First Look: Big Yummy, A New Venezuelan Spot in Addison

Watching the FIFA World Cup tournament can put one in the mood for international cuisine. (Right? We can’t be the only ones.) What better way to feign interest in soccer and to celebrate the U.S. team’s plucky effort in its loss to The Netherlands in the knockout round than by downing a pabellón criollo or two at Big Yummy, a new Venezuelan cuisine spot that recently opened in Addison.

Big Yummy has an extensive menu with such favorites as the aforementioned pabellón criollo, arepas, empanadas, cachapas and patacones. Also here are Venezuelan takes on the humble hamburger, along with almuerzo lunch plates and that most Venezuelan of street food, salchipapas. There’s a lot going on here, and we’d be lying if we didn’t admit to having to Google several of these dishes, but the informed eater is the happy eater.

We started off with a couple of empanadas, settling upon empanada pollo and papa con queso, at $3 each. Both arrived in a nicely sized half-moon of fried goodness, hot but not burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot. The shredded chicken one was fine: well-seasoned, but nothing to write home about. The cheese version, however, was extremely good, full of gooey, stringy queso blanco.

Other side options include yuca bites, tequeños, pepitos and mondoca.

Our mains were cachapa con carne asada and tostaditas de carne asada. The cachapa, a Venezuelan corn pancake, arrived stuffed with wonderful cheese and lettuce. The healthy portion of beef was roasted to perfection, more diced than shredded, topped with grated cheese and served with a side of crema. The meat was extremely flavorful, the cheese rich and the cachapa had that good grilled corn flavor.

The tostadita was served with two corn arepas, shredded lettuce, roasted beef, fried cheese and three different sauces: a sort of sweet/hot barbecue-style sauce, crema and a green sauce. These could probably be eaten in the hand like a sandwich, but the ingredients were overflowing, and we resorted to knife and fork until they became more manageable. The corn tostaditas were crispy and flavorful, providing a perfect texture contrast to the chewy cheese and richly flavored beef. Messy, but worth it.

Burger options such as roasted beef and chicken are also available for mains, as well as various lunch plates including, of course, the national dish of Venezuela, pabellón crillo, which is usually composed of shredded beef, black beans and rice, with tajadas (fried plantains) or a fried egg (or both).

Clearly, there is much to explore on this menu, including some interesting beverage choices, so we’ll definitely be back. Hopefully, we won’t wait for the next World Cup to do so.

16246 Midway Road, Addison. Sunday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.