Sitting cheerfully in an Owings Mills parking lot—surrounded by bright red cafe tables and chairs arranged beneath strung cafe lights—is the Chevere Bites food truck, which specializes in Venezuelan street food.
Opened a few years ago by a family from Aragua, one of Venezuela’s 23 states, Chevere moved into its current spot on Reisterstown Road last fall, just down the road from Garrison Forest School and only a few miles away from Stevenson University. It’s also across the street from Foundry Row (Panera, Chipotle, Charley’s Cheesesteaks), and thus offers a welcome alternative to fast-casual chains.
There are a few places to eat excellent Venezuelan food in Baltimore. The first that comes to mind is Alma Cocina Latina in Station North, where you can order chef Héctor Romero’s sophisticated dishes, as well as bar bites like tequeños—little bullets of melty cheese wrapped in pastry.
Tequeños are also on the menu at Chevere, and arrive accompanied by cups of a spectacular signature sauce: a creamy blend of avocado, cilantro, lime, and mayo. We didn’t ask for these, having already put in a pretty substantial order, but the remarkably friendly server brought them out for us to try anyway. They were marvelous.
Classic Venezuelan arepas—beautiful packages of griddled corn cakes enveloping various fillings—are also, of course, on the menu. Among the most arresting is one filled with cheese, beef, black beans, and gorgeous discs of golden plantains. (Venezuelan cuisine is a glorious amalgam of European, West African, and Indigenous ingredients and methods.)
Another superb dish, one of the new house specials, is the cachapa brava, a traditional sweet-corn pancake loaded with melty cheese, strips of medium-rare steak, and chimichurri sauce—served alongside another cup of that house green sauce. More offerings include steak and fries, hot dogs (topped with slaw, sweet corn, bacon, and avocado), burgers, loaded fries, and the Venezuelan subs called pepitos. All of this can be paired with requisite cans of Frescolita, a Venezuelan cola.
Chevere, a Spanish slang term translating to “cool” or “awesome,” is a most accurate name for this colorful truck—with its cheery service and ambiance, and its wonderful, deeply flavorful food. Because although you can find arepas in a few places—also at Arepi, the casual Venezuelan spot next to The Sound Garden on the Fells Point waterfront—it’s more difficult to find out in the county.
Chevere is open until 11 p.m. daily except for Tuesdays (when they are closed) and Sundays (when they close at 9 p.m.) and they also deliver. One last reminder: do not skip the sauce.