Venezuelan street food has come to Philadelphia by way of Puyero Venezuelan Flavor, the newest addition to the South Street Headhouse District.
Venezuelan natives and brothers Gil and Simon Arends, along with Gil’s wife, Manuela Villasmil, opened Puyero on March 17 with a bang—complete with complimentary churros, side dishes and arepas.
The Arends brothers joined family in Philadelphia six years ago and fell in love with the city’s food scene. But, there was a noticeable lack of traditional Venezuelan fare. Just like that, Puyero was born out of a desire to share the colorful, vibrant Venezuelan cuisine and identity with the city of Philadelphia.
“In our culture, we’re always looking for an excuse to party—and we wanted to share that with Philly,” said Gil. “We want to be a hotspot for all Venezuelans. The Venezuelan ‘IT’ place to go to,” added Simon. “We want the non-Venezuelan crowd to want to come here because it is authentic.”
When I stepped into Puyero, located on the bottom level of a cozy rowhouse on South 4th Street, cheerful, bright hues immediately enveloped me. Funny sayings grace the walls in splashes of color, like “más peligroso que barbero con hipo!” or “it’s more dangerous than a barber with hiccups.” The toasted aroma of arepas fresh out of the fryer is like a big hug.
As Gil put it, arepas are known as the bread of Venezuela, and are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These corn flour patties are flash-fried, which creates a crunchy crust and a hot, fluffy interior, and can be stuffed with just about anything. Try the pabellón arepa—layers of shredded beef, black beans, fried sweet plantain and white cheese—or the de calle arepa—roasted pork shoulder, green cabbage and white cheese topped with ketchup and green herb mayonnaise—and let the flavors transport you to the streets of Venezuela.
Patacones—plantains that are flattened, fried and made into a sandwich—is a traditional Venezuelan dish, and therefore very dear to the Arends’ hearts. The patacón pisao boasts shredded chicken or beef, ham, white cheese, gouda and cabbage with ketchup, green mayo and mustard stuffed between two fried plantains. What could be better than that?
Don’t fill up just yet because the sides at Puyero are stars in their own right. Indulge in tequeños, a classic dish of soft, deep-fried dough enveloping gooey white cheese served by street carts or at parties. Or try mandocas, rings of spiced, deep-fried cornmeal topped with melty white cheese and cream (think a donut taken up a notch with a hint of sweet and savory). Dip them in a variety of traditional sauces—chipotle ketchup, sweet and spicy papaya hot sauce, green mayo or pink sauce sriracha. Wash it all down with refreshing cilantro lemonade or tart tamarind juice. Quadruple yum or, better yet, simply delicioso.
Puyero Venezuelan Flavor is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.; Friday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.; and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.
Find Puyero at 524 South 4th St., Philadelphia; phone: (267) 928-4584.
- Photos: Kory Aversa
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