Arempas - Salt Lake City

Arempas catered to an event I was at and the food was pretty good. Beans and rice were packed with flavor. Plantains were tasty. I think the vegan “beef” was jackfruit pretty sweet and not a ton of flavor but it was good and I was happy to see they had it. Good plays to go with omnis.

I speak as a tourist. I was delighted this place has dedicated, on-the-menu options – as it is apparently open late, it would seem to be worth keeping in mind for that reason. This, and the empanada's great value, lead me to give it three stars. That said, there were some oddities. I got the vegan arepa and the vegan empanada. They were both filled with *exactly the same ingredients* and the empanada was bigger than the arepa – but the arepa costs more than 2x as much. Given these circumstances, and the fact that I liked the empanada more, I can see the empanada being a great deal for a vegan looking late night or for a bit of variety. Both of them were on the bland side, however, and far from imaginative. I did enjoy the plantains in both; otherwise, it was mainly black beans and some avocado. (From the menu, it appears that their several vegan items seem mainly to be rearranging these same ingredients. The small amount of chimichurri I was given added some flavor and was ok, but did not knock my socks off. None of it was bad, and I do think they made at least the arepa fresh with decent ingredients, but there just wasn't much flavor. Finally, they use big styrofoam packaging for to-go, which is actually enough to mean I would avoid eating here again. (Not being a local, I don't know how common this is, but I know it's not even nominally recyclable in SLC and that not all places do it. Updated from previous review on 2021-09-05

I stumbled across this place while in the area for a conference. The staff was outside giving samples and we knew we picked the right spot! Everyone was so beyond friendly, helpful and patient while we decided what to get. You get huge portions for the price. I got the pork arempas while a co worker got the empanadas. So delicious. I would highly recommend it! It was even featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dines!!

EVERY TIME we visit Salt Lake we eat here because it’s always absolutely AMAZING! For those who need gluten free options, both the arempas and empanadas are made from masa flour (corn flour) and fried in a separate section so there is no cross contamination. We also always get the yuca with the garlic and the avocado sauces. The waiters and waitresses are always super fast and very kind. You will leave both full and bien contento!!!

This place was fun and easy to find downtown SLC. The atmosphere here was nice and the staff was friendly and helpful. Very casual. I believe we ordered the patacon with chicken. It was good but wasn’t really flavorful.