Sabor’a Street

I read that Sabora has pulled their truck off the street after only 6 months. Not sure why, as they seemed to always have a line and sell out of things like the soft shells. I have already been missing the fish tacos, the thought of which made my Mondays easier to face when the truck would land at L’Enfant.
I wish them luck but also wish them back in the truck rotation!

I ate here last week. Arrived shortly before noon at metro center to find a reasonable lenghth line that was moving along nicely.
The options wee limited — a couple kinds of meat in taco or arepa form, but only 1 side and no desserts. Luckily, what they had was great. I got the bbq pork arepa with a side of mixed beans and rice. It was all excellent and more than enough food. One of my favorite food truck meals so far.
My only complaint is the packaging — food is handed out in a little cardboard dish, no lid. I needed to be able carry the food back to penn quarter. I asked for a lid or bag and the guy was nice enough to to put a second cardboard dish over the top and place the thing in a grocery bag he dug up from under the counter. He was very nice about it, but I wish they had better options. (The bottom cardboard container had almost liquified by the time I made it back to my offce, so I would have been in real trouble without the bag.)

Okay, for some odd reason the food trucks haven’t been showing up in full force at L’enfant Plaza lately. The other day, there were only 3. Sabor’a being one of them. The last time I tried them, I was not too enthusiastic with my meal. Well I was a little desparate and I thought maybe I should give them another chance.
I’m glad I did. I tried the BBQ Pulled Pork Arepa. OMG! It was so good. The Arepa was made from corn was grilled and had a nice hint of sweetness. The pork was juicy and succulant. It came with a side of dirty rice and I ate evey last morsel off of that little cardboard box.
It must have been divine intervention that day sorta kinda forcing me back to try them again. They have certainly redeemed themselves in my eyes.

WHAT A SHAME, I waited over a half hour today for the truck to arrive and it did not. I bet the food is amazing, but I will never know, because they didn’t show up anywhere NEAR the time they said they would be there. if you change your location or you are running late, it takes about 1 minute to tweet about it. Their food looks amazing, but I am now turned off to even want to wait for it ever again. Next time, try to show up when you say you will be. Or tweet when you can’t or run late.

Their soft-​shell crab tacos were AMAZING!!! In all honesty, lose the taco shell — the soft-​shell crabs are the true highlight and would shine on its own. Fresh and cooked perfectly. Worth.Every.Bite.
Their ingredients are sourced locally and the meat they serve is all-​natural, grass-​fed, and hormone-​free.
I still have yet to try their churros, arepas, and yucca. Can’t wait to try some more of their items at the next Truckeroo event or my next venture out to DC!

I showed up late and they were down to just a few items and no sides. I wanted to try a couple of arepas offerings, so I asked if they would split them in half (almost like tostadas) and they were willing to do so for $ 10. So I tried the BBQ Pork and the chorizo.
It was delicious. I have never had arepas before, so its hard to say how authentic they are. But they tasted halfway between a corn bread and a tamal, but in the shape of a thick tortilla. It was a bit sweeter than I expected it to be, but it paired well with the protein.
The BBQ pork and the Chorizo were both good. The BBQ pork was nice and moist. The chorizo had really good flavor and a bit of spice (a good hot level for a wimp like me).
The topping was also really good– maybe jicama and carrot slaw and a sprinkling of cheese (cotija?). I wish my arepas had a bit more of the toppings because they were sooo good.
I can’t wait to try their tacos and other arepas.

I was stoked when I found a food truck that served arepas. However, after eating there on Wednesday, I left disappointed.
First, the arepas: These are definitely not Venezeulan style arepas. They were too small and thin, and the masa was extremely heavy. Worst of all, they were completely saturated in grease and soggy, rather than being crispy on the outside with a soft, light center.
The filling: All they had was chorizo, which was an odd combination, I thought, for an arepa. It tasted alright, but again, was quite greasy.
The rice tasted fantastic, but again, saturated in grease.
The high point was the drink, guava, which was delicious.
One hour after eating, my stomach was killing me and I couldn’t stop urping up from all the grease.
In short, the food was anything but traditional South American food. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. I would have given them 3 stars, but the amount of grease was just too much.

Quite possibly the best fish tacos I’ve ever eaten. I will be back tomorrow. The $ 10 is a little steep, but I quickly forget about it when I take a bite. Awesome!

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed my meal from here! The chicken arepas were tasty, and although they looked small at first glance, it ended up being a good amount of food. The fresh pico de gallo was AMAZING… do they lace it with crack? MSG? Deliciousness? Who cares, I’ll take a gallon of it please. I was also pleasantly surprised by the fried yucca. I’ve had it before and thought it was just okay, so I wasn’t expecting much out of a truck. But it was well-​seasoned, fairly crisp, and super tasty.
Like every food truck, I wish the prices were lower. But I’ll be back!

I hate throwing out terms like transcendental, otherwordly (don’t those two words basically mean the same thing anyways), but good God, were those Dos Equis battered soft shell tacos good.
I’d like to first thank myself for having the fortitude for ordering from this random truck I knew nothing about, but I do know that where you see smoke, there’s often fire — and there were a good number of people milling about.
The special of the day, Dos Equis battered soft shell tacos with a corn salsa. For those who may know me, anytime anyone says soft shell tacos, I’m there. Yes, it was a bit pricey for two tacos for $ 12, but I would gladly pay it again and again, and maybe even pay more than that.
I also got the last order of the tacos of the day, as it appeared to be a very limited sort of thing. But, the tacos cooked to order, they appeared as they would in any fine restuarant. A really light, tangy and FRESH corn salsa with peppers, onion, tomatoes, and lime on the side, the salsa complemented the big show — the tacos.
The tacos were sublime. Special touches like freshly grated cheese, thinly sliced hot peppers, julienned carrots and vegetables at the bottom, and one whole crab (I think, it might have been two, ask my stomach) sliced in two. You could taste the crab in all of its glory, and so juicy that juices were splattering all over my desk, requiring me to take a stack of napkins 10 deep to mop up that delicious crime scene.
I think that’s ode enough — suffice it to say that if anyone sees this food truck out, it’s definitely worth a try, and if you see someone running towards the truck, that’ll be me, because I’ll have known that the crab is back on the menu.

This has been added to my list of favorite food trucks. There was a decent-​sized line at 11:45am, and took me about 15 minutes to get through. Worth the wait.
The two corn arepas were delicious. Loved the crunchy top one with the one on the bottom slightly soggy with the juices from the meat. I got the mole beef, which was really moist and flavorful. Didn’t quite get where the «mole» part came in, though. And I think they’ve gotten rid of the manchego cheese on top, which is sad. The yucca fries were okay, but for me they were mostly an excuse to eat the delicious lime aioli sauce that came with it.
Was $ 9, which is more than most food trucks (usual is $ 7). Portions were perfect for me, but may not satisfy someone with a larger stomach. I did like that they accepted credit cards.
Overall, a definite «must repeat» experience.

Is button-​down Washington getting cool?
Thank you, Francis, for urging a bunch of us to get lunch from the Sabor’a Street truck. Today it was at 20^th and Virginia.
$ 9.00 gets you two corn arepas with either pork, mole beef, chickien or veggie + pico de gallo, and fried yuccas with aioli mayo. Soft drinks are $ 2.00. These are sweet Colombian-​style arepas, not their bland Venezuelan cousin.
Between the bunch of us we had chicken, beef and pork. Judging from the comments, smacking lips, and the fact that everyone finished every bite, I’d call Sabor’a a great lunch alternative.
There was a pretty long line but service was fast and the portions plentiful.
Here’s the link:
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Food trucks are my newest great discovery! I recently started working in the Farragut area a few weeks ago, and on the first day, I noticed a huge line outside my building. What was going on? They were waiting in line for a food truck?! Upon observing this, my coworker proceeded to inform me of
where this food truck tracker lists all the different food trucks in the area and there locations as well as streaming their tweets. Food Truck Fiesta was an eye opener for me! There was a huge list of super yummy sounds varieties of food trucks that come around the area (not to mention Farragut Fridays where around 10 trucks line up on K and 17^th every Friday).
I decided to try tracking one down one day. I was originally looking for TaKorean because a Korean Taco just sounds too good to be true to me. When I stepped outside, of course it was pouring rain. I made it about one block running under the roofs of buildings til I noticed Sabor’a. I decided at that point that Korean Tacos werent worth the long trek in the rain and dashed under Sabor’as little over head roof in front of their window. The first thing I saw listed on their menu were Arepas. I didn’t know what these were but figured its what their specialty was so ordered it. You pick a meat to go along with it so I got it mole beef. After ordering, I dashed back to my office, but only after drenching in lime sauce and hot sauce.
So how was it? I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting it to taste nearly as good when I put the first bite in my mouth. Arepas are nice, chewy corn cake type things that tastes a bit like corn bread but better! The mole beef was nicely marinated and the lime and hot sauce complimented it perfectly! The entire cost of the meal was only $ 6 but I didn’t get any sides with it (with sides its $ 9) Next time I’ll be sure to order two because I had a great urge to run back into the rain to get another one because it was that good!

Another decent-​but-​not-​worth-​writing-​home-​about food truck.
The combo system is annoying. I don’t want an arepa with a bunch of fried starch on the side. I want two arepas.
The fried starches (yuca, in my case) are fine but desperately need salt. the arepas have a reasonably spicy and savory meat filling, but the arepas are small and thick, so they have to split open into a soggy sandwich rather than having a corn pancake that you can stuff with filling.
I’ll try a different truck next time.

At long last, I finally got to try Sabor’a Street. As a self proclaimed arepa lover (see my La Caraquena review), I was so excited to see this truck hit the streets, and then, after reading Justin C’s review, I had to have it. Unfortunately, I kept having Fridays off when the truck hit Metro Center, so it’s been a month of being tortured by thoughts of delicious arepas being served to lesser areas like our food truck rivals L’Enfant Plaza and Farragut.
FINALLY, today I got to hit up Sabor’a Street. I came back to my desk with the beef arepa, yuca chips, and the churros. The arepa did not disappoint. The corn cakes are sweet, and perfectly grilled. The sweetness is key, I think, in most arepas (although La Caraquena’s aren’t), and in the case of Sabor’a Street, the sweetness really complements the well prepared shredded beef. The pico de gallo also pairs well with the tasty beef. As is the case with a lot of these Latin inspired trucks, please put this beef into a burrito, pair it with beans, and serve me a San Diego style mixed burrito. In the meantime, the arepas served here are top notch. It’s unfortunate the fried yuca has been replaced with the yuca chips, which are fine, but nothing special. I think fried yuca would have been a much heartier complement, and when we are talking $ 9 for a small arepa and chips, I think the value proposition would be much improved with the fried yuca.
The churros were only OK. Some were well coated with sugar and cinnamon, some were just fried dough. The dulce de leche was OK, but not any better than what I can produce in my sous vide machine, and it got cold by the time I got to my desk.
Overall, I can see Sabor’a Street joining Sauca as my go-to’s for truck eating in Metro Cneter. It’s unfortunate that they don’t come to Metro Center or Chinatown as often as some other trucks. I also think they should consider possibly lowering prices, as I think for what you get, it’s not a great value. Maybe just charging $ 4.50 or $ 5.00 for just a paper wrapped arepa. I think 2 of these little guys would be a great filling lunch.

This truck sells what they call Latin street fare. The main offerings are Arepas, which is basically a Latin sloppy joe, except the «bun» is made out of corn meal and they offer your choice of filling (chicken, beef, etc). They even have a tofu option, which I am guessing is not the most authentic option. For sides they have yucca fries or plantains. Their menu says they have churros as well, but I did not see any.
So I ended up going for the the Chicken Arepa which came with Yucca Fries. At first look I thought it was a bit Pequeno, especially given the price, $ 9– which is a bit mucho. To my knowledge this is the most expensive truck, aside from the lobster truck. I am a big Pupusa fan so I was excited to try the Arepa, unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations or the $ 9 price tag. First the good, the Yucca Fries, all 10 of them, were pretty tasty, as for the Arepa, not so much. This is my first Arepa so I only have a Pupusa as a comparison point, but I was not a fan of the «bun». In the 7 minutes from tuck to mouth it got soggy and was falling apart when I was eating it, and it did not hold the contents too well. The filling was nothing too exciting, it tasted like mass produced enchilada filling (think school cafeteria. for those who grew up in the SW). The Jarritos soda was air temperature, and they did not have any cold ones, so I had to put in in a cup of ice, totally ruining the drink from the bottle experience. The good thing about Jarritos in general is they use real sugar, no corn syrup, doesn’t mean its healthy but will take sugar over the high fructose stuff any day. I was also disappointed in their packaging which is plastic as opposed to the easy bio degradable stuff many trucks are using. So while eating at Sabora street is better than the brick and mortar neighborhood alternatives, I would give it a pass next time on the basis of both quality and value.
To see pictures of my meal and read my whole review on this truck and others check out

Sabor’a Street finally pulled up to my office today! I’ve been craving these arepas for weeks!
Oh the sweet corn arepa, with the juicy pulled chicken inside covered with pico de gallo, and paired with an order of crispy but soft yucca! Delicious!
Loved the salsa music too, perfect for a Friday lunch!
They were out of guarana today, but I hope they have it next time. I will have to try the churros as well.
***4.5 stars**** (deducting a ½ star because I think the price should be more like $ 7, not $ 9, but I guess this is what one pays for arepas out of a gourmet food truck these days)

Finally! A DC food truck that’s worth it! I just had my first experience with Sabor’a Street today and I have to say that it was amazing! The food was absolutely delicious! I had the arepas with chicken and it came with fried plantains and yucca… a huge portion for the price. I also liked that the owner, Jorge, was out and talking to people about his concept and food. He was really excited and seemed to genuinely care about the food, but more importantly, that people were enjoying it. They use all natural, fresh ingredients and everything is made to order. I really hope that they continue to do this because it does make such a difference. I will definitely be back and everyone should check these guys out!

Gah! Justin beat me to it! I have had my eye on this truck since December so needless to say I was über-​excited when I found out they were coming near my office. Like Justin, I too cheated. Unlike him, my office was a block away from the truck and I still had to stop to scarf down my meal.
For $ 9, I got the cubana frita, which is a burger made of a mix of beef and chorizo topped with manchego and a chipotle-​guava sauce, and a side of fried yucca and tostones. The burger itself was very interesting. It was good but not incredible. That mix of beef and chorizo is definitely a combination you don’t taste every day. Only one tostone came with my meal so I couldn’t get a feel for that but the fried yucca was very tasty (and I generally don’t like yucca).
Major props for having Jarritos soda! 3 stars for now but I will definitely be back to try a chicken arepa so I can make my final judgment

Finally another truck comes along that announces its presence well in advance and gets you salivating over their menu long before it will hit your taste buds. I actually showed up for Sabor’a Street’s official first day, when they were supposed to arrive at Farragut Square, waited for 45 minutes with no updates, then had to leave disappointed with a Subway sandwich instead. But, willing to give any truck a second (or maybe still technically first?) chance, I took the Metro over to L’Enfant Plaza today to try them out, once I knew they were for sure in position.
There is certainly no mistaking this truck, it’s one of the best looking I’ve seen so far in this area. The graphic is simple, but vibrant, and the Latin music coming over the speakers seems more apropos than some of the random iTunes playlist found at other trucks. The staff was very friendly, and the food came out super quick, but they did have a bit of a bungle with running out of $ 1 bills at only 11:45…basically leaving customers with the option of giving them free tips, as all of the entradas (main courses) were $ 9. This brings up one of the few minor issues I have with this truck. If you’re going to be cash only, then you need to do something about your pricing. You can’t have everything be in odd dollar values (not $ 5 or $ 10) and then not carry the correct change when that’s what most people pay with, and, I was really excited to see Jarritos as well as Sumol (Portuguese soda, which I’ve never seen) on the menu, but they were both $ 2.25, and I seriously hate change. Who the hell wants a bunch of damn dirty quarters?
So, now that I’ve gotten the negative out of the way, I can tell you how awesome the food turned out. The chicken for the arepa (
) is marinated with guajillo chilies and then pulled, and topped with pico de gallo and garrotxa cheese. The flavors of the meat are fantastic, and although not as spicy as I was hoping for, there is enough there to make up for it. I kind of wish there was a hotter option, as it is Latin food after-​all, and not everything has to be dumbed down for us white folk to enjoy it. The texture was also spot-​on, and went wonderfully with the arepa itself which had a great crunch to it. There’s no mistaking this is a cornmeal cake when compared to any other kind of «bread» as the distinct flavor and texture of the grain really shines when prepared this way. They also offer beef brisket and tofu options, for those who don’t care for chicken. I personally chose it over the beef because I knew I was getting a frita Cubana as well.
I was actually more excited to try the frita Cubana (
) than the arepa, but it turned out to be slightly disappointing. Overall it was good, but based on the description it just didn’t live up to what I had in my mind. I know that part of the flavor faults lie in them using grass-​fed beef, which may be better for us health wise, but is not nearly as tasty as grain-​fed. The subtle flavors of the beef did however let the bit of zing from the chorizo stand out a little more, although still not very much. I thought the manchego cheese (one of my favorites) presence was noticeably absent from the burger too, and I really couldn’t taste any of the chipotle-​guava sauce that was supposed to be on it. This definitely needs to be kicked up a notch, as right now it’s kind of like a very well prepared patty that’s missing the accoutrement.
All of the main courses are served with both yucca frita and tostones, and a side of lime aioli and salsa verde sort of swirled together. I actually only ordered one main entrée, the burger, and the other was supposed to simply be an arepa on the side ($ 5 for just a single item rather than $ 9 for the combo), but they wound up giving me the sides in each, a nice bonus (no extra stars for this though, since I’m sure it’s not a normal business practice). I thought the tostones were quite good, but a bit more chewy than others I’ve had, and the yucca was solid too, but a bit more dry than most of the others that I’ve had. The aioli and salsa verde mixture was outstanding though, and luckily I had an entire cup of it left to spread over lunch items for the following week.
The final bummer of the day was that they hadn’t yet made the churros (served with dulce de leche), or just weren’t, I didn’t get clarification, for the day. I’m not sure I even had room to put them in my stomach, but I damn sure would have tried, even at the $ 5 price-​point. I will definitely be back for these, and hopefully this time won’t have to sneakily eat anything on the Metro in order to satisfy my hunger.