The Switch is a food court located in the Blackstone District in Omaha. It features a variety of restaurants, from vegan Latin food to pickled fried chicken. Over winter break, Kidman visited The Switch. There, she ate at El Arepón, a Venezuelan cuisine restaurant. Coming back to school, she mentioned the delicious food to Senora Navarro during Spanish class. Senora Navarro informed Kidman about El Arepón’s interesting history and how it started as a food truck. Senora Navarro highly recommended the restaurant. The Verbatim staff was very excited to make their way over to Blackstone during lunchtime. 

The Verbatim staff headed to El Arepón. The parking in the area was relatively difficult as they did not have a designated parking area. Additionally, you will have to bring quarters to pay the parking meter. The first thing that caught our attention when we walked into The Switch was the modern but welcoming interior. El Arepón was one of the first restaurants near the entrance. The workers greeted us with a warm smile and were very patient when ordering. The menu was large and had various food options, making it easy to order. The employees told us to ask any questions we had about the menu. Paying for all of us was also relatively quick. They took Akshay’s phone number and texted us when our orders were ready. This method is used for all customers by El Arepón. There were many areas to sit at, and we did not have difficulty settling down. Also, there were endless drink options from the soda machine with easy access to utensils right around the corner. After a short wait, Akshay received the text that our food was ready. The food came out hot and steaming. We could not wait to try the delicious food. El Arepón had a lot of Venezuelan food options we have not explored before, and we would definitely recommend and come back. 

Kidman: I got a shredded beef empanada and a slice of flan. The shredded beef empanada was delicious. The outside was hot and crispy, and the sauce complimented the empanada well. On the other hand, the flan was okay. It was not astounding, but it was not bad. The caramel sauce was rich, but the custard was not sweet enough. The consistency was also nice. Although I enjoyed eating the flan, I probably would not order it again. I highly recommend El Arepón.

Calvin: I tried the churros with chocolate sauce. This was my first time trying authentic churros. When I received it, I was pretty surprised by the size for the price. The price for four churros was only $4, which was a good deal. I thought that the flavor was immaculate. However, I was a little misled when I ordered the extra chocolate sauce for $0.50. I thought it would be on the side, but the chocolate sauce was drizzled on top. I’m positive that if I had asked for it on the side, they would have, as they were extremely kind. Overall, I really enjoyed the entire experience and would definitely recommend El Arepón to anyone who wants to try Venezuelan food or desserts.

Kate: I ordered the shredded beef empanada with cheese. I anticipated them to be small, so I ordered two. However, when they came out, they were larger than I expected and were full of meat. I was only able to finish about 1 ½ and gave the rest to Kidman. The empanadas were hot inside and full of cheese, which I enjoyed a lot. The outside texture was satisfying to eat, and I would highly recommend it.

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