Mary’s Arepas opens brick and mortar restaurant in Cayce

Soda City favorite vendor Mary’s Arepas Latin Food has opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 904 Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce. After just a few days operating in the new location, the sign out front still reads “Arepezo Latin Food” -- a Venezuelan restaurant which opened at the location in the fall but closed recently.

Colombia natives husband and wife Gustavo Obeso and Mary Romero started Mary’s Arepas at Soda City three years ago at the suggestion of their son who wanted to promote Latin food locally while also earning some money. The eatery has been so successful Romero has been able to quit her job as a local teacher and focus solely on the restaurant.

Like their booth at Soda City, Mary’s restaurant will continue to cook up Colombia “street food” favorites such as empanadas, Colombian cheese sticks and, of course, the popular arepas--a bread-like treat made of cornflour, butter, cheese, milk and salt. Everything is made fresh in house and 80 percent of the ingredients are authentic Colombian ingredients,

Mary’s Arepas Latin Food is currently open 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily but plans to add breakfast hours within the next couple of weeks, Romero said.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Mary’s Arepas opens brick and mortar restaurant in Cayce."