Sazon Restaurant & Cafe, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Restaurant Details

Food:

Good gluten free arepas. Chicken with rice also a favorite. Nice servers. Reasonably priced. Cash only. Parking not too bad. Area a bit sketchy. Good prep on a 15 person reservation, too.

Food:

What a find! We were in town for a concert at Union Transfer, across the street. We decided to try Sazon, never having had Venezuelan food before (in the US - my wife has been to Venezuela). We were blown away. I always love restaurants where the owner serves you and talks with you, and this one didn't disappoint.

It's BYOB, so we brought our own bottle of wine. We started with the Sazon Plato appetizer. The dipping salsa was to die for and my favorite item on the platter was the little empanada. We also had the chicken soup, which is her grandmothers recipe. It was fantastic. The perfect amount of spice.

I had the Pernil Arepa (pulled pork arepa) and it was delicious. My wife had the Patacon 1 with chicken - their most popular item. It delivered 1000%. We shared a side of the Yucca Frita, a first for the both of us. It comes with a garlic oil to dip/cover it with, which was oil and finely chopped raw garlic, which was mouth watering.

I don't know how we had room for dessert but the specialty artisan chocolates were calling our names. Served to us by the chef owner himself, we had the cafe mocha, which was wonderful, and the clasico 5 chocolate hot chocolate, also fantastic. Rich, creamy, chocolatey. We split 3 truffles - and they were very, very good. He laughed when we ordered all of that and said, "You guys are gonna get high tonight!" Which I was fine with since we had a 2 hour drive home after our concert.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience for us, we'll be back and we'll be telling all of our friends to try it out, too. The only con I could see is that it's cash only, but they clearly state that on their website so we came prepared. The prices are very reasonable.

Food:

Best (and only) Venezuelan restaurant in Philly. I love the food and the environment. Since I was born in Caracas, eating at Sazon is like comfort food to me. I highly recommend that you try this adventure, as everyone I have taken there has loved it. We always order 10+ hallacas in December, a traditional Venezuelan meal the Christmas time. Hallacas are similar to Mexican tamales, but much richer in filling and flavor. Venezuela is also known for its great chocolate, and Sazon has made that a specialty of theirs, with some amazing choices of chocolate drinks, and truffles. Also, make sure to bring cash, as they don't accept credit cards.

Food:

The place is a gem! Friendly owner, amazing arapas, the best ive ever had. Beef is slow cooked and chicken avacado is bliss.

Food:

I've been here once before, and the service was excellent, and the food was amazing. BUT, last night I stopped in to grab an empanada to go, and the woman at the counter (one I haven't seen before) was incredibly rude to me. She would not say a word to me or look me in the eye. I was very nice and direct to her, so I didn't understand the rudeness? I asked her if they took card and she said "no," as I was asking her where the closest ATM was, she ignored me and walked away. When she gave me my change, I said thank you. No response. When she gave me my food I said thank you, no response. She was talking to the other people in the restaurant with a polite demeanor. I am certain she was prejudiced (I am a Black Latina woman.) I will never give this establishment my business again. I know racism when I see it.