(Image: Paparepas)

One thing is certain on pandemic-era Capitol Hill: We will not starve. Paparepas Venezuelan Food is the latest restaurant venture to make plans to join the neighborhood, lined up to open soon in the Broadway Building.

“We love the opportunity that the city gives to us,” Grecia Carrero of Paparepas says about the decision for the Kent-based restaurant and food truck to expand to Capitol HIll.

Carrero tells CHS that the growing restaurant considered an Eastside expansion but its days as a food truck with successful visits to Westlake convinced the family to stick with the city that has already shown its love for the arepas, empanadas, fried tequeños, tostones, and bowls of Paparepas.

Hailing originally from the San Cristobal area in the southwest of the country near the border with Colombia, Carrero says Paparepas is about sharing the dishes of Venezuela with the Pacific Northwest and bringing some of San Cristobal to Broadway.

“We have a very good tradition from there,” Carrero said.

The planned debut in coming weeks adds another entry to CHS’s growing roster of restaurants, cafes, and bars to look forward to in 2022.

(Image: Paparepas)

(Image: Paparepas)

(Image: Paparepas)

(Image: Paparepas)

(Image: Paparepas)

(Image: Paparepas)

The Paparepas expansion will also add a new tenant to the Broadway Building just north of E Pine where Blick Art Supplies is the street level center of the commercial offerings below office space above. The building has lost tenants during the COVID-19 restrictions including GameStop which closed after a decade headed into 2021.  The building is also home to Yo! Zushi, Ian’s Pizza, and Fresh Off the Boat Poke. “Concierge”-style clinic One Medical has also opened a location there. Across the street, Seattle Central’s thousands of students will eventually return fully to campus to be steady customers.

In the meantime, Paparepas is planning a February opening if it can overcome the pandemic-boosted delays in city permits and licenses and is primed with its food truck bonafides to thrive even as in-person dining continues to lag.

Paparepas Capitol Hill is planned to join its continuing food truck operation and its Kent original in the coming weeks at 1620 Broadway. You can learn more at paparepas.com.

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