Maïs Arepas

Was in New Orleans for the weekend and decided to stop by this restaurant. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made during my weekend here.
We ordered a pineapple mojito and white sangria to start and followed that up with the Maiz de la Rueda as an appetizer. Top notch.
For our entrees, we ordered the Carnicera and Marinera. Everything was extremely delicious, well seasoned and FRESH.
Finished the meal with the Tres Leches cake. From start to finish everything deserved 5 stars.
Don’t sleep on this place. Top 5. Top 5. Top 5.

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal here. Fresh fruit cocktails and the arepas are delicious!

Earns every bit of these 5 stars! A small restaurant that is close to everything, but tucked away (you will miss it if you aren’t looking for it)!
Service– phenomenal. Attentive without being obtrusive and seem genuinely interested in making sure you enjoy your food and your experience
Value– Reasonably priced and good sized portions. High quality ingredients and labor intensive recipes
Food– Outstanding! I have tried almost all of the arepas and they are all delicious. I usually get the arepas sampler on the appetizer menu. The plantains are fantastic as well. I really haven’t had anything that wasn’t great. And don’t forget the sangria… it is outstanding.

If you want to have arepa touched by the hands of God this is the place to come. Taste just like the arepa my mom made growing up but even better because they are stuffed. Think of a sandwich made with bread or pita but instead this is made with a flavor packed cornmeal dough. The goodies they pack inside will have you feeling like a kid unwrapping a Christmas gift or when you are your favorite Halloween candy these arepas will have the same effect on you. Food is well prepared (make sure you go in there with time to wait because main dish takes about 20−40min to come out)
The ambience of the place is like a fancy hole in the wall. Great people working there and super friendly.
Make sure you call to make reservations because walk ins are taking a gamble as this place is always booked.
Prices range from 10 – 15.00 per arepa

This place is awesome! I had never heard of Mais Arepas before a friend recommended we eat there last weekend. They have several unique drink options. I had the mint mojito, and it was great. I tried some of my friends’ order of the Maiz de la Rueda, and it was fantastic, especially the sauce it comes with. For my main course, I had the Mechada Arepa. I was concerned at first that it would not be enough food, but it was very filling. They also have some great vegan options. Everyone I was with was very impressed with their meals. I definitely plan to go back here in the future.

I didn’t expect to find Arepas in New Orleans, but obviously I did. This place was great. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to be seated but that was ok. The staff was fast, attentive, and friendly. The Maïz de la Rueda was so tasty, and I don’t usually like corn. I had the Marinera because I had a taste for shrimp. That was an amazing arepa. I’m salivating as I write about it. Then I finished with the flan. Order it, it won’t disappoint. Definitely a must have if you visit the city.

Real authentic Colombian food and drinks. For drinks they serve Colombiana, Refajo, Aguardiente Antiqueño,… on top of the classics like Caipirinha (they use the good Ypióca Cachaça), Margueritas (came amazingly close to the best one I ever had in Mexico).
For food the arepas taste great and are a full meal. I recommend taking one with plátano.
Great place, great service, absolutely recommended!

The best arepas ever! Yum yum yum yummmm!
Their drinks are also very refreshing and delish!
The ambience is chill yet lively!
The service is amazing! The staff is very attentive, first-​class, and thorough.
It’s a sensational place to dine.
Recommend it highly.

We loved this place. It did not come highly recommended. Also, some friends and trusted Unilocalers gave it a ⁴⁄₅. That’s still good, but we had an excellent meal. We thought the food was fresh, authentic menu and great tastes.
Our waitress was a nice lady. She reminded me of someone’s mom and treated us like two kids over at her house. Shari V and I both founding her endearing. She was also an attentive and thorough waitress. I’m not great with Colombian food, so our waitress had to walk me through the menu. She suggested the corn, twice fried plantains and pulled pork arepas. Her suggestions were total hits. Shari V went rogue and ordered the largest thing on the menu — Bandeja Paisa. It might even be meant for sharing. Spoiler alert, she did not share.
We loved everything. The corn was crazy good. The arepas was delicious. Good bread to meat ratio. Shari V’s dish came with all kinds of goodness — skirt steak, fried egg, rice, chorizo, sweet plantains and other stuff. Excellent smörgåsbord. To top it off, we got some flan. I was stuffed, but Shari V confirmed it was delicious.
Overall, Mais Arepas was excellent. The only thing I would change is the location. We will definitely repeat.

Great food. Place was on the small side. Not really near anything, but that might be a good thing. Away from the touristy stuff. The appetizers were great. The arepas were delicious as well.
Good stuff. Keep up the good work!

Good food, great service. Portions are small and $ 12 for an arepa is insane. My Colombian grandmother is probably rolling in her grave over this.
I’ve had better arepas in Florida for $ 4-​$ 6 tops. The price hike here is ridiculous. $ 7 for a small portion of rice and beans = L-​O-​L
are they charging me for silverware? Do I get to take the plates home? What world is this that I live in where a restaurant can charge this much for street food and it’s ok?
This is street food with a twist, a small small twist. The «twist» is not an upscale or gourmet — it’s pretty basic. I guess they have to pay their rent somehow. meh. $ 24 for a bandeja paisa… oh lawrd.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Over the last year my wife and I have been here and let me correct myself. The management has made some drastic improvements and Mais is on point. Serves is outstanding no matter who you have. The food is beyond perfect and delicious. We do not think twice about going here any longer. Our previous visits must have been an off night and wish I could delete the reviews and only have this one.
To the management: You have an outstanding restaurant and as you know frequent your establishment more and more. Please excuse my previous reviews and if could delete them I would. Thank you for having such outstanding customer service and food.

I literally came here just for the corn on the cob and it exceeded my expectations. I found this place on Instagram one day and made a note of it for my upcoming Nola trip. I also ordered the mango martini wth kettle one and it was delicious! We also order the shrimp ceviche and the empanadas. My friends cocktails were yummy too. This place is off the radar a little bit. You definitely won’t stumble upon it walking. Take an über or a cab. Beautiful décor and pleasant ambience. Would recommend this place to family and friends.

It’s been almost two years since my initial review, and I definitely want to add a star! A group of gals pals and I recently went for my birthday giving me a great opportunity to revisit and enjoy some of the dishes again.
We started out with pineapple-​cilantro margaritas and added jalapeño. It was the perfect level of heat and tang. No faux sour mix flavors here!
The ceviche is still $ 12 but they’ve bumped it up a notch. I still think that there isn’t really an Ecuadorian-​style ceviche in New Orleans on par with what Robert’s family makes, but I will just have to come to terms with that.
The friends had a food porn perfect serving of the corn (see picture), and for my meal I had the Chori-​Arepa*. Delicious green flavors, perfectly grilled sausage and just the right amount of cheese in a hearty cornmeal pita-​type casing. The arepa are obviously where it’s at and worth every penny. They’re hearty and packed with great flavor. Throw a couple of the plantain chips in their for a little crunch.
It was pretty busy, but the service was doing pretty well to keep up while we were there. I do want to go back and try some other dishes on the menu in lieu of the ceviche since an app and the arepa is really enough food for one person, IMO.
Chor-​Arepa — Grilled chorizo, avocado purée, Aji & melted mozzarella.

Went here the other night with friends at is was amazing! They do not take reservations which a little bit of a bummer but just go to the bar and order the cilantro pineapple margarita! Everything on the menu is delicious and great for sharing! Can’t wait to go back!

I’ve been here over 5 times and haven’t written a review. Oh that’s right, every time I come here I’m so deep into my food I don’t really think about it.
Having a Colombian husband it’s hard to please him when it comes to his native foods.
I have to say I have NOT had a bad dish here at all. The service is so great. The place is small inside but so worth every moment and bite of it. The veggies in the Veggie Arepa are cooked to perfection and loaded with cheese. We ordered a side of a plain arepa and it taste so official. These cooks and/​or owners know exactly what they are doing. I love it and will definitely be a regular at this place.

This place is truly WOW. This place is incredibly popular. I went on a saturday night, and it was an approximate 45 minute wait, but in reality it was a 30 minute wait, whew. Its a pretty small restaurant in itself. maybe seats 30ish people total.
Let’s get to the food. I ordered the maiz, arepas sampler, and the ceviche. Even though it was a full house, the food came out in a timely manner.
The maiz was good! Its really hard to describe honestly.
The ceviche was really shocking to me. It comes with plantain chips. Its shrimp with avocado. My description really does not serve it justice.
The arepas sampler consisted of three mini arepas. I ate it as my meal. There was a chicken (served cold), pork and beef (which were served hot.) They are served with this pink sauce. This pink sauce is NEEDED. Its a vital component when eating mais arepas. It really complemented everything served there. Additional sauce is 50 cents tho, but that’s ok.
Something else I noticed was that a serving of avocado is 3.00, and man this place truly knows how to make profit. I thought that was a bit extreme, but like the pink sauce they have, the avocado complements every plate they have. The avocado adds a creamy texture to the food. I had some leftover from the ceviche to use.
The main reason why I gave this place 5 stars is because I saw Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher sit in a corner. I was so star struck.
Food is great, the service is good. The server did not talk much, but he kept refilling my water.
Only con is that street parking :(A lot of good restaurants tend to have only street parking.

Great service, great ambiance, great food. The maiz de la rueda appetizer was delicious. My husband had the carnicera and I had the seared tuna special. The «sandwiches» are filled with meat and other ingredients. I just didn’t care for the spread on the tuna. One of the herbs in it had a very strong and overpowering flavor. For dessert we had the flan and it was excellent. We definitely will return because there are many interesting menu items.

It’s hard to find a place that’s: POW, Shazam-​ski, Shamboooooyah!!!
This is that place.
Holy balls, the food here is insanity. I consider myself a Latin food critic because I grew up in Puerto Rico. When I came here with another couple, I thought that I would be the Simon Cowell of Latin food. To my surprise, I took a ride on a majestic Colombian Falcon.
If you would like to fly, sky high with the Latin gods of flavor, come here
Lastly,
Holy balls.

Tried Mais Arepas and was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. Some in our circle did not recommend this place because they found the food to be too sweet and the owner/​chef refuses to allow substitutions. Not allowing substitutions is just stupid and is evidence of arrogance and rigidity that has caused many restaurants to fail. I know at least two very sophisticated Nola citizens who will not return to Mais Arepas and they almost convinced my group not to go.
As a young man I worked at a restaurant owned by our football coach and he used the same rules for the team and the restaurant workers. Rule number one; 1. The customer (or coach) is always right. Rule number two; If the customer (or coach) is wrong then refer to rule number one!
We ordered the tostadas de platano as an app and they were very good. I ordered the choriarepa and thought it was great. I have always liked chorizo because of all the great taco places that serve it with eggs in breakfast tacos. My daughter and ex-​wife (surprisingly well behaved on this day) ordered the cerda and mechada and they really liked them. I did not find any of the things we ordered to be sweet. Will consider going back to Mais Arepas next time I’m in Nola but could be vetoed by someone in our circle who does not like the no substitu

I had never heard of an Aprea before I came here for dinner one night, but I’ve now realized that they are one of the most amazing foods that exist in the world. I recommend calling ahead for a dinner reservation.
I normally get the Chicharepa when I go for dinner. The crispy and salty fried pork belly works perfectly with the avocado pure. Along with the plantain chips that all of the entrees it makes for a nice sized dinner. This dish is only offered during dinner.
I love mojitos and I can honestly say that they have the best mojito of any place in New Orleans.

It’s great to see that NOLA is opening up to more Latin American food beyond tacos.
The Empanadas Caleñas remind me of home, I could seriously eat 100 of them! The Maiz de La Rueda is great a little messy but delicious with that spicy butter sauce they put on it.
Now the Arepas are the main features and the Mechada and Reina are on point!
The only disappointing part of the meal were the cocktails. My Mojito was way too sweet with barely any rum and the beer and Colombian soda drink was nothing especial.
Definitely be back to try the Bandeja Paisa that looks AMAZING!
Mais Arepas is great for a date or outing with friends but keep in mind that it’s a little pricey.

Acabo de regresar de Bogota despues de un mes alli. La comida colombiana nos parecio relativamente sencilla, y rapido se volvio aburrida. Comer papa, arepa de maiz, carne de res, platano, y aguacate todos los dias le hartaria a cualquiera que no se acostumbra a ello. Sin embargo, este restaurante hizo que la gastronomia colombiana llegara a su plena potencia: estuvo sabrosisima! Pero ojo: no hay aji picante, o sea que el «aji valluno» que se nos sirvio si tuvo sabor pero sin NADA de picante — lo que realmente me resulto una pena. Ademas, el jugo de maracuya (fruta de la pasion) que se me dio fue una verguenza de calidad en comparacion con lo espeso y delicioso (con puro pulpa licuada) que es el jugo natural tipico del pais. No llevan variedad de jugos, pero bueno, de pronto las frutas colombianas no se consiguen aca facilmente, incluso en estos dias?
El servicio estuvo tan malo que buena estuvo la comida: pero PESIMO, y no exagero. La señora estuvo lentisima y muy grosera con nosotros (segun la cuenta, se llamaba «Michelle,»). Creo que no era colombiana, y eso espero porque si lo es, sera la primera colombiana grosera que conoci. Yo soy una persona paciente y he trabajado de mesero y en otros puestos similares, y tipicamente entiendo las dificultades de la profesion. Pero esta señora realmento se deshizo de nosotros desde el llegar. No nos atendio salvo despues de muchos ratos largisimos. Teniamos ganas de pedir mas comida, porque solo pedimos entradas, y cuando mi mama le hizo una pregunta sobre que tipos de arepas tenian, a mi mama la interrumpio brucamente, diciendo «dejame conseguirle el menu.» Nada de «disculpeme señora,» nada de «con permiso,» nada de educacion — muy, pero muy grosera, y sin explicacion. Encima de eso, no habia casi nadie en el local; la mayoria de las mesas estaban vacias. Otra gente en este sitio de web dice que el personal es muy amable con los clientes, y que los meseros estan muy dispuestos a explicar y describir el menu, pero en vez de esto, nosotros encontramos una señora de mal genio o de no se que, quien nos dijo, efectivamente, que «miren el menu, no quiero hablarlos, ni atenderlos a Uds.» Y para remate, tambien cuando (desesperados) finalmente logramos hacer contacto de ojos con la otra mesera, tambien nos esquivo la mirada y totalmente nos ignoro, y esto varias veces, como para decirnos: «Uds. no son mi problema.» Que pena para el dueno de este restaurante, el cual si tiene una comida deliciosa, pero si el personal trata mal a los clientes, a fin de cuentas, no importa que tan buena sea la comida.
Si vuelvo a gastar plata en Mais Arepas, sin duda sera en un pedido para llevar.