235796 Sun Jul 30 11:15:56 -0700 2000 6 19 Outer Boroughs 0 1250076 This is no joke! I went Friday, and on her grill there were some brown patties that looked like hamburgers; and when I asked what they were one of the onlookers said they were hamburgers (the Arepa Lady herself didn't know the English word). There were also (in addition to the usual large yellow and Englis-muffin sized white arepas) large white arepas looking somewhat like tortillas, but thicker. When the large white ones were done, after slathering on the usual butter and cheese (and a shake of salt), the Arepa Lady would put a hamburger on top of the cheese-covered arepa, and that's how customers would eat them (even though the hamburgers were about half the diameter of the arepas). I didn't order one myself, sticking to my favorites instead, but they seemed to be popular; all three of the combos cooking when I arrived were bespoke by waiting customers, and in fact nobody but me ordered anything else while I was there. Has anybody here had one of these? How was it? Incidentally, I got there about 11 P.M., and there was a pile of already-cooked large yellow arepas on the corner of the grill. When I ordered one, the Arepa Lady took one from this pile and briefly reheated it, and it wasn't quite as good as the freshly-made one I'd had on my first visit. So I'd suggest coming early. --Adam Sun Jul 30 11:15:56 -0700 2000 0 Adam Stephanides 1 1250077 Not hamburgers; tortas de carne. They have a pretty dry texture, and are slightly greenish inside (!), and are deep fried. But they have a wonderfully rich, earthy flavor. They're made from beef, breadcrumbs, egg, and spices and they come with either an arepita or bread. they are, of course, fantastic. The large white thing was, I think, an Arepa de Maiz, and she doesn't often make them As for the waiting arepa, it's not a question of lateness or freshness; that's just how she does 'em. Sun Jul 30 12:38:46 -0700 2000 1250076 0 Jim Leff 2 1250078 "As for the waiting arepa, it's not a question of lateness or freshness; that's just how she does 'em." On my first visit, I got there at 10:35. While she was in full swing, there was no pile of yellow arepas in the corner, though there were a couple cooking on the grill. When one was done, she would serve it to a waiting customer and pour batter on the grill to make another. And I did think they were better that way. --Adam Sun Jul 30 13:50:29 -0700 2000 1250077 0 Adam Stephanides 3 1250079 The Arepa Lady was out early yesterday evening. She was already serving customers at around 9:30 PM. There were no yellow sweet corn arepas cooking, so started one for us. I was with my downstairs neighbors who are from Colombia, and they were blown away by her arepas (they never tried hers before). Sun Jul 30 15:04:29 -0700 2000 1250078 0 Gary Cheong 4 1250084 The Arepa Lady is definitely working earlier these days. I've seen her twice just after dusk. And I've experienced more variability in quality, akin to Adam's, but I don't have the quantity of experience that Jim does (I've eaten arepas maybe 8 times). I swear that the A.L. forgot to put butter on my first-ever arepa -- it was by far the worst arepa I've eaten there, and one would think the first would be supreme in my mind. Just my opinion, but I think the butter is at least as important as the cheese in the scrumptiousness of her arepas. Sun Jul 30 22:18:39 -0700 2000 1250079 0 Dave Feldman 3 1250080 She tries to keep ahead of herself by whipping up a bunch at once during slow periods (which are completely unpredictable), but it's overstating to say that she "reheats" them...they stay pretty warm even in the on-deck circle (and they never stay there long). Thing is, I haven't noticed any qualitative difference...and suspect something else may have unserendipitously affected quality that time. I realize that it's totally chowhound nature to try to hack the optimal way to do everything, but I suspect that this particular theory is a dead end. I could be wrong, of course. Ciao Sun Jul 30 15:42:14 -0700 2000 1250078 0 Jim Leff 1 1250705 I found this page by searching for the word "arepa". I live in Virginia but could make a trip to New York just to taste the arepas. Is the "arepa lady" still there in the winter? Wed Dec 27 11:16:54 -0800 2000 1250076 0 Al Botero