Miguelito's Venezuelan Restaurant

Miguelitos is a bit like stepping into an airport gift shop. Everything in there is very bright and full of culture, but not of particularly good quality. Don't get me wrong, it is very conveniently located and it serves well to satisfy your Venezuelan food cravings; but if you're Venezuelan you know it can be so much better. When you walk in, it looks almost like if a gift shop exploded inside, all the walls are covered with little Venezuelan trinkets, all of which are for sale. The hosts are very nice and the service is prompt; one of the best things about miguelitos are the free fried ""mini arepas"" and ""nata"" that they serve you as your table bread. Soooo good. For the uninitiated, Venezuelan food is very heavily meat and cheese influenced, basically every single dish will have some sort of meat and/or cheese in it. The staple of Venezuelan food is the Arepa, which is basically a dough patty which is then filled with your choice of meats and cheeses. The arepas here are decent, but the dough is a little flavorless and would be better if they added some butter to it. Of the almost limitless choices you have for your arepa filling I would recommend the regular ham and cheese, the ""pelua"" which is shredded beef and gouda, and the ""Reina Pepiada"", a wonderful concoction which includes chicken, avocado, and mayonnaise. Another good choice for typical food that you wont find anywhere else are the ""cachapas"". Cachapas are basically sweetcorn pancakes doubled over and filled with handmade soft white cheese called ""queso de mano"" that is only made in Venezuela. On top, you'll find a shredded, salty, hard cheese called ""queso de a?o"" which counters the sweetness of the cachapa perfectly. All this should be covered with copious amounts of butter for a real authentic experience (healthy huh?). While they are amazing, the length of time that the soft cheese and pre-made sweetcorn pancakes take to be imported dampens the overall quality. If you've ever had one in Venezuela you'll know that while these are good, they can be SO-MUCH-BETTER. Nevertheless, it is a great place to satisfy your fix, and you can't really blame them for the quality of the cheese, though it would be awesome if they made the cachapa pancakes in-house. The price for the food is good, you can expect to dine with someone else for less than $25; but the prices for some of the imported goods they sell at the counter are a little ridiculous. I guess people will pay a lot extra for a little taste of home. While the decor might be a little cheesy and tacky, and the food not quite there, it still feels like home, and there is no price you can put on that. more

We discovered this place almost by accident while searching online and decided to try it out because it sounded interesting and was close by. I wish we'd discovered it 6 years ago (that's how long it's been open). Great food, excellent service and I only saw one thing on the menu for more than $10 (and that could feed 2 people). Not many places like that around anymore. Pros: excellent, authentic food for cheap Cons: Can't think of any more

We tried this place out based on the reviews and we had never had Venezuelan cuisine before and are always into new things. It was very different than I expected, but I would probably try it again because the food was interesting and very authentic tasting. We had the sampler because we were not sure what to get as the menu suggested and it was okay (a lot of fried stuff). Next time I will know better and try an entree and bring my own wine. Overall though it was a cool experience and the staff was very nice. more

I'm half Venezuelan myself and I liked this place, it was my first time there. The food was a bit pricy and the staff was a bit indifferent. The place is way too small in my opinion. They have a small gift shop where you can buy things from Venezuela there which is awesome. I'd say check it out.... Pros: Decent food,gift shop Cons: expensive, very small,staff a bit indifferent more

Good food in a nice, homey environment. The staff was efficient, but not overly friendly. I will definitely go there again with friends. more

I have been here MANY times and have never experienced the bad food or service that was mentioned. It has always been fresh and delicioso!! I get a craving for it and have to get some to go! The arepas are the best and almost only ones you get get here in town, along with the imported cheese. My son even craves this place! If you are looking for authentic Venezuelan, this is the only place in Houston to get it. They even import sodas and specialty candies form Venezuela. Neat little place to visit! more

This was by far the worst food I have ever been served. I had the shredded beef and plantains. They did not have the green plantain, so ripe ones were substituted. I did not object to the substitution. However, the beef was dry and salty. The plantains were overcooked, almost burned. My companion had an ""arepa"" with cheese that kept oozing some liquid. We did not know if it was grease or liquid from the cheese. The rice he ordered was an unrecognizable paste and the beans were dried and salty. Nothing was edible. To add insult to injury, they charged us for all the food, although we were unable to eat it! Pros: Nothing outstanding I can think of Cons: The food is terrible more

I wish the food were like when it just opened. It was great back then. Now it is terrible. I don't know what happed, it doesn't represent Venezuelan food as it should. Sorry, but you should hire the first cooker or chef you had. Hope it'll get better. It is too expensive too. Pros: Location Cons: price, food, service more

I was told to visit them by a friend from Venezuela. The food was very good very much out of the everyday menu you find on most restaurants in town. I ordered Tequenos (cheese sticks) and Pabellon (fried plantain, rice, beef and black beans). The place is clean and very nice. I must say I thank Frank over Star Auto Accessories for this tip. more