Senora Arepos in St Matthews

They posted on Facebook yesterday that their grand opening is Tuesday, August 22.

I made it out for opening night and grabbed a seat at the bar. Preface: I never ate at the previous location. I did overhear a bartender tell someone that the menu was similar to the old place, with a few changes.

They left the three garage doors at the front of the restaurant open, and it was oppressively hot. I think this will get better after this week when the outdoor temps drop. It did get better as the sun went down, and it seemed like as this occurred, people were more willing to accept patio seating. As anyone who has gawked at the giant bull topiary outside would expect, the decor is very outspoken, and being a new restaurant, all of the finishes are nice.

There were a few people working behind the bar, and they were very willing to go over the highlights of the menu, which contains a lot of Spanish words--some of which I'd have to look up. I started off with a house margarita, which had a good flavor. After perusing the menu, I settled on the pollo churrasco arepa with jojoto (similar to Mexican street corn) as a side. At some point, I believe Fernando's mother sat down next to me at the bar, and sipped on a mojito. I also decided to order a mojito and was impressed that it was muddled from scratch.

Before the food arrived, the bartender brought out a six pack of flavored sauces, and explained them. I tried the "cilantro garlic," "corn," and "hot" ones on my food, and found them to be inoffensive. (Side note: I did not try the "rosada," which is a mixture of ketchup and mayo, but I feel compelled to point out that I find that premixed combination to be offensive on general principle.)

My arepa arrived with sides of red and green chimichurri sauces, both of which were good, but I always prefer the green. I'm sure I committed a party foul by eating it with a fork and knife, but it was girthy and heavy. The meat was perfectly cooked and was accompanied by sautéed onions with a layer of cheese at the bottom. The street corn was also on point, but word of warning, it's as messy as you'd expect. One of the bartenders brought me an extra napkin. I felt the portions were pretty generous and felt very full when I left.

Overall, it was an excellent experience and felt upscale, and the staff were very friendly. Considering it was their opening day, I think they knocked it out of the park. One entree with two drinks came to $47.69, plus a $10 tip.

[Robin Garr]

Thanks for the detailed report, Nathaniel! Yum!

We went last week and we’re big fans. I’ll add a little context that we learned concerning the move. The old location behind Mima will be used for private events as apparently there has a been a lot of demand but not the space to meet it. As for going from a quick service to table service, the move was made to help customers better understand the menu. With much of it being unfamiliar, they felt it would be better for customers to have a server, or bartender as mentioned above, to explain the food. As for the food itself, I’ll just say go and eat the chicharron!!!!