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  • La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine

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Reserve at La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine

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La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine
La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine

La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine Details

  • Dining Style: Casual Elegant
  • Website: http://www.lacaraquena.com
  • Email: info@lacaraquena.com
  • Phone: (703) 533-0076
  • Hours of Operation: Lunch: Monday & Wednesday - Sunday 12:00am - 2:30pm; Dinner: Monday & Wednesday - Saturday: 5:30pm - 10:00pm, Sunday: 5:30pm - 9:00pm
  • Payment Options: AMEX, Carte Blanche, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, Visa
  • Cuisine: Latin American
  • Executive Chef: Raul A. Claros
  • Dress Code: Smart Casual
  • Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
  • Additional Details: Beer, Full Bar, Gluten-free Menu, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Wine

Getting there

  • Cross Street: Little Falls Street
  • Parking: Hotel Parking
  • Parking Details: Please park in the motel parking lot surrounding our restaurant.
A word from La Caraquena Latin American Cuisine
At La Caraqueña, the taste of Latin America is alive in every dish. Chef and owner, Raul Claros, shares his heritage by combining over 20 years of family recipes with the authencity that comes from his travels through Latin America. This is comfort food served in a relaxed atmosphere where our… guests can experience the best in Latin American cuisine and culture. Continued
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Awards voted by OpenTable diners
  • Diners' Choice WinnerNeighborhood Gem
Diner Reviews
  • "Super fast service. Need to make reservation, though. Great Venezuelan food with an authentic twist. You need to try their passion fruit Margarita."
    Dined on 3/1/2014
  • "Despite a bit of a wait for our booked table and having to stand among other diners who were eating, once our table was ready it was a very nice meal and service was very good."
    Dined on 3/1/2014
  • "The food and service was fantastic. While the restaurant is small, the atmosphere is wonderful. We were also nicely surprised byt the birthday celebrations. It was a nice touch for out evening. We will definitely go back and recommend to our friends and family!"
    Dined on 2/15/2014
  • "Food is always consistently good and the hand crafted cocktails tie the meal together. The ambiance leaves a little to be desired but the food more than makes up for it."
    Dined on 2/14/2014
  • "This restaurant was on triple D so I had to check it out. I made reservations for 2 at 7:30 on a Saturday. We arrived 10 minutes early to the hole-in-the-wall location to find about a dozen people waiting. We waited for 10 minutes until a waitress, although very kind, hurriedly asked us if we had reservations. It took another 20 for us to be seated. Once in our booth, we ordered a couple of their house margaritas which came promptly. We were both very hungry so we ordered an appetizer (yuca) and the Pabellon Completo Con Baranda. They brought out our meals very quickly but forgot about the appetizer (we did eventually get it). The food was phenomenal authentic Latin cuisine, worthy of Guy's visit. If you're in this area don't miss out!"
    Dined on 2/1/2014
  • "Food here is excellent - very fresh and lovely presentation. The only problem is that the space is so small that diners waiting for a table are literally hanging over yours. The owner might want to take a look at what many tiny SOHO and alphabet city restaurants in NYC do. They have temporary plastic covered entry ways for the winter months. Nevertheless, the food and friendly service are worth it . Try the Pabellon Criollo!"
    Dined on 1/31/2014
  • "My husband from Caracas spotted this restaurant when driving through the area a few months ago, and demanded we stop there. We have eaten there 3times since. It's his chance to eat food authentic to Caracas and cure his homesick heart. The food is excellent, and we clean our plates every time. The waiters are very nice, knowledgeable &patient with us. The owner, Raul, came out of the kitchen one time and was very warm and friendly. The restaurant has outgrown its indoor dining area, which is not very fancy, is part of a motel. But we like our little favorite "hole in the wall" and will keep coming back. Maybe they will expand some day? There are always a lot of people so a reservation is recommended esp weekend evenings."
    Dined on 11/9/2013
  • "This retaurant was touted as having authentic Venzuelan cuisine. My wife lived in Venezuela for a nukber of years, and she was disappointed. At best it was ok --the food was bland and non-descript, and did not have either the zing or the complexity of real Venezuelan food. A couple of examples -- the arepas lacked any real corn taste and the dessert flan lacked any character. The space was very small and we were seated right next to the door, which opened constantly to let in frigid air. We will not be returning."
    Dined on 1/4/2014
  • "Reservations: you can make reservations but in the many times I've made them, LQ has never actually had a table for us. The reservation is merely a suggestion. Food: consistent and good. Drinks: very good. Recommend the caipirinha Service: hit or miss. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it's very very very slow and erratic. The staff is friendly but often there just aren't enough of them. We will go back. But we will take a deep breath first."
    Dined on 12/28/2013
  • "Don't be fooled by the building (in front of a lower end motel), the food is authentic and very good, and the service was amiable and timely. A pleasant surprise."
    Dined on 11/28/2013
  • "had lunch there twice. both times were great. flavorful and interesting food. plan to try dinner sometime."
    Dined on 10/25/2013
  • "If you make reservations, prepare to wait. And there is no place to wait except in front of the door or outside (brrrr). Once you are seated 1/2 hour late, prepare to be amazed by the excellent food. Try the corn salad. yummm. The beef dishes are all excellent and the shrimp diablo dish is also excllent. But leave room for the quattro leches dessert. Incredible. As I said, worth the wait."
    Dined on 11/23/2013
  • "I will look for them again next time I am in DC. The food was excellent from the plantain appetizer to to the three milk sponge cake. The facilities were clean and friendly. The restaurant was doing a great business and I was glad that I had taken the last reviewers advice and called ahead for reservations."
    Dined on 11/23/2013
  • "We've lived in the area for over 4 years, and La Caraquena has been on our list to try. We finally tried it this weekend, and my only regret is not finding it sooner! Based on some reviews that we read, I was tempted to just order a bunch of arepas for our dinner, however, we wanted to give the place a fair chance, so we got two arepas, two entrees, a side of fried yuca, and the quatros leches cake. Everything was amaaaazing, though the arepas (and the awesome chili sauce!) did beat out the rest of the meal by a bit. We can't wait to go back! Please note that seating is very limited, so reservations are highly recommended. Also, parking is available in any of the motel spots."
    Dined on 11/16/2013
  • "Loved the Venezuelan cuisine here. It brought back wonderful memories of the time I lived in Caracas years ago. Especially the excellent Arepas on the menu, of which there was an even greater selection than I remember from when I was actually in Venezuela! Service was excellent too, and the whole experience was made very warm and friendly by the staff at the restaurant."
    Dined on 11/3/2013
  • "Food and service are excellent. but the size of the place makes it very, very loud"
    Dined on 10/26/2013
  • "I love La Caraquena! Tucked away in a motel, it is a tiny gem of a restaurant with genuine, delicious food! The service is a little slow both times I've been there, and the servers seems to forget about some of the tables. However, as long as you have one of their delicious cocktails it's a fun place to sit back and relax--just don't come when you're in a hurry!"
    Dined on 10/20/2013
  • "Second time at this place & better than the first! Plantains & Tequeñones are out of this world; arepas delicious, passion fruit drinks, delectable. On top of that they sing Happy Birthday to the patrons and the owner played the drums. Oh, did I say we danced too? Fun place! Will keep coming back for more!"
    Dined on 10/19/2013
  • "La Caraquena has been around long enough that they should have reservations figured out. It's inexcusable that they consistently seat you no fewer than 30 minutes AFTER the time of your reservation. The food is good, but not so good that something this egregious can be overlooked."
    Dined on 10/19/2013
  • "The food and cocktails here were fantastic, wanted to come back the following night but without a reservation you basically have no chance of getting a table. Will definitely be returning but make reservations and make them for half hour before you want to sit bc ur going to have to wait with a cocktail anyway but it is worth it, the arepas are out of this world and the beef with beans and rice was amazing!"
    Dined on 10/19/2013
  • "Heard about this place on the food network show, so glad we went!! Food was delicious! Little mom and pop place with good food which is exactly what we wanted! Will definitely come back, a neighborhood gem! Arepas....yes please!"
    Dined on 10/13/2013
  • "Food was fabulous as always. I had made a reservation for 5 but when I got there, they hadn't noted the time and hadn't really had a table appropriate for the group size. They took the next 15 minutes trying to figure out how they could accomodate our group. They ended up squeezing at a table meant for 3 and one person had to sit on the end and block another table from getting out of their booth. The food did not come at the same time. At one point, food was delivered, only to be picked up off our table a minute later and was told it wasn't for us but another table. We watched them removed the food in front of us and deliver it across the restaurant.. ours did not come out for another 10 minutes. Odd service..but food was fabulous!!"
    Dined on 10/10/2013
  • "Great food - Interesting combinations - Absolutely will be back for more!"
    Dined on 9/28/2013
  • "Great, little restaurant in Falls Church, VA. Food is delicious and reasonably priced. Service is always excellent."
    Dined on 10/7/2013
  • "The food here is always so good, but the service is truly lacking. It took 20 minutes for our server to come to our table, then another 20 minutes for our appetizers to arrive, wait, I should say appetizer because they only brought one of them. The second one came later in the middle of our meal. I feel bad for the two servers working there, they were literally running between tables. This restaurant needs to hire more people."
    Dined on 9/29/2013
  • "I love this place, have been here several times. It's very small, my only complaint would be that it's a little warm and there is usually only 1 server, but I love this place and would definitely recommend it to everyone and will definitely be coming back! Love love love this place. :)"
    Dined on 9/30/2013
  • "Although not extremely pricey, it was a little more expensive than I was expecting from a little restaurant like this."
    Dined on 9/14/2013
  • "The arepas continue top notch!!! Will keep us coming back over and over again."
    Dined on 9/2/2013
  • "We had lunch here on a Sunday. The weather was nice so we were able to sit outside. Everyone who works here was professional and friendly. The food was fantastic! We will be back!"
    Dined on 8/25/2013
  • "This restaurant received a lot of hype following appearance on DD&D. The Central American cuisine was new to me. Enjoyed JP's favorite arupa was a small sandwich, so be aware. The fried yucca was the best; chicken salad arupa which was also tasty. Both of these were grilled, not fried. Several of my companions had entrees Dessert was also a high point, quatro leche was incredible and the ice cream with mango was a good palate cleanser. Reservations are definitely needed & the constant throng of new customers standing table side impacts the dining experience. It would have been difficult for there to have been more of them as they would have been constantly colliding with each other and the standing patrons waiting for a table to clear."
    Dined on 8/9/2013
  • "I've been several times, each time more tasty than the last!"
    Dined on 8/7/2013
  • "The food and the service was good ...nice different"
    Dined on 7/27/2013
  • "The service was great and the food delicious. Its a nice little restaurant."
    Dined on 7/28/2013
  • "First thing that hit us was EXCRUCIATINGLY loud music. They tuned it down a bit or we wouldn't have stayed. The waiter and waitress were delightful. I had the pulled beef with plantains and black beans with the egg atop. Absolutely delicious! The beans were smokey and the best I've ever had. Others had the steak or dinner salad & were equally pleased. The margarita was amazing and others said their mojitos were, as well. If the music had been lower I would give this little place an A but it was almost impossible to have a conversation with anyone who wasn't right next to you. If this were a bar scene I would understand the music. I will definitely go back and try it one more time & request lowering the volume if it's as loud."
    Dined on 7/27/2013
  • "I found this place almost two years ago (from DDD of course), and was so impressed the first time I came. I moved away, and talked about the place often, and how good the food was. I recently returned, and of course made sure to put in a reservation for my friends and I (a total of 5). The food here is phenomenal. A little pricey, but definitely worth it. Make sure you make a reservation, and plan on being there awhile because the service, while wonderfully friendly, is a little bit slower than most would like."
    Dined on 7/20/2013
  • "great food, but service is inattentive and very slow."
    Dined on 7/19/2013
  • "Amazing food, mediocre service. They lost our reservation and we sat for 20 minutes or so waiting for menus. Once we got our food it was delicious. So go prepared to wait for a bit, surprisingly it is worth it!!!"
    Dined on 7/20/2013
  • "One of the few places in the area to get authentic Latin American food."
    Dined on 7/18/2013
  • "I have been here a number of times and every time the food is delicious. It's really simple fare and just tastes great. The atmosphere is ordinary and plain but they did have some great Latin music playing that had people tapping their feet. I had pulled beef with black beans - Yumm, oh, also, plantains - sweet. . For an appetizer we shared yucca that came with a spicy jalapeno sauce; the yucca was tender and tasty. The young lady that waited on our table was happy to meet our every request. The pricing is so reasonable that you just want to go again and again - best to make a reservation because it is a small place."
    Dined on 7/15/2013
  • "The place is the size of a small studio NYC apt that is crammed with tables and charis that literally come out of the woodwork but it works - the food is the star here, there's no ambiance or mood lighting, no white table clothes so don't dress for the occassion but if you want really good Latin food that's the reason to come and bring your wallet because the arepas don't come cheap and the appertizers neither, in fact we ordered yucca and if we had 5 small pieces we had more than some still we are from NY and we used to go to a place in Norwalk CT called Venezuelan Beach and that was the last place we had outstanding arepas so we will come back to La Caraquena even if its because we are dreaming of the other"
    Dined on 7/8/2013
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