bolivar coffee + arepa bar

My biggest complaint– THIS PLACE IS NOT OPEN ON SUNDAYS! Bolivar is set up to be the perfect Sunday brunch/​lazy weekend spot for tasty food and coffee, but on the busiest day of the week for good local eats, Bolivar keeps its doors closed. Something I’ll never understand.
Arepas are delicious, but pretty over priced for the portion size and you have to order at least 2, which already put me at $ 12. The juices are great and very fresh, but again, you get what you pay for ($ 5.75). I recommend trying the passion fruit (maracuya). So for 2 arepas and a juice, I paid around $ 19 after tax, wanting a little more.
The restaurant could be run way more efficiently and you’ll find yourself waiting around quite a bit, not necessarily for your food but sometimes just to get someone’s attention. Definitely worth the wait, but I wouldn’t try here if you’re in a rush.

bolivar coffee + arepa bar is as good as you’re going to get for westside arepas. They’re definitely a unique take on every other arepa I’ve ever had, but they are still incredibly delicious. The cold brew served was very flavorful and tasty as well.
The café/​restaurant itself is on the smaller side, but great for a lunch date, or just enjoying the beautiful weather at the outside seating. I like to include it as a last stop on some of my longer bike rides through SaMo.

Mother Mary. Incredible arepas. The mango, avocado cheese one is out of this world. Can’t wait to make this a regular thing.

I personally love this place! The ambiance is perfect for lunch with friends, business meetings or even a place to study! I love how they implement the Venezuelan feel to their business! The Veggie bagel is to die for and would recommend. There coffee is always strong and gets the job done!

They take their coffee very seriously here, as well they should. Highly recommended. The arepas are a special treat, so if you stop in, be sure to put in an order. We had the albacore and the classic bean/​cheese. The grapefruit-​ginger juice was superb. They also have a nice selection of sweet pastry items, which we did not try, but looked very good. Staff, while not effusive, were friendly and competent. There’s also a selection of Spanish-​language literature books, mostly in English translation, for sale on the back wall.

I work nearby and was thrilled to discover this little gem. This is my first time having Arepas and they are so delish. And gluten free!
Arepas take 15 minutes to prepare, but worth the wait. Sometimes I call in my order if I don’t have the time. And there’s a 2 arepa minimum, but that’s never a problem. My favorite is the ham and cheese, with either gouda or white cheese. The avocado/​mango is also good. Plus, the sauce on the side is very good!
I love their coffee too and the service has always been excellent. So for under $ 10, I get a coffee and a good size lunch. I’m here once a week.

One of the best coffee shops around LA, has great coffee, fresh juices, and these amazing sandwiches from Bolivia called arepas. The artwork there is rotating and frequently amazing, the service staff is friendly, and just really cool in there on a cool street. Highly recommended

The food was jamming .a little small for my appetite but good enough. The staff, well that’s another story. The staff was rude, would not look at you in the eye as you order or crack a smile.
It don’t know but it must be from Chavez’s dictatorship or something but they were rude.
Would not come all this way again.

If you are gluten free you should try their arepas! It is corn-​based no wheat! I always choose the grilled chicken. It has mayo pesto. The green sauce that comes with it tastes good! Be ready to wait about 15min because they start making after you place an order. It is so good!
Parking: street parking

I’m basically obsessed with this place because their arepas are maybe the most delicious thing in the world. I’m a die hard east sider and I’ll happily go west for the kind of mouth watering delight that is the mozzarella, garlic and thyme infused roasted red peppers and bacon arepa, something I did not know existed til now, it’s so mouth watering it’s like the Daniel Henning of arepas. Kudos for the pulled pork shoulder (8 hours of roasting make for one tender mouthful), special mention for the mango and grilled chicken, flank steak and black bean arepas. Those are all can’t lose but if you want a guaranteed win, bacon and mozz! Just note you must order two arepas minimally and if you want a third order all together or you’ll be stuck ordering four.

Of course a lot of Venezuelans go to that place expecting a warm service with the typical Venezuelan warmness and tasteful arepas. The arepas are great! Really good. The only thing i I dont undestand is why do they have a minimum order of 2 arepas. I know that when the place is empty it doesn’t worth cooking just one arepa on the arepa machine maker. But when the place is full why keep this rule?! Sometimes I wanna go there just to have an arepa and if i’m by my self i just choose another place to go because I can’t eat two of those.
The service is not warm but is not bad. The menu is just in English and the atmosphere has nothing that makes you feeling a little at home. They do have some art exhibitions on their walls that brings an artsy feeling to the place.
My favorite arepa is the chicken with avocado. The green sauce they serve is also very good to put on top of the arepas.
If you wanna make your own arepas they also sell harina pan.

This place has been my go-​to for years and it never occurred to review until recently.
Arepas are excellent, and I’ve found them very filling. I actually wish I could order just one and a salad instead of min of 2.
Café is South American and for that, expect a less «USA» customer service experience. They serve you then leave you alone to enjoy. Go there often enough and you get the same «regular» experience you’d get anywhere else.

I like this place! I ate a Veggie Bagel and had a cap. Coffee. The coffee was very well done and very good food too. Just close to home.
Yummm :)

Don’t think I’ll be coming back. The arepas were amazing but the staff who dealt with me could care less. Never checked in, only remembered my requested water after getting it for another customer, did not seem gung ho about me ordering food and asking about the local favorite. Yeah, I agree with the previous Unilocaler who talked about service sans smile.
Maybe it was because I brought in my laptop? There was also a teacher who came with essays to grade though so not sure. Tldr: good food, come here if you think its fun to feel invisible.

YUM YUM YUM.
I’d never had an arepa before yesterday and whoa — pleasantly surprised. Fiancé and I shared 4 — chicken (sorta like a chicken salad but with avocado), chorizo and cheese (the BEST), mango and mozzarella, and steak. Mango and steak ones weren’t as good but both had avocado so a win in my book. Coffee was good too, not the best iced americano I’ve ever had but definitely still good.

What a find!
Great tea and coffee selections and their arapes (gluten free!) and salads are very fresh and tasty. Very chill vibe. Have the mango arape.
Street metered parking. Or, during school hours can park north of ocean park on 16^th.

Excelentes arepas, frescas hechas al momento. My favorite is the Tuna albacore and the beef. La guasa caca es la mejor que he probado en tiempo.

Pros-​Good, fresh, healthy drinks! Quaint little place. They do have a public restroom. Nice Bob Marley playing in the background. Interesting people here to watch.
Cons– location is mediocre. Staff was kinda rude and seemed to be bothered that we were there ordering (wtf). Don’t expect a smile with your service here.

Super tasty and flavorful (but small) arepas! Slow but attentive service. Good assortment of fresh juices and smoothies. I’d prefer to give this place 3 and a half stars (not possible) — as it was sufficient for a quick lunch or snack but not impressive enough to make it a standard visit every time we make it down to Santa Monica (from Thousand Oaks)! People seemed to like the space for a casual business meeting or to get some work done on their laptop. Which I thought was interesting! For a quick snack –hipster vibes — a fresh healthy juice– or a freshly brewed latte– this is a decent option!

Unbelievably delicious. Both their coffee and arepas are mind-​blowingly good. This spot is a must.

I’ve never heard about, thus never eaten an arepa till I ventured on over here. According to Wikipedia (such legit source of info, I know) an arepa is a flabread made of ground maize dough or cooked flour prominent in Colombia and Venezuela. Characteristics of an arepa vary by color, flavor, size and food which it’s stuffed with which is dependent on the region.
I got the Mozzarella Arepas –hold the bacon $ 12.00 –Fresh mozzarella, garlic and thyme infused roasted red peppers. The aerepa is made fresh to order, so it did take a bit of time for preparations. Portion size is incredibly small for what you pay, although quality of the food is good, I must say –my taste buds were happy.
I also got a coffee of the day (Café organico del dia) $ 1.75 –strong, chocolate hints and was perfect for what I needed that morning.
Service was okay. Nothing negative to say, but also nothing over-​the-​top to talk about.

I live right by this little neighborhood coffee shop and although I do not drink coffee I have always wanted to check it out… probably because it looks super awesome from the outside… the clean open layout, the art on the walls and their neon blue lit up sign at night. I love it!
Walked over here on a Saturday morning and ordered an iced tea and tuna arepa. I put way too much splenda in my tea and asked for another. Yeah I know… I’m an idiot for doing that but at least they happily gave me a fresh new cup of tea.
The tuna arepa took about 15 minutes to come out and you have to get 2 minimum. I was with someone else so it worked out perfectly and the arepa was sooo good! Not what I was expecting at all. It’s very thin and crispy and not overwhelming with the taste of corn. Perfect little bite sized sandwich (but not)…will definitely be back to try some of the other flavors.

Tiny buns of meat with lots of flavor.
We got the pulled pork and the beef one
Wait is around 15 – 20 minutes
For the size the arepas are a bit pricey unfortunately, or else I would want to come back.
Smoothie was good and freshly made. I chose the passion fruit, orange, and mango one!

Wow!
That’s my one word summary of Café Bolivar! The Arepas here are amazing! They’re small, yet satisfying, and they may take 15 – 20 minutes to make but the wait is totally worth it. You can’t lose with any choice you make here but make sure to get the Arepa with mango slices, cheese and avocado! Don’t forget to add generous helpings of the green sauce to your Arepas! There’s a two order minimum so get that one and another of your choosing. Thank me later.
The fresh juices and smoothies here are also on point. I had the pineapple, orange, ginger smoothie. I love ginger so when I got to the bottom of my drink and tasted all the little fluffy chunks of ginger at the bottom I was stoked. We also had the guava juice which was super fresh and delicious. We weren’t in the mood for coffee but I heard that the coffee here is also good.
Speaking of coffee the ambiance here is definitely that of a quiet coffee shop. When we walked in there were probably about 15 people sitting at tables quietly enjoying the free wifi but it was so quiet that I thought we had walked into a library. Bonus points for the serene vibes.
They’re closed on Sunday’s but I’ll probably be coming back tomorrow for more Arepas. They were just that good!

The arepas take 10(normally) to 20 minutes (busy day) to prepare so call ahead. They’re about the size of the palm of your hand (3−4″ in diameter) but are surprisingly filling. Still, I find it a bit pricey for what it is. There is a minimum order of 2arepas if you want arepas. Smoothies and juices are freshly made on site and are pretty good. A smoothie sets you back $ 6-​$ 7.
1. Bean and cheese-​A little bit on the bland side, whole black beans and dense melty white cheese. wouldn’t order again.
2. Chicken and avocado– so good, large chunks of tender chicken mixed with creamy avocado, comes with a side of pesto-​ish sauce. I would order again.

Arepas!!! Who knew such a tiny little corn pocket could pack in so much delicious flavor! An arepa is a Venezuelan dish — a round, dense (and hopefully moist) corn puff that’s stuffed with anything you like: could be mozzarella with avocado and mango slices topped with a garlic aioli or it could be Caribbean black beans. Some of their areas are meat heavy and others are vegetarian. They’re not all created equally but they’re pretty darn good. I don’t know what to compare the ones from Café Bolivar to, because I’ve only had ‘em here.
They’re small … but I’m warning you, even if you’re a big eater you should start out with only two or three. The corn is pretty filling.
Friendly staff in a great area on ocean park with decent parking. Good smoothies too. I take a pass on their coffee.

que sabroso! la musica, la comida, la gente — toda esta maravillosa.