Arepera Las Chamas

Such a neat little restaurant! The inside is nothing fancy, and parking is very difficult (very few spots nearby, so best to park in Eliz. St. parking deck & walk the 2 blocks), however the food is always good! I’ve been here twice and it always sticks out in my mind as somewhere different in town. The prices are very reasonable and the portions are quite large. While I don’t know the owner or chef personally, you can tell just from eating there that the food is authentic and from the heart. There is nowhere like this place in town. I enjoy getting something different every time I go & would recommend it to anyone who likes to try new foods.
(Side note: For families with kids, they DO have wooden high chairs, so feel free to bring your little ones along!)

Food was pretty good but greasy. Live music too. Would come back again. I had the vegetarian arepas and fruit shake.
Service left something to be desired, many people were ignored and some people even got up and left after sitting there with no service for 20 mins.

I fully recommend this place! I had a pastelito (ham and cheese), a pabellon arepa and a plantains empanada. I’m Venezuelan and found the food to be delicious and absolutely affordable. Service was wonderful. The owner cooks the food herself and talked to me at length about the menu and the waitress was very attentive. This is a really wonderful spot. I’m going back tomorrow for take out!

I am so mad we went here… because you are 540 miles from home! The food was delicious. We are a family of five and for lunch we split two sides as appetizers, the yuca frita and sweet plantains-​amazing. For lunch we shared 2 veggie arepas, 3 veggie empanadas, and a veggie pabellon. Our three girls, all 10 and under, loved everything! We ate a very late lunch (to the point that it was almost an early dinner) so we were the only people in there. Service was helpful, pleasant, and quick. I would come back in a heartbeat, if it wasn’t for the looong drive.

This was the absolute worst restaurant experience I have ever had.
My friends and I came in to try this to be adventurous and escape the Chipotle chain. We came in and asked for menus which were handed to us. At this time there were two other tables already seated before us, and one waitress working the whole restaurant. We took a seat at the nearest table and pondered over the menu. After we had decided what to get, it took another 20 minutes for us to finally get her attention and get our orders. She was about halfway done taking our orders when another customer caught her attention and she left our table (without excusing herself) to tend to their needs. It then took another 15 minutes for her to come back and take the rest of our order. My friends ordered cheese quesadillas and I got some beef platter.
About 45 minutes later our food finally shows up. First just the quesadillas. My friends hungrily took a bite and were extremely disappointed at the lack of flavor of their food. I tried a bite as well (my food wasn’t out yet) and it tasted pure cardboard. Not only that but they also messed up a special request to only take onions out of one of the orders. They took the onions out of both, which probably didn’t help the flavor. We didn’t even bother sending it back to the kitchen.
My food came out and I was still optimistic that my food would be good. It came with a knife that was wet and I had no silverware. It took me 10 minutes to finally get the waitress to give me a set of silverware. The beef was overcooked and dry. The rice was overcooked, and the yucca fries were good once I finally got the parsley sauce from the waitress (after I had already finished the beef). So, overall the food made me reconsider not getting Benny’s next door. In fact my two friends ended up leaving and getting themselves some pizza.
When the time came to pay and get the hell out of there we asked the server (10 minutes after I had finished eating) if we could pay our separate checks, and she couldn’t comprehend that we all wanted to only pay for what we each ordered. I went up to the bar to pay and my card was declined by their system twice. The waitress went and talked to the cook and I overheard that their system had been malfunctioning. I also heard the cook say «Her card probably just doesn’t have any money.» Excuse me! My friend tried her card as well and the SAME thing happened. The waitress wasn’t apologetic and wouldn’t admit that the system was not working properly. We ended up paying in cash and left the place immediately. The whole time we were there, more and more people kept piling in and it took everything in me not to warn them away from the place.
I understand when a restaurant is understaffed that it can be difficult. I myself am a waitress, but the whole situation was just horrible. The waitress was too nonchalant and working at a slow pace. It wasn’t just us as well. The table next to us was told their food would be ready in «four minutes» but when we left thirty minutes later their food wasn’t ready at all!
It’s safe to say I am never coming back and I am also advising anyone who wants to try this restaurant to just try the giant slice pizza at Benny’s instead. It’s cheaper, faster and much tastier than what you could get at Arepa Las Chamas.

Horchata is AMAZING! Went with a big group so we swapped and sampled and everything i tried was delicious. Don’t let the little brick building fool you! Worth the stop.

I love the food here! Not so much the atmosphere otherwise I’d give it 5 stars. But the food is amazing, staff is great! Ive tried a few different things on the menu and loved all of it. You feel like you’re in the Caribbean especially with their awesome exotic fruit drinks… fruits Ive never heard of. Definitely worth a stop if you enjoy trying different, exotic food!

Be adventurous. Careful of the green sauce. :-) The sampler is mostly fried food. The style of arepa here is a fried arepa not the grilled kind that I was fond of in MIami. Coworker ordered the Venezuelan Hamburger and loved it. Tostones are AWE-​SOME! Worth a try,

BEST FOOD EVER! You need to get the arepas and cachapas! They are the best thing in the world and you can taste all the flavors and its all home made. Best hidden food in harrisonburg everyone has to try it out! Also when you get the sauces mix the green and red, sooooo good!!!

It was ok. The empanadas were a little greasy and the waitress kept forgetting our order so I’m not sure what we got. Very limited off street parking.

Went around 2 weeks ago and had the pabellon. Taste is just great and theres a wide variety of choices. Service is impeccable. Totally recommended.

Thanks Unilocalers for leading us here! Since so much is already here, i’ll recap briefly.
Ambiance — not much. Few pictures of Venezuela and a number of tables, which seemed on our visit to be frequented entirely by students. 3 stars.
Staff — very, very friendly. Didn’t hurt my wife is from Venezuela, so they had things to chat about. That said, they seem to have a good connection with a regular clientele. 5 stars.
Food — Cachapas, with corn meal directly from Venezuela, very good. Tejadas (maduros, fried plantains), good. Patacone, not the name they use, very good. Fried yucca, very good. Parchita (passion fruit juice), very good.
The total was 32 bucks. A very good deal for the quantity and quality of the food served.
Good things are found sometimes in interesting places. Here’s one!

Tried this place for the first time today, after it was recommended by several coworkers. It was excellent! The chorizo chachapa was delicious, and the arepa was crispy and very fresh.
I’d highly recommend this if you are looking for a change to your routine. There are loads of great menu options to try, and this is definitely not the same ‘ol, same ‘ol. A truly unique place in Harrisonburg and one that makes for a great lunch stop.

I love this place.
Food: Excellent food. I recommend the shredded beef arepas. Arepas and Empanadas are all very cheap and of excellent quality. Their table sauces are delicious as well.
Service: Service is good, for 1 person. They do seemed understaffed, but they are a family owned local restaurant.
Atmosphere: You don’t really go here for the atmosphere, as there really is none. They play Spanish music and Spanish television (or it may be Portuguese?)
Overall, an excellent place to eat that is very cheap. If you want authentic Caribbean food, come here. You wont regret it.

This place serves up simple Caribbean and Venezuelan dishes, and they are delicious. My favorite is by far the Chachapa. It’s kind of like a corn pancake stuffed with chicken, beef or pork and cheese — try it, you’ll love it and want to come back for more. They also make all their own sauces, and I have to stop myself from covering every inch of my plate with the garlic sauce. Okay, that’s a lie, sometimes I do cover every inch of my plate with the garlic sauce.
It’s fairly inexpensive and the service is great. The atmosphere isn’t anything special, but the food more than makes up for it. Give it a try and take your friends.
I love the diverse food culture Harrisonburg has to offer, and I think this is one of the little gems for those who like ethnic cuisine. It’s a family owned and operated restaurant, and I hope more people give it a try so it will be around a long, long time!