Aarti B.
Yelp
Go with the bowl, the arepa is really messy! Maizal is among the few places in the DMV area that has arepas, so I was so excited to try it. Agree with fellow Yelpers, the toppings are tasty, but the icy service really left me with a sour taste.
The bowl is the way to go and can properly secure all the toppings without the mess! There's a galore of toppings to choose from and quite impressive healthy options - greens, rice, quinoa, lentils, sweet potato, corn, quinoa balls, guac, pico de gallo, cucumber, mozzarella cheese, grilled veggies, meats, etc.
The plantains are hands-down my favorite topping closely followed by sweet potato and that finger lickin' garlic aioli sauce! Some of the toppings change up, the quinoa balls were really salty and didn't see the lentils the last time. The small piece of bread was brittle and stale.
The corn flour arepa is like a delicate mini pita pocket overloaded with toppings and sadly fell apart. The heaping portions and quantity of toppings is too much for the little brittle arepa to handle. As soon as I unwrapped the arepa, it was over stuffed and toppings were spilling out. It created a doozy mess as the toppings were eagerly trying to escape the arepa and the foil became a landing pad for them.
Note the guac $1.50 upcharge - the staff will skip the friendly reminder when you're ordering. Loaded with toppings, the bowl is so flavorful especially topped with garlic aioli sauce that you won't miss the guac. I LOVE guac and rather than elevating the flavor, it took away from the toppings.
The fried mushroom and spinach empanada was okay. While the empanada was crispy with fresh veggies, it wasn't particularly memorable.
Note the hours posted on Google and on its website are incorrect as Maizal closes at 7pm on Sun-Thurs and promptly at 8pm on Fri & Sat.
While Maizal has lots of potential and great DIY concept, it really falls short on service. One time I got here at 7:58pm a couple of min before closing on Fri night, the guy started preemptively cleaning up and shooed me away with a devilish sly grin. I've ordered here twice and shooed away twice - now I'm ready to throw in the towel.