CLE Takeout Guide: Barroco Arepa Bar

Start out as small as Barroco, and takeout becomes part of your DNA. Owner Juan Vergara and his family founded their arepa bar in 2011, in an intimate spot in Lakewood, offering takeout and limited seating. They have since expanded to three locations. “We started like that because we never had the seating capacity,” says Vergara. “We grew into our space.”

Vergara has ensured that Barroco’s greatest hits are available to go, including salchipapas, or street fries, and empanadas. But you’ll definitely want to order an arepa, made by soaking raw hominy corn for two days, cooking it, grinding it into a masa flour, and forming it into square-shaped arepas.

“[Square] is not a natural shape for a tortilla,” says Vergara, “but that’s what makes people think, Wait a minute, that’s quality, that’s tastier.” We’re partial to the huevos rancheros, one of those square arepas stuffed with house-made chorizo, a fried egg, feta, peppers, onions and sofrito.

Try This: The Tostadas con Todo ($40) is a make-your-own bonanza platter for the whole family. Grab one of 16 fried plantains and top it with guac, chili beans, pork chicharrones, shredded beef or hogao, a variety of sofrito.

How To Order: By Phone, Online, DoorDash, Uber Eats

Various locations, barrocoarepabar.com