Sabor Latino, a taste of Venezuela opens in Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS – Sabor Latino opened its doors on June 17 and is prepared to bring Venezuelan cuisine to the International City.

Owners Eduardo Barcenas and his wife Nairobys Barcenas are the duo behind the first Venezuelan restaurant in middle Georgia. 

Eduardo Barcenas describes the food as a Carribean style such as rice, beans, sweet plantains and regular plantains. He said their menu also includes grilled meat, grilled chicken and grilled pork. 

The restaurant menu has a wide variety of choices. Eduardo Barcenas said one their most famous plates currently is the Parilla, which includes grilled steak, grilled chicken, sausage and plantains. 

A famous Venezuelan dish is arepas which is what the country is most known for. Eduardo Barcenas describes it as a “pupusa,” a popular Salvadorian dish. While pupusas are usually stuffed with cheese, pork or beans, both are flatbread, arepas are stuffed with either grilled beef, chicken, pork or, for a vegetarian friendly option, scrambled eggs. Depending on which one people order, different toppings and meats are offered. 

Eduardo Barcenas also shares another customer favorite right now is called a Cachapa which he describes as a round pancake shaped corn mixture. 

Customers have the option of adding cheese which is known in Venezuela as “queso de mano” which Eduardo Barcenas describes as similar to Mozzarella cheese but not exactly, it has a different flavor but the same amount of stretchiness. 

“You can fill it up with any type of meat or you can just eat it with cheese, and it’s covered with a, I would say, a sweeter type of sour cream on top of it,” he said. 

Another traditional Venezuelan plate the business offers is Pabellòn Criollo, which comes with rice, beans, sweet plantains, cheese, avocado slices and a fried egg. 

“That’s been one of the most ordered dishes as well,” he said. 

Eduardo Barcenas said he and his wife have been wanting to open a restaurant since the COVID-19 pandemic. He is Mexican and his wife is Venezuelan. Learning more about her culture, he started to enjoy eating Venezuelan food.

“Around here we don’t have any Venezuelan food to eat. We always go to Atlanta, which is the closest place and we also travel a lot to the Orlando area in Florida and get that type of food there as well,” he said.

Eduardo Barcenas said this year they started noticing a lot of Venezuelans, Colombians and people from South America starting to put their roots in Warner Robins. Seeing different ethnicities moving to the city inspired them to open the restaurant. 

“I thought it would be a good idea, since mostly the only type of Hispanic food we have here in Warner Robins is Mexican food. That’s what inspired us, a lot of people coming here, and I think in two years there will be even more people from South America here in Warner Robins. So I figured it would be a good idea to open,” he said.

Eduardo Barcenas said so far, they have gained a following since they opened their doors. He said Fridays and Saturdays have been their busiest days; they are slower on Mondays and Tuesdays, but have noticed more and more people stopping by those days as well.

Eduardo Barcenas shared they have felt good about bringing a piece of Venezuela to the community. He said there have been a lot of people coming to the restaurant eager to try a different flavor.

“They really enjoy eating here. They enjoy the food. They are glad there is something different in Warner Robins than the typical Mexican food that you can only find here. I enjoy giving them the food so they can try something else and taste a little bit of the Venezuelan culture,” he said.

Sabor Latino is located at 1996 Watson Boulevard, and they are open Monday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

To view their full menu and find out more, visit their Facebook page .