La Caraquena Latin American CuisineLa CaraquenaFood is outstanding--fresh, high-quality ingredients, well prepared dishes. A delight every time. The place is tiny (reservations recommended!), and the unassuming decor, friendly service and Latin music combine to leave you feeling a world away.5/17/2013 12:00:00 AMSpotted on Food NetworkAfter living in the area and driving past this restaurant for 4 years, I saw it pop up on Food Network, and knew it was time to go see. The mangorita was serious business, the mechada (pulled beef) arepa was awesome, as was the peanut soup. also, the cuatro leches cake? AMAZING. SERIOUSLY. If you get anything, at least try it. Yucca was quite tasty too! Great place, reasonable prices. Get a reservation, it's a tiny joint and fills up quick.5/17/2013 12:00:00 AMSchool Group VisitI took a small group of Spanish I students there for lunch. Excellent experience for them. Great food! They loved it. Difficult to get pricing ahead of time. Can be pricey depending upon what is ordered. We would all go back again. Watch out for 9% tax.5/13/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat Latin foodDon't be put off by the exterior. This is a darling little eatery. I enjoyed the attentive service and wonderful food. The corn salad and steak was so wonderfully fresh and good!5/12/2013 12:00:00 AMThis place is tiny! Only 9This place is tiny! Only 9 tables inside. The food is amazing though. Definitely worth a visit.5/11/2013 12:00:00 AMNeighborhood DestinationGreat food, comfortable environment, friendly service, great prices. Overall a very good experience, perfect for dining before attending a show at the state theater perhaps.5/9/2013 12:00:00 AMI would highly recommend theI would highly recommend the Pabellon (any variety). The bean flavoring (as a side or in a soup) is remarkable. Arepas are top quality as always.4/28/2013 12:00:00 AMI love this place. The restaurantI love this place. The restaurant is very small, only about 12 tables or so. They make great Mojitos & Margaritas. The food is always delicious, no matter what you order. Black bean soup is so flavorful. JPs favorite arepa is the best. :) everything I've ever had here was delicious. Well worth a visit. Please don't judge this place by the location. It's shares a parking lot with a less than stellar motel. La Caraquena is by far one of my favorite places to eat.4/27/2013 12:00:00 AMDelightful experienceVery small restaurant. Staff very pleasant and anticipated our needs. Menu was new and exciting and food well-prepared. If I could add any areas of improvement, I might consider expanding the menu. Too much "pulled beef".4/6/2013 12:00:00 AMThis unassuming restaurantThis unassuming restaurant is tucked away within a seedy-looking motel. But, WOW - great food, great drinks, and wonderful service. We will be back! It's a tiny place, so definitely make a reservation.4/4/2013 12:00:00 AMAbsolutely deliciousI've never had a bad meal at this restaurant. It's truly one-of-a-kind! I usually get the grilled sifrini arepa, but decided to try the grilled peluda arepa this time, and it was outstanding. My lunchmate got the grilled sifrini arepa, which he'd never had, and loved it too. We then each had a cuatro leches for dessert - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!3/29/2013 12:00:00 AMThe arepas are fabulous! Can'tThe arepas are fabulous! Can't go wrong with any of the drinks or appetizers. Our favorite dessert is Cuatro Leches.
Service is slow, especially for such a small place.3/29/2013 12:00:00 AMThe friendly, attentive, ifThe friendly, attentive, if not speedy service, was a plus. The food is spicy so the fried plantains provide a nice balance. This was our first time and we are definitely going back.3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMDelicious!The food was delicious! The next day I was craving the papaya, avocado, shrimp salad. We told my parents how amazing the food was. We will definitely be a repeat customer!3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMPerfectWe went for a late lunch ...loved the food. It was very fresh and perfectly prepared - service was great. There was a warm friendly atmosphere with Latin music playing in the background. The jalapeño salsa was hot but the perfect kind of hot with lots of flavor. We loved the peanut soup. The condiments served with the yuca and plantains were fantastic. I had the chicken & avocado arepas and loved it. I had mine fried which was great but I would love to try the grilled version also. It was a perfect lunch. I will definitely go back and try dinner. Really fell in love with the charm and quality of La Caraquena. I'm still thinking - dreaming about that food - a great experience3/20/2013 12:00:00 AMA keeper.Enjoyable dinner. Atmosphere is ppleasant, and like the Latin music. The food, tho simple, was very good and nice presentation. Good margaritas. One of the best restaurants in Falls Church at reasonable prices.3/20/2013 12:00:00 AMHad a GREAT time. Took someHad a GREAT time. Took some Venezuelan friends and they loved the food. Very authentic dishes, tasty and well prepared. Could use a few large tables for groups.3/20/2013 12:00:00 AMVery good food, nice ambiance,Very good food, nice ambiance, and very nice people. It is very practical to do an online reservation. I think the restaurant can improve a little at communicating people that it's full and table reservations are needed, especially on Saturdays.3/16/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat food (very authentic)Great food (very authentic) and great atmosphere, we met some friends for dinner and had a fantastic time.3/15/2013 12:00:00 AMOverall we enjoyed dinningOverall we enjoyed dinning with you.we are definately looking forward to coming back...3/1/2013 12:00:00 AMYou definitely want to reserveYou definitely want to reserve a table at this tiny gem. Their South American home cooking reminds me of the dishes my abuela used to make. Great food, and impeccably friendly staff.1/1/0001 4:00:00 PM