Ay! Arepa

Great food and atmosphere would come here again. Not from around here but if in the neighborhood would stop by.

Excellent food! If you bring your own container, they give you a discount!

I’m really glad I finally tried it today. Trudged out in the rain to the carts. No line. Fast service. Really love the fresh toppings. I normally steer clear of guac (minor allergy to avocado) but I couldn’t resist. Red rice on the side is pretty decent too. Next time I will have the chicken or beef. What a nice surprise! I now have a 4^th cart I can rely on for a great lunch.

My favorite food truck! I always got the veggie arepa with extra sour cream/​guacamole and every time sooo good!

I’m so conflicted when writing this review of the Arepa cart on Cedar st.
When I first started going to this cart maybe 3 years ago I was very impressed with the food and the cost of arepa or a salad. It was 5 dollars. In the 3 years, the prices have jumped form 5 dollars to 7 – 8 dollars for most items. I don’t see a change the quality or quantity of the food so I’m baffled to why they keep raising their prices.
I do think the quality of the food is good and it is very tasty, I can’t see spending this much money on cart food when everything around is as good and less costly.

This is definitely one of the better food stands. I’d never had an arepa before and it was pretty good — definitely worth the $ 6 (with a dollar off if you’re eco friendly and bring your own contained — I’d think that was cool if I were into that sort of thing. At least it makes more sense than having a Yale student discount). As usual with these carts, it was way too much food for one person. Maybe that was supposed to make up for average quality of the ingredients. But it’s hard to complain when it’s piping hot, cheap, and takes about 30 second from ordering to shoving guacamole and plantains into my mouth.

I was so sad when I thought that Ay! Salsa had closed only to realize that they had moved on to food trucks and a new restaurant, Rubamba (which I’ll have to try the next time I’m in town).
This is definitely one of the best deals in terms of food cart fare. An order of arepa fetches you a delicious arepa with cheese with a side of rice and gandules, sweet fried plantains, sour cream+hotsauce, plus your protein source of choice. I go for the pork arepas every time. They never fail! However, they are so tasty that you might have to go for another.
Occasionally they’ll have horchata. They didn’t have any the day I was there but the milky drink is one of my favorite and pairs perfectly well with the arepas.
Ay! Que rico!

One of the best, hot, fresh, cheap lunches in NHV. Flavors are delicious, arepa is nicely charred, chicken is clearly from a freshly stewed breast. Order to your preferences or go all in with everything. Then grab one of the tables on Broadway or go around the corner to the art gallery.

First time trying Arepas when I first moved to New Haven. I like the pork arepa, the serving portion is decent and it is delicious! Definitely worth the money. The restaurant charges much more for about the same serving size so I would much rather get it from the food carts.

Ay! Arepa is by far my favorite food cart in New Haven, and perhaps my favorite food in New Haven overall. The arepas are absolutely DELICIOUS, as is the accompanying rice and plantains. I really can’t praise the food highly enough. My only grievance (and the only reason this is not a glowing 5 star review) is the consistent raising of prices! While the Ay! Arepa cart is still significantly less expensive than eating indoors at Rubamba (where arepas run from about $ 14-​$ 18), the recent and constant raising of prices at the food cart has reduced my willingness to indulge. Over the past few years, the prices have raised from $ 5.50 to $ 7. Nevertheless, the arepas are wonderful.

Quality/​portions have gone down and prices practically go up everyday. This is the same with the sit down restaurant, Rumbaba, which has basically doubled in price in the past year. I know that price increases are sometimes necessary, but the rate of the increase has been a bit ridiculous. I used to frequent this cart with a big smile at least once a week, but we are no more.

So I finally got a chance to try this place. It wasn’t an option back in my Yale-​New Haven Hospital days (prior to the major food truck explosion). After reading the reviews, I was excited to get the opportunity to try their food at an event last night. I describe the experience as sweet, cheesy, salty, spicy deliciousness… oh yeah– and addicting. I remain full this morning. I took off one star for the lack of margaritas!

The primary appeal of Ay! Arepa (the food cart of the quite excellent Rubamba) was that their arepa prices were significantly lower than you would pay in the restaurant itself. Recently, they’ve increased the prices by about $ 2 each, making it $ 7 for meat or veggie arepas and $ 8 for seafood arepas. Add to that the fact that the cart arepas, while delicious, don’t measure up at all to the food you can get at their restaurant, and the cart no longer holds a real advantage.
Don’t take this review to imply that there’s anything wrong with the food that they’re serving. The arepas and Peruvian salad are both excellent choices, and it remains one of my preferred options when I feel like grabbing lunch outside at the carts. It’s just far from the fantastic deal that it used to be.

The food at Rubamba is world’s better than their food carts. The food at the cart is delicious, don’t get me wrong. but the actual restaurant blows them out of the water. The price at Ay! Arepa is significantly cheaper, but the quality is now significantly less. Worth noting, the cart no longer has pico de gallo (at least they haven’t the last few times I went, and it’s crossed off of their menu, so one can assume.) and in it’s place they used sauteed onions. Mehhhhhh.
It does the job, but it no longer satisfies my Rubamba craving, which is unfortunate. I feel like the reasoning behind these small changes were due to people complaining that the food at the cart vs. the brick & mortar were exactly the same for ¹⁄₃ of the price. Well, now they’re no longer exactly the same. Wah. Good going, guys.
In a nutshell, I’ll still come here once in a while. It’s good. It’s cheap. But nowhere near as good as Rubamba. If I had never eaten at Rubamba, this would be 4.5 stars, but I have, and 3 is the best I can give.

Granted I have only tried a few of the food carts on Cedar St. but this was definitely the best. On my visit they were out of quinoa for I would have tried the Peruvian salad. As it was I tried the arepa with pork and I did not regret it. Very tasty and a good value. Also something a little more unique than the repetitive asian food and burritos.

Probably one of THE best food carts I have experienced in New Haven, not only the best value for the cost, but also best quality of ingredients. I had never had an arepa until now, but had heard how delish they were and how good the Ay! Arepa truck was. I happened to be at Yale/​St. Rae’s campus for a work meeting one day and parked right where the truck was parked. It was lunchtime, and I was hungry… perfect opportunity to try it out!
I went for the veggie arepa and wondered if it would be filling enough… well it was… loaded with veggies galore, combined with the right sauces and spices… flavors were out of this world. I was sufficiently stuffed after eating the entire thing. The side of plaintains were an added bonus… awesome. Everything was hot, fresh and cooked to order.
For only $ 5, I got a meal better than in some restaurants. Can’t wait to go back!

It only takes 6 dollars to get into heaven everyone (the street cart). This place is straight gold.
Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, arepas, you name it they make it and they make it good.
Arepas by the way for some of you folks who haven’t had them are small circular pancake like object sent down from the gods covered in your choice of meat and toppings with a side of rice and fried plantains.
Do you work in New Haven?
Better question. Do you want to be happy with your life?
Alright ill see you at lunchtime first ones on me.

Taco trucks.
Yes.
I couldn’t believe this was going to be good. They make Ecuadorean and Colombian dishes. I had the Veggie Arepa which one of the bases looked like polenta but was basically a milled corn mixture. Everything was cooked perfectly, inclining the plantain on top of the rice. Juicy, sweet, salty, different accents. I was happy.
I need to come to New Haven more.

Ay, Dios Mio, that’s a whole lotta arepa flavor! Having just had their pork arepa for lunch today, the taste and lasting flavor memories are fresh in my head and I wanted to get it down on virtual paper ASAP for the Unilocal community. I’ve got their Mexican Salad in the past based on my co-worker’s recommendation that it’s the «best tasting salad you will ever have.» Sure it’s not the lightest or healthiest salad, but it really was extremely flavorful with the blend of Latin flavors from the creamy guacamole to the pico de gallo to the flavorful grilled chicken. Definitely a unique and memorable salad and far superior to the $ 9 salads I used to get when I worked in Manhattan.
Today I went with the pork arepa, which comes with a side of rice and gandules (pigeon peas/​beans) and sweet plantains. The pulled pork is covered with a ragout of vegetables, pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. Being the hot sauce lover that I am, I was happy to see the variety of hot sauce brands they have for patrons to mix and match with once they receive their food. Check out the pics I posted to the photo section for some visuals. The thick corn-​based arepa was sweet and creamy in the middle, but had a nice burnt crust around the edge to create a nice textural contrast. Each bite was bursting with bold flavors from the pork and plethora of toppings and the rice and plantains were a nice way to compliment each savory arepa bite.
Overall, a great deal for $ 5.50 and this cart serves as yet another example that well executed international cuisine can be found in cart-​food-​form on the mean streets of Cedar Street.

Phew! (Loosens belt one notch)
CAUTION: This meal will induce «the itis.» Be sure to have a pillow and blankie handy.
This is a diesel lunch, definitely not meant for the «I’ll have a salad and water» bunch. This is the lunch you have when your STARVING. One arepa top with chicken, pork, fish, shrimp or veggies and pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole. Like if that isn’t enough, you also get rice and beans and sweet plantains. And the price? Cheap, cheap, cheap ($ 5.50 to be exact).
There’s so much food, I only eat half the arepa platter. Half is definitely enough to send me into a food induced coma (not recommended if you have a busy afternoon). Its well worth it though, the arepas are delish.
Don’t leave without getting your buy 9 get the 10^th free card punched because, trust me, you’ll be back.