White Maize

The Venezuelan arepa was delicious as well as the tequeños! The staff is always friendly, kind, and helpful. I have been their customer for a long time now and I can’t stop recommending this place to everyone.

Im giving them a 4 star due to the fact that a few things we wanted originally was not available and also no access to the bathroom they said it wasn’t available 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ which was annoying since I was with my toddler… But anyway what we ended up getting was pretty good. Is the cheese on the arepa supposed to be melted? I’m still confused about that, but it was still really good

Tequenos are so good!! I also ordered the pulled chicken bowl, so refreshing and flavorful! Definitely will dine in next time but definitely order here!!

These are must-have arepas in the area! The pabellón (beef, plantains, and cheese) is a favorite and love the táquenos (like mozzarella sticks). Haven’t had a bad arepa there!

Delicious, authentic, and a terrific value. $10 arepa got me super full, a complete lunch for cheap not to mention the quality and speed of service is top notch. Highly recommended!

I really enjoyed the authentic fresh delicious, flavorful pulled chicken and beef bowl. Highly recommended. I will be back for more great food. I will be recommending this cozy friendly place to many. Wishing Kathy the pleasant owner, many more years of continued success.

You can try everything! 100% recommended. When you are tasting the food you can feel that’s from Venezuela, it’s really good.

Amazing place in the city! The tequeños was so good. No words to describe the dessert

Ordered some take-out and it did not disappoint! Would definitely order again if we were in the area. Quick, easy, flavorful!

White Maize has been on my list for a long time, so once I had a reason to be in Carroll Gardens, I decided to finally check it out! I walked in around 3:30pm on a Thursday, and I was the sole customer. They have a small (~ 6 small parties) seating area and restrooms for those who want to dine in, and whoever was in control of the music was a Swiftie! I will say that both times I have been here the person working the register has not been the most alert, but apologetic once I got their attention. I got the pulled pork bowl ($15.16), which is an elevated Chipotle bowl. I went for the bowl over the arepas because 1 arepa was almost the same price, and I felt like the bowl would be more filling. If you prefer smaller meals, I think you can get the most bang for your buck with the bowl, since you can split it into 2 meals. I was starving, so I consumed it all in one sitting, and it was filling indeed! I felt like the ingredient selection and quality justified the price, and the plantains were definitely a highlight! The pulled pork was juicy and well flavored, rice was on the softer side, and the tomatoes in the salsa (under avocado in picture) were delicious. My only critique of this bowl is that the layout is pretty but not practical for mixing. Overall, I wouldn't go out of my way for White Maize but I will be a regular when I have business in the area!

Somewhere in between a snack and a meal, there's arepas. Plenty of options on the menu and once you pick a few, it gets quite filling. Each on its own I'd imagine would be a nice quick bite. Everything was flavorful and tasty, not too fatty or greasy. Will definitely return to try more.

Where have the White Maize bowls been all my life? Ordering a healthy bowl option is anyways my weeknight go to if I'm ordering delivery. I loved the combos for this bowl - chorizo bowl (add shrimp for $3.50!!!) and it comes with beans, rice, plantains, and a huge amount of avocado. What a dream combo! And all this for ~$18. What an amazing value. We also splurged on a cheese cachapa which was delicious. Highly highly recommend! Delivery was fast, and they event wrote my name out with a heart on the bag. Cuuute. White Maize is my new go to weekday dinner delivery!

Sabrosas arepas. Loved my Pulled Chicken & Cheese Cachapa and the passionfruit juice was delicious. Can't wait to go back and try more menu items!

Had the cachapa years ago sometime before COVID, and never had the chance to make it back to Cobble Hill to try the bowls I've had my eye on last time. Unfortunately, I had really high hopes which ended up falling short. I got the shredded chicken bowl and tequenos, which came to $30+ with small tip. The $18 bowl was very reminiscent of Chipotle with its large portion of lettuce and pico de gallo.... but overall portion/amount much smaller than Chipotle for $6 extra. Oddly, there was 2 tiny little slivers of plantain barely a teaspoon in size and maybe one small ice cream scoop sized portion of rice, which I found somewhat unusual and disappointing. Tequenos were tasty but for $10 and 5 small bite size pieces it felt overpriced. I received 1 green sauce. Would likely only return if no other options open

Of course I used Yelp to find the best casual lunch options in this neighborhood, and White Maize ended up being the winner. It's a friendly, order-at-the-counter Venezuelan establishment with seating, including communal tables for solo diners. I ended up getting the pabellón arepa ($11.49) which included your choice of beef or chicken, maduros, black beans, and cheese. The arepa was quite big, and good thing a fork was given since it was challenging to eat otherwise! The beans and beef were on the soupy side so the arepa fell apart but at least I had my trusty fork. Try the two sauces--the green one was more my speed since the hot one was rather spicy. Overall, the pabellón arepa was delightful and fitting for a light lunch; I wasn't sure initially if I needed to order a side or anything. Bonus: Gorgeous wallpaper in the bathroom!

I overlooked White Maize for years because the first time I tried it I wasn't into what I got. I was wrong. I was reintroduced by my visiting sister-in-law; she loved it so much during her last trip in town, that she brought us all there when she came back. I ended up having their grilled chicken bowl and it was so fresh and tasty! I love bowls of all kinds and have wanted some sort of healthy non-salad lunch in the neighborhood; it was right here all along. Everyone we've gone with since has also loved it. Highly recommend if you're looking for lunch in this area!

#WhiteMaize has become one of my favorite spots for take out. I have ordered several times and at first I thought their pulled chicken arepa wasn't going to be enough to fill me up but it is so filling! It comes packed with pulled chicken, maduros, rice, beans, and cheese. The flavors are delicious. I have also tried their bestia but I wasn't a fan of how hard the chorizo was so I am sticking up with ordering chicken. The bowls! Do not forget about the bowls for those that want to cut out the arepa from the whole dish. This comes with your protein of choice, avocado, cheese, maduros, rice, quinoa, and a salad! There are plenty of choices at White Maize. The delivery is always fast and the price is on point. The guava and cheese churros were a great add on dessert. A few were crispier than what I would like but overall the mix of the guava/cheese is one that you can never go wrong with. I'll have to stop by and actually eat at White Maize since I have seen the outdoor/indoor seating is available. * add the green sauce to your dish! So good. Nice kick.

A perfect spot if you're looking for a quick and non heavy meal that will make you feel guilty afterwards. They have some seats indoors and outdoors as well. We got the parilla vegetarian arepa, a grilled chicken bowl, tequeños and an empanada. The arepa tasted fresh and they really stuffed it with ingredients. A great option for vegetarians. The chicken bowl was very hearty, grilled chicken wasn't dry, paired well with the avocado sauce. Empanada didn't taste overly oily and the filling was very flavorful. The tequeños were very interesting, they were hot, the cheese was melted but not the kind where you get a cheese pull. I enjoyed this, but I wouldn't say it's exactly the same as a mozzarella stick. Definitely a great place for a quick bite, the portions are big, worth the price, and food doesn't taste overly oily or heavy.

So happy seeing a Venezuelan fast casual spot pop up to add more diversity in the NY food scene. I got the grilled chorizo bowl and it was delicious.

The food was great! Honestly top shelf. But the order was completely scuffed by the cashier who was working with their AirPods in. My friend and I got burrito bowls. We were instead servers burritos. Took about :30 mins to see our Yuca Fries, and when we asked about them he took them off. Looks like someone else had a similar issue, maybe talk to the cashier? Anyway it worked out as my friend has a quinoa allergy which is only in the bowl, not the burrito! Would come back!

Always love getting arepas because they're already gluten free so I just need them veganized. Most of the items here can be done without cheese and I love that they offer to swap in plantains for the cheese since a lot of places just simply skimp out on the cheese and it looks really sad. The arepas here are like burrito size so I would say one is enough for a meal. The empanadas are gluten-free? Wow, that surprised me since arepas I expect to be gluten free but it's hard to find gluten-free empanadas. I did think the potato and spinach filling was kind of bland though, so I prefer the arepa filling options. I've tried quite a few spots lately and after comparing the vegan arepas, tacos, and empanadas, I would say the ones here aren't bad, but there are definitely spots I prefer more that have much more interesting and dynamic fillings and flavors. I was excited to try this spot since it has such high reviews and think the arepas are fun to have one in a while as a quick on-the-go meal, but I will say from a vegan perspective I have really high expectations for flavors and prefer the flavors at Jajaja and Xilonen. Still giving five stars since they made such an effort with the vegan and gluten free options. (Note: plantains aren't gluten-free since they prepare in the same fryer with gluten, but they tell you this).

I was at the spot a while back after walking around for a while as it's a bit far down from where I am. It's similar to a place I went to a while ago called Areppas as it's a fast casual Venezuelan spot. Similar to them, it offers arepas, bowls, burritos, cachapas (AKA a sweet corn pancake,) and a few other smaller things. The arepas have different fillings based on the ingredients while the bowls have similar ingredients to what's found in pabellón or the shredded beef arepas. I went with the Pulled Beef Bowl which had rice, sweet plantains, black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado, fresh cheese, and gouda cheese. The beef was tender and quite tasty and the plantains were good though there could have been crisp. The rest of the ingredients were fresh including the avocado which they were pretty generous with and overall I enjoyed my meal especially after I added some of their hot sauce. It's a tasty little spot with reasonably priced food so of course they're doing well in this overpriced area. Will go back when I can.

Amazing! Just amazing! It beat our expectations of the place. The food was amazing. The Arepas are jam packed with beans, meat, or whatever you order in it. The empanadas are crispy and delicious. The plantains are great as well. The service was great. We were just expecting to order at the window and receive our food; however, the kind woman working at the window brought our food to the table that was outside. There is a nice seating area, protected from the rain, with cute lights, a fan, and a cute aesthetic. Overall, I loved this place and it blew away my expectations.

I ordered a pulled chicken bowl, pulled beef bowl and beef empanadas through UberEats. The beef was the favorite but the chicken was good too. The meals reminded me of chipotle but had more flavor and were a little smaller. This was my first time having Venezuelan empanadas. I'm used to Dominican empanadas so it wasn't quite what I expected. They were pretty small and filled with similar meat to the bowl. Great experience overall.

Stopped in for a quick snack and grabbed a few empanadas. They were smaller than I was expecting, but very tasty. The beef empanada was the best, though the chicken was also good.

This used to be my go to spot, both at the restaurant and delivery. I feel like there's been a shift in the last year or two where the quality has decreased.The attention to detail and quality seems to have dropped. The first strike was coming in and oddly getting cold meat and the salmon that I used to love seemed under cooked. Order has been wrong more times lately, forgotten appetizers and not providing sauces. Also more often the arepa bottoms would come soggy from not draining the black beans. These were never issues for the years I had been and seemed to have dropped in the past year or so. It had been off my rotation and I tried it again recently and was confirmed to still have quality issues. I really want it back to the quality I had previously expected and this review is just to add constructive feedback in hopes of improvement. I feel like there was a shift in management, very confused about what happened!

Love this place for a quick lunch. Fantastic vegetarian options. For aprox $15 I ordered the Pabellon Vegetariana (Avocado, sweet plantains, black beans & fresh cheese) & the Papelon drink. Just do it. You won't be sorry-fresh & delicious. The Papelon drink is a raw sugar limeade. It's cool, refreshing & goes super well with this kind of food. You're welcome!!

What a great find! We wanted a quick something to eat after leaving Other Half and this was perfect! The food was excellent and there are a ton of other dishes I want to try! I would definitely come back!

Ordered the pulled beef bowl and veggie bowl and the rice was completely undercooked. Never ordering from them again.

The food was ok to good but not amazing as I hoping. For the price you do not get much. $4 for yucca fries it's like 4 yuccas. The empanadas are tiny like bite size for $3 each. The most expensive item the pabellón was more plantain than meat. This is not a place where you will be full. Service is great. :)

Got the vegetarian arepa and wow! Is it good! Better than those east village area spots Caracas and Arepa Factory. Totally shocked me as I've been going to those places for years. The arepa itself is so fresh and fluffy and grilled and corn-flavored, while the avocado and sweet plantains give it a creaminess and sweetness. The beans keep it filling and the white cheese is the cherry on top. Can't wait to come back and try the beef arepas and their appetizers. 5 stars!!!!!!!

This spot is consistently fantastic! It is 2 blocks from work and we have to have some self control to not order from White Maize daily. Their shrimp arepa and pabellon vegetariano are two of our favorites. The food always tastes fresh and you just know you are eating quality.

Yes the steak bowl is amazing and really filling. We stopped here for a quick bite and was pleasantly surprised. The staff is really friendly, the food is really great and the outdoor seating has heaters. You need to pay this place a visit, totally worth it.

Wow. The food here is so so so so so so very tasty! Not sure if it's a COVID thing, but whether you're sitting inside or outside-- you order your food at the counter. (Which I prefer!) Someone will bring the food to your table. Definitely coming back for another bite. Fingers crossed that it's consistently good!

CACHAPAS and GREEN SAUCE. The sweet corn pancake is addictive. I'm a sucker for the sweet and savory flavor combo and this definitely hit the spot. The pulled chicken filling is juicy and bursting with flavor. There's just a BIT too much cheese (i know, i'm crazy) but i picked some out and it's pretty much perfection. Their green sauce is crack. I also had the shrimp arepa and they stuffed it with shrimp to the brim. The crust on the empanada is delicious, not too doughy. Can't wait to come back!

White Maize is a Venezuelan restaurant that serves a variety of arepas, bowls, burritos, and other options that are perfect for a quick snack or a light meal. Arepas are a staple of Venezuelan cuisine and though I may have had one or two in the past, White Maize might have been my first real introduction to an arepa that I really enjoyed. I tried the Pabellon Arepa, which is packed with pulled beef, black beans, sweet plantains, and cheese. Though it may look small from far away, the arepa was honestly a good amount of food, as White Maize does not skimp out on the arepa filling! Taking a bite into the arepa was similar to taking a bite into a large burger as you would need to unhinge your jaw to get a bit of everything in one bite. By the time I got to the middle, I ended up opting for a fork, as the arepa can get messy and soggy the longer it sits. That first bite though was very good, as it was sweet and savory while soft and chewy due to the combination of the ingredients. The arepa itself was slightly sweet due to the maize and it was crispy on the outside, yet nice and soft on the inside. The pulled beef was alright, but I did think the complementary salsa verde was necessary to provide some much needed flavor and some tanginess as well. On the other hand, the beans gave the arepa a nice texture change while the cheese was light and mild. However, the best part of the arepa for me had to be the plantains, as they might have been the best plantains I have ever had and I'm not even the biggest fan of plantains. The plantains were sweet, but not to the point where it dominates the rest of the flavors and texture-wise, they were soft and easy to chew. Overall, the plantains were the star of the show in every bite and next time, I would definitely get a side of them on their own. White Maize has so many options that it may be overwhelming at first, but there is bound to be something to your liking. Additionally, it is a great introduction for those who have not had Venezuelan food like myself. I already know that I want to try some of their seafood options next time as well as the bowls as they certainly look good in pictures. They even have empanadas if you're looking for something smaller to eat!

Heard great things from this place so seeing I was in the neighborhood for work, I decided to try it. I got a Shrimp Arepa and later on a Flan for dessert. It tasted phenomenal! The Arepa was nice it wasn't too hard or too fluffy, it felt perfect. It came with a good amount of shrimp pieces stuffed inside that were all cooked and seasoned nicely. It came with two green sauces in little containers on the side. One was too spicy but the other green sauce that wasn't complimented the Arepa so well. Overall, I only had one but it was stuffed with a decent amount of shrimp and actually filled me up with just the one. I actually went back and got a flan from them because of my sweet tooth after eating good tasting food. The flan was a decent size for the price and tasted great. Hands down I would recommend it, loved the people, food came quick when I delivered. They have outdoor seating right now because of everything. Would recommend if you are in the area.

Ordered from here once and it was good. Ordered here again and it was awful. Food took forever, which probably explained why the arepa was a soggy, dripping mess I couldn't even eat. Several missing items from the order. The hot sauces had zero flavor. Also ordered the sweet pancake and it tasted like a sugary cake. All in all one of the least impressive meals we've ordered lately, and pretty disappointing. Won't order again.

Easily the best authentic arepas in NYC. They are friggin HUGE. Super tasty fresh ingredients. I can attest that White Maize arepas are better than Caracas arepas. They just have so much FLAVOR. Do yourself a favor and treat yo self to White Maize, whether you're a carnivore, vegetarian, or lover of food in general

Came here for dinner with a friend. I really like cachapas so I am always excited to see it on the menu. We shared the pulled beef cachapas and a pulled chicken bowl. The cachapas was good and the corn pancake was just as good as I remembered, but I personally love steak in a cachapa. The pulled chicken bowl is like a super bowl of sorts with quinoa, avocado, black beans, fried bananas, rice, and the ingredients go on, but as you can probably tell... Yes the good stuff. The chicken was a tad salty for me but still good nonetheless. Nice low key spot for a casual dinner. Recommend for a try!

White Maize is a reasonably priced Venezuelan restaurant in Cobble Hill. The arepas are large in comparison to other arepas that I've had in the city. Taste is not sacrificed in exchange of size. I ordered a pulled chicken arepa and a vegetarian arepa. Both were delicious. My only negative critique is that there wasn't a greater selection of vegetarian arepas. The guac and tostones was tasty. The guac tasted fairly fresh. Customer service was good in that they threw in a free appetizer for forgetting to send my order to the kitchen in a timely fashion. There are a few tables for outdoor seating on the street, making for great people watching on the hip and trendy street.

Who can pass up arepas? There are so many things that are right with this restaurant that I had to only nitpick on the salt content of the black beans! (Lower please!). Spending a leisurely evening with friends and being late to the party, ordered some "allergy friendly" food. The bowls really distinguish this restaurant from all others! All the tastes and flavors are represented, avocado, rice, salad, black beans, sweet plantains and protein. All in an incredibly generous serving! Weary from the day, I enjoyed the highly rated salmon bowl without quinoa or cheese. Amazing!!! Very satisfying with the sangria mix with tequila, that erased any remaining stress from traveling!! Highly recommend!

Great place on Smith I would definitely recommend. Good tasting food and large portion size. We (2 ppl) ordered a tostones mixtos (chicken salad on fried plantains) - plantains are soft on the inside and chicken salad was fresh, shrimp arepa - wow there was a lot of large shrimp and definitely flavored well, quesillo (dessert like flan) - sweet and large, and papelon (raw cane sugar limeade) - definitely a unique drink that was refreshing. We shared everything and could say we both were content in terms of feeling full, if you're looking to get really full then order your own arepa. I think I'll definitely try the other options their menu next time and come back for the tostones mixtos and shrimp arepa.

It was empty and we were the only people in there. It still took 30 minutes to 3 arepas out and I had to remind them about our orders. The food was ok. I understand they were fulfilling a large online order but I feel like they should've taken care of the in house people first and then the online orders.

I love this place. Delicious South American (Venezuelan) food. Just a few tables so grab one if you can.

Delicious! Stuffed arepas with shrimp and a steak bowl. All amazing and outdoor seating was available. Everyone in our party including our children really enjoyed eating here and I would absolutely return.

The food was ok (not great but not bad) but they left our order in the lobby without telling us so that it was cold when we finally got it. Most annoying for me though is that I asked for no beans as I have an allergy and they make me absolutely sick and they still gave me beans making part of my dinner inedible. I put NO BEANS in caps to make sure that they saw. No bueno.

I love arepas. But you know what I love more? Not having to get on a train to go get one. This stretch of Smith Street needed arepas (or really anything that wasn't Thai, sushi, or Italian), and now I can get that sweet, sweet De Pabellon goodness whenever I want it. Sure, I have a few complaints (mostly because I'm half-Jewish and it's instilled in me from birth): I'd like it if the distribution was a little more even, so my first few bites weren't all beef and my last few weren't all maduros. I'd like it if there was some sort of lunch combo (a cup of soup or a smaller order of an app with an arepa maybe?), so I could somehow solve the one arepa is not enough and two is too many issue I always have. I'd like it if I could magically hit the Powerball jackpot that I don't play. But overall, I'm happy you're here, White Maize. The flavors are good, the arepas are at once crisp on the outside, and fluffy toward the middle. The two sauces on every table are a necessary balance and moisture, and they make the meal. I look forward to eating more tasty arepas with you in the future.

It might look big enough in the photo but seriously the portion is so small. I was really expecting it to be a bit bigger. I'm not even full off of it and now have to search for something more to eat. Overall taste was not bad except avocado was a bit brown. Not worth the $

If I'm being honest, this is one of my top three places to eat out in Cobble Hill / Carroll Gardens. Loves: + Arepas are yummy and freshly prepared. I recently had the special (cachapa which is sweet) and it was delicious! Tbh I've never had the apps but I should try them my next visit. + Prices are reasonable. It's like $9 for an arepa that will fill you up! + Space is super clean. + Staff is sweet and probably used to hearing customers like me need more time since I have multiple arepa top choices at a given time. ;) Needless to say, this place is a gem and I love that it's in my hood!

So. Freaking. Good. I eat (and order takeout) from here more than I would like to admit. Few things hit the spot better when you're starving than an arepa from White Maize. The dough/outside is so good and perfect consistency - moist, but sturdy enough not to fall apart in the hand. I have not been disappointed with any of their flavors, but am partial to the pabellon (both the ones with meat as well as the vegetarian ones are excellent) - the sweetness of the plantains balancing the saltiness of the proteins is just perfect. Prices are super reasonable. One arepa can fill up most people with a normal appetite. A heads up - if you are ordering delivery or takeout, be ready for a decent wait as I've seen few places that have as busy of a delivery business as this place. Any time you walk in you'll see them scrambling to fulfill a ton of different orders. This place is in my regular rotation of restaurants in the neighborhood, and hope it never goes away!

I have walked here from BedStuy on more than one occasion to get an arepa. I think that sums up how I feel about this place: I will walk miles during a pandemic just to get one of their arepas. My favorite arepa has steak, fried cheese, tomato, and avocado. Everything about it is perfect. On my last trip I got a bite of "La Bestia" and like that name implies it is indeed a beast! Like I'd probably have to eat it for two days. But it was overflowing with ingredients and it was absolutely delicious. They also hold up well after reheating (random tip). I should mention that I found them because of a vegetarian friend, so they're great for herbivorous folks as well.

I got the tostones and the reina. The tostones wasn't my favorite, there are just 3 pieces with cabbage and onions and a little bit of some cheese sauce. It was a little bland and could've used some sweetness in the sauce and I didn't think it was worth $6. The reina-chicken avocado arepa- was bomb! The portion was decent and the ratio of filling to arepa was spot on, I just wish they had sweet plantains in that - something about it calls for some sweetness. I ordered through yelp and the delivery was quick.they don't open on Mondays which sucks but other than that this is my go to arepa place in Brooklyn.they're also really great with delivery- always arrives earlier than scheduled and they go the extra mile to honor special requests. UPDATE:their portion size has definitely gotten smaller

Love the food but half the time my order is messed up or missing something (so check your food before you leave!)

Cute quaint shop on Smith Street. The arepas are sooo good. I've been two times and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. There's also a sampler option where you get to try 3 different ones which I opted for. My top two favorites: 1. Vuelva a la Vida 2. Parrilla And then it's a tie between the Chorizo and the Pabellon. There are about 7-8.75 a piece which I think is a bit on the pricey side hence why I only gave them 4 stars. I also ordered the raw sugar lemonade which is ($4).

Yummmm. Tried the pulled beef arepa. It was delicious, but not a 5 star. I was still a little hungry after one arepa to myself, so maybe I just eat too much. We got it to go, but the staff were nice. Maybe I'll try this place again.

Nice small and casual Venezuelan restaurant specializing in Arepas. We ordered a variety of items: the assortment of empanadas (one beef, one beans, one plantains), one steak arepa, one chicken bowl, and one beef cachapa. The cachapa is a must try: a corn steppa with melted cheese and beef, delicious and very filling. The empanadas were also really good, even though on the smaller size. The steak arepa and the chicken bowl were nothing special. Unfortunately the chicken was way too salty, which might have been an unfortunate accident in the kitchen. Overall enjoyed our first time at White Maize and might be back if in the area. However, I did find it too expensive for what it has to offer and for its location.