on the right of the restaurant. 

Steak, Avocado & Bean Salad Tender steak, green leaf lettuce, corn, pinto beans, sliced avocado, diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro & a generous handful of crisp tortilla chips, broken into pieces.  This was just amazing.  And to top it off, it was served with a green sauce in the souffle cup.  It was like crack-  I had to have at least two more cups of it.  They call it their House Made Cilantro sauce which is nothing short of amazing.

Of Note:

They had natural fruit juices available which were also delicious and freshly squeezed.  We had the passion fruit which was delicious.