We went to Orinoco a little under an hour before closing. We were seated immediately and the waiter was very attentive. We had hoped to eat some arepas but they were out of them. I recommend getting here earlier if that's what you're craving. We ended up getting the empanada trio, the Pabellon Criollo (which I did not realize also had plantains), the maracuchitos and the tostones. Yes, all the plantains in the menu. It kind of happened by accident but it worked out great. We got our food incredibly fast! Everything was delicious. However, the tostones and the empanadas were my favorite. I also had a maracuya juice, which was sweet and refreshing. We really liked our waiter, we was very nice and attentive. I wish I remembered his name to give him a shout out. I really enjoy the food from Orinoco. Historically, I had only gone to the restaurant in the South End but I'm glad to see the one at Harvard Square maintains the same flavors. I can't wait to be back for arepas.
Fran Yuan
Excellent
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Miranda Reed
delish. yummylicious. scrumdiddlyumptious.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yeli A
Everything ordered was good. Small and quaint. It’s in Harvard Square so keep in mind street parking is not the easiest. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because they don’t have chicha on the menu :-). It’s like not having horchata at a Mexican restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Plantain and Cheese, Salad
Tommy G.
Such a gem. Very glad we found it. Will be back for sure! The sangria and every menu item we tried were awesome.
Joe Smith
My small group had a serendipitous experience at Orinoco. We walked around and happened to stumble on this place for dinner - it's definitely a hidden gem.I loved the atmosphere; quiet so that I could talk to my group and not too bright or too dark. We ordered the tequenos, plantains, and ribs for appetizers; the latter two were totally delicious. Service was good but nothing spectacular and unfortunately they did not have Arepas that night.For the main course I got the lamb chops and quinoa. Both were mind-blowingly delicious and cooked to perfection. This was the tastiest quinoa I ever had and a top-tier lamb dish with a delicious mint sauce. The prices were also very reasonable!Overall highly satisfied with the meal and will definitely come back to try the Arepas.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Costillitas
Kelly Z.
They don't take reservations but I called/emailed ahead and they were very accommodating. Not too crowded on a Friday night. Their costillitas are delicious, I would definitely come back for more. Ambiance is great for a date with a partner or a friend.
Maru Davalos
I love this place! Great food, nice people and nice atmosphere. Try everything in special don’t forget to ask for the sangria!so good!??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Erapas and Chicken Ensalada, Bacon Wrapped Dates, Plantain and Cheese, Orinoco, Lava Cake, Maracuchitos, Salad
Oindrilla Chatterjee
We recently dined at this quaint spot in Harvard Square. We tried the Steak, the ribs, and the guava flatbread. The guava flatbread was a standout, however, the ribs and the steak didn't quite meet our expectations. The ribs were a bit tough to cut through, and the BBQ sauce, which was the same for both dishes, didn't quite hit the mark for us. We had ordered the steak cooked to medium, but it turned out a bit too chewy and overcooked. The staff kindly replaced it, and the second one came out cooked to a perfect medium, which we appreciated. In terms of beverage options, the selection was somewhat limited, with only wine and beer available. On a less positive note, we did observe a rat scurrying through the dining area, which was quite surprising and definitely detracted from the overall experience.Edit based on owners question: Appreciate your prompt response. We were seated indoors in the dining room and saw what would be a “mouse”, still pretty disturbing to see it run indoors along the outside wall of the barAlso yeah, getting a heads up about our order would have been nice. All the 3 items we had ordered had some of the sauce, wish we got a heads up.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
Mathilde VDB
A hidden gem - venezualian cuisine at its best. Quite some vegetarian options as well!
Nice place to have arepas , not expensive I think prices are fair. Ocasssion : you are hanging up around Harvard university and wanna eat some latin tasty food and don’t want to go crazy with the budget.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Mark N.
Right as you walk in the smell from the kitchen invites you to get closer. You can see the kitchen and I was immediately greeted by the server, who offered available tables for me to choose from. The menu is off a QR code which made seeing items easier, given the lighting was dim, which adds to the ambiance. It's casual but still nice. I ordered a few items to try. The steak was well cooked and pre-sliced, piled next to simple yet delicious arugula salad. The adobo sauce on the steak was amazing. I also ordered the salmon, which was also tasty. I also had the bacon wrapped dates which were sweet and savory. The sweet plantains were also perfectly fried and were not greasy. I would definitely recommend this place.
Jaye Aster Broder
There are stairs and the smell of trash that you must pass to enter the restaurant. As other have said, the restaurant was out of arepas when we went. The website is misleading as it talks about prices potentially differing from the website but the tables just have QR codes that take you to another website with pricing that shows everything the restaurant is out of stock. The meat plate was a good value but the steak on it was cooked medium well instead of medium rare. The cachapa wasn’t super filling. The re at air and was clean and had a nice laid back vibe. I went in with high expectations but found it just okay.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Sam and Lizzie
Love this place! Found via Off the Beaten Path Food Tours, our group loved Orinoco. The atmosphere is really intimate, and the food is fresh and tasty. We tried cheese covered plantains and yummy bacon wrapped dates that were out of this world. The sangria was also incredible and our server was so kind! Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raj Vinjamuri
Fantastic arepas and empanadas. Like a square meal with included salad. Look for the archway to enter. The garlic mojo sauce is so fresh.
We went to Orinoco a little under an hour before closing. We were seated immediately and the waiter was very attentive. We had hoped to eat some arepas but they were out of them. I recommend getting here earlier if that's what you're craving. We ended up getting the empanada trio, the Pabellon Criollo (which I did not realize also had plantains), the maracuchitos and the tostones. Yes, all the plantains in the menu. It kind of happened by accident but it worked out great. We got our food incredibly fast! Everything was delicious. However, the tostones and the empanadas were my favorite. I also had a maracuya juice, which was sweet and refreshing. We really liked our waiter, we was very nice and attentive. I wish I remembered his name to give him a shout out. I really enjoy the food from Orinoco. Historically, I had only gone to the restaurant in the South End but I'm glad to see the one at Harvard Square maintains the same flavors. I can't wait to be back for arepas.
Excellent
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
delish. yummylicious. scrumdiddlyumptious.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Everything ordered was good. Small and quaint. It’s in Harvard Square so keep in mind street parking is not the easiest. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because they don’t have chicha on the menu :-). It’s like not having horchata at a Mexican restaurant.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Plantain and Cheese, Salad
Such a gem. Very glad we found it. Will be back for sure! The sangria and every menu item we tried were awesome.
My small group had a serendipitous experience at Orinoco. We walked around and happened to stumble on this place for dinner - it's definitely a hidden gem.I loved the atmosphere; quiet so that I could talk to my group and not too bright or too dark. We ordered the tequenos, plantains, and ribs for appetizers; the latter two were totally delicious. Service was good but nothing spectacular and unfortunately they did not have Arepas that night.For the main course I got the lamb chops and quinoa. Both were mind-blowingly delicious and cooked to perfection. This was the tastiest quinoa I ever had and a top-tier lamb dish with a delicious mint sauce. The prices were also very reasonable!Overall highly satisfied with the meal and will definitely come back to try the Arepas.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Costillitas
They don't take reservations but I called/emailed ahead and they were very accommodating. Not too crowded on a Friday night. Their costillitas are delicious, I would definitely come back for more. Ambiance is great for a date with a partner or a friend.
I love this place! Great food, nice people and nice atmosphere. Try everything in special don’t forget to ask for the sangria!so good!??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Erapas and Chicken Ensalada, Bacon Wrapped Dates, Plantain and Cheese, Orinoco, Lava Cake, Maracuchitos, Salad
We recently dined at this quaint spot in Harvard Square. We tried the Steak, the ribs, and the guava flatbread. The guava flatbread was a standout, however, the ribs and the steak didn't quite meet our expectations. The ribs were a bit tough to cut through, and the BBQ sauce, which was the same for both dishes, didn't quite hit the mark for us. We had ordered the steak cooked to medium, but it turned out a bit too chewy and overcooked. The staff kindly replaced it, and the second one came out cooked to a perfect medium, which we appreciated. In terms of beverage options, the selection was somewhat limited, with only wine and beer available. On a less positive note, we did observe a rat scurrying through the dining area, which was quite surprising and definitely detracted from the overall experience.Edit based on owners question: Appreciate your prompt response. We were seated indoors in the dining room and saw what would be a “mouse”, still pretty disturbing to see it run indoors along the outside wall of the barAlso yeah, getting a heads up about our order would have been nice. All the 3 items we had ordered had some of the sauce, wish we got a heads up.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
A hidden gem - venezualian cuisine at its best. Quite some vegetarian options as well!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Nice place to have arepas , not expensive I think prices are fair. Ocasssion : you are hanging up around Harvard university and wanna eat some latin tasty food and don’t want to go crazy with the budget.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Right as you walk in the smell from the kitchen invites you to get closer. You can see the kitchen and I was immediately greeted by the server, who offered available tables for me to choose from. The menu is off a QR code which made seeing items easier, given the lighting was dim, which adds to the ambiance. It's casual but still nice. I ordered a few items to try. The steak was well cooked and pre-sliced, piled next to simple yet delicious arugula salad. The adobo sauce on the steak was amazing. I also ordered the salmon, which was also tasty. I also had the bacon wrapped dates which were sweet and savory. The sweet plantains were also perfectly fried and were not greasy. I would definitely recommend this place.
There are stairs and the smell of trash that you must pass to enter the restaurant. As other have said, the restaurant was out of arepas when we went. The website is misleading as it talks about prices potentially differing from the website but the tables just have QR codes that take you to another website with pricing that shows everything the restaurant is out of stock. The meat plate was a good value but the steak on it was cooked medium well instead of medium rare. The cachapa wasn’t super filling. The re at air and was clean and had a nice laid back vibe. I went in with high expectations but found it just okay.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Love this place! Found via Off the Beaten Path Food Tours, our group loved Orinoco. The atmosphere is really intimate, and the food is fresh and tasty. We tried cheese covered plantains and yummy bacon wrapped dates that were out of this world. The sangria was also incredible and our server was so kind! Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic arepas and empanadas. Like a square meal with included salad. Look for the archway to enter. The garlic mojo sauce is so fresh.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Pork Arepas, Mojo