Arepa Lady

After escaping the violence from her hometown of Medellin, Colombia, lawyer Maria Piedad Cano (aka “The Arepa Lady”) started selling arepas out of a push cart on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens decades ago. After more than 25 years of hard work and growing popularity, Cano, together with her sons, opened her first brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2014 in addition to a locale at DeKalb Market Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. Their signature, fluffy arepas come in varieties such as arepas de queso (melted mozzarella); arepa de choclo (corn); and the arepa rellena (filled with chicharrón and chorizo).