Zaguan Bakery & Cafe

I’m not giving 1 star because breakfast, baked goods, and drinks are good here. Any other meal that doesn’t involve eggs or arepas is horrid. And at an average of $ 12 gravely overpriced. The food tastes like it has been warmed in a microwave. The rice has the dried scraped up bits in it that most restaurants would be embarrassed to serve. DO NOT EAT HERE FOR A LUNCH OR DINNER MEAL!

Still great for latin food. I had the pabellon criollo– and it was awesome! My only complaint about the dish: they served it with a piece of bread instead of an arepa. The bread is probably more effective than the arepa at picking up the juices at the bottom of the plate than the arepa. Licking the plate, while tempting, is really bad form in public.

Excellent service, and their signature sandwich is like meat candy on perfectly toasted bread. I just wish I hadn’t been in such a hurry and could have really stretched out the meal to try a couple more things from the menu.
Also just generally felt like they care about the customer’s experience, which isn’t as common as it should be anymore.

We came here craving ethnic foods and glad we made the right choice! They have quite a huge selection of items to choose from including empanadas, smoothies, and bakery goods. Be careful not to go super crazy and order everything because they do add up! We had three different smoothies including mango papaya, lolu, and mango passionfruit. I honestly don’t know which one is my favorite because they all tasted sooo good. They were all milky, smooth, and just full of fruitness.
Of the dishes we ordered, my favorite was the cachapa. It was like a crêpe except soft and melted in my mouth. The meat was juicy, very tender, and made the dish come in unison. The pabellon — ropa vieja dish was only alright but it was because we ordered chicken, and the chicken was a little too dry for my taste. The sweet plantains is another must and comes with a lot of their entrees. Overall, I enjoyed my experience and look forward to coming back!

vegetarian cachapa
Guava and cheese filled bread.
ham, egg, cheese and Avocado Arepa
Café con leche
Lolu milk smoothie
Golfeados
croissants
The reina pepiada arepa
Venezuelan Arepa
Vegetarian cachapa
Zaguan Brunch
Tequeños
Maduros

Whenever I’m in the Oak Lawn area, I make sure to come by and pick up an order or dine in. Had a chance to visit yesterday with some friends who were in town for the Cotton Bowl.
I had my usual cachapa filled with chicken, and a side of plaintains, which was phenomenal. My friends ordered steak and rice, and beef and broccoli. They enjoyed their meal, but stated the food was a bit salty
I usually don’t order drinks here, but got a round of caipirinha’s and margaritas, which were strong and delicious.
I also ordered tequenos, and although I wasn’t familiar with them before, I will most certainly order them again.
All in all a good restaurant with a great selection of items for carinvores and vegetarians alike.

Had breakfast here with my roommates. The staff was nice and attentive but the food was only ok. I had the omelette and it was lacking in presentation and flavor. It was also a bit soggy and it weirded me out as I like my eggs to be thoroughly cooked. It came with a roll which again wasn’t bad just nothing to write home about.

I rate this a five, which is a rare case. But here is why:
There is something lovely about traveling, and having the freedom to decide what you will do each day, without having real obligations. There is also something serene and utterly beautiful in experiencing another culture, first hand. I would consider myself, not all that well traveled, but enough to know how wonderful it can be, and how pivotal it has been to me as a person. Kinda strange that a little bakery can bring this all back to me, but it does.
My favorite part, is walking in, and the majority of people that frequent this place, are Spanish speaking as if we are in a whole other country. As an Uptown spot, filled with sometimes too much pretense for elegance, this place is elegant enough without being overwhelmingly distasteful.
Tasteful is what this place is to me, so every now and again, slipping away to my Latin roots, I come and sit and enjoy my surroundings, the good coffee, the delicious pastries, and it reminds me of another place I call home.
Simple and sweet, I rate it a 5. It kinda reminds me of «La Basilica» in Cusco when I would stop and work a bit, and have a moment to myself.
Hope y’all enjoy it too! :-)

I ordered the Zaguan Breakfast and it was delicious. It also comes with your choice of smoothie. I chose guava with water and it was delicious. If i’m ever back in the area, I’ll definitely come back to visit.

I was surprised at how not busy this place was during lunch. I had a vegetarian arepa. It came with mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. It was smaller than I expected, but good. The salsa that came with it was pretty great too. My side of black beans was the best part! They tasted so, so good.
For the amount of food I got, I wish the price had been a little lower. Other than that, I liked the atmosphere, the food, and the service. It’s always great to find a restaurant that has veggie friendly dishes. I will be back to try their breakfast items and pastries.

The chicken arepa with salsa and shredded chicken, avocado, cheese cachapa are both delicious. I made the mistake of ordering chicken avocado and not saying shredded which led to some disappointment. Try to avoid that. This bakery has a delicious exotic assortment and my boyfriend and I love to stop by for breakfast from time to time. It’s heavy but a yummy treat.

My boyfriend and I dined here this evening, and we had a wonderful experience. We were looking at places to eat scrolling through Unilocal,and somehow Zaguan stuck out and we had to try it.
Honestly I had no idea what to expect, I don’t go for cultural delicacies, but I ordered the Zaguan sandwich and it was amazing. The sweet onions are so delicious and the bread has a really nice consistency and definitely adds to the flavor of the sandwich. Also, it’s a pretty decent-​sized sandwich! I could only finish half and took the second half home. The plantain chips were pretty good too, I had only tried them once before but I did enjoy them. My boyfriend had the cachapa with beef and cheese per our waitress’ recommendation (she said it was the best), and wow it was soooo good. The corn really pops out and brings the dish together. His only complaint was that the salsa (on the side) wasn’t spicy enough, haha. He also ordered churros and it came with condensed milk and milk chocolate I believe. The condensed milk worked very well, personally the chocolate was a bit too sweet for me. Their bakery items looked very nice too, they had a good selection in a glass case where you can see what they have.

Love trying new latin flavors
We drove by after seeing the Unilocal review
Love the corn pancake thingy make sure get their hot sauce
The only thing we didnt like was the guava jelly bread

I just reviewed this a few days ago and already I feel the urge to update my review. I talked to the owner and it seems like he retracted his willingness to offer more things that’s authentically Venezuelan. On top of that, he said they had never served empanadas de pabellon — which surprised me because it was exactly what I got last time. And this time, I had ordered it again, and it was just plain shredded meat. While it was still good, it was disappointing not to get a typical Venezuelan favorite and finding it being mini-​sized, which is not typical of Venezuelan empanadas.
On top of that, he’s dead set on keeping the «quesillo» name for a pastry that’s more akin to the Venezuelan quesadilla. And in Venezuela, everyone loves and knows the traditional «quesillo» which is their beloved flan (just made with more eggs) and it’s almost sacrilege to give the name to something else to which it is not. Bad form.
And the empanadas and tequeños still did not come with the typical Venezuelan salsas. I think Carlos, the owner, is just satisfied with the status quo — instead of trying to bring a bit of authenticity which is what Dallas really needs, especially for the local expat community. And even without the salsas, the tequeños is anything but tequeños — skip it — try the ones at Churromania to see what a tequeño in its basic form should be like.
And even though the cachapas are the rave here because it’s pretty much the only place in Dallas right now to get them, they don’t have any queso de mano or queso Guayanés or any of the traditional Venezuelan cheeses to go with the cachapas.
You would think that after so many years, they’ll start offering more. For Venezuelans, I’ll just tell everyone to go somewhere else for some of the more authentic grubs. The only thing this place will have that the most other Venezuelan places might not have are the bakery items like the cachitos and golfeados. Maybe Zaguan should have just stick to their pastry offerings. And fresh juices (not many place in Dallas has fresh squeezed orange juice).
Hopefully one day, he’ll be willing to update the place and give Dallas something new since Venezuelan establishments in other American cities with a small Venezuelan expat community, like Chicago, have been successful in providing authentic offerings. For some reason, I think the owner might just have the mentality that he’s the only Venezuelan in town and that nobody would notice these culinary discrepancies — and hopefully he’ll begin to see that there’s many local expats who feel that they’re still very far from home even after coming here.
Zaguan, you missed the mark.

I’m not overly familiar with south american food, but the cheese empanadas and corn cachapa was very good! It’s a modern, café style restaurant with plenty of seating. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal, and I look forward to coming back.
EDIT:
Cheese empanadas = taquenos.

I love this little place! The smoothies are delicious (guanabana and watermelon at least!). I could just about order the whole stock of cheese empanadas. They’re that good.
Really. Eat here. It’s sooooo good. Especially for lunch.

Impressive dishes that are mostly unknown to lovers of latin cuisine. Venezuelan favorites here are: ham/​olive/​raisin bread, reina pepia cachapas, beef arepas, hallacas, taqueños, and the famous #3-​pabellon. Delicious, self-​serve lemon verbena tea is delightfully refreshing. South American food is very different than Central American cuisine, and once you figure out what everything is made of, you see that it’s all slightly overpriced here.
A good place to bring someone whose tastebuds can’t be overly challenged by strong flavors. A fine choice for having a snack on-​the-​go, adventurous dieters, and gluten intolerant folks. Your know-​it-​all foodie friends will be utterly stumped when you can introduce them to this fantastic cuisine.

Zaguan Bakery & Café is a Latin restaurant and bakery in Oak Lawn. This great location serves up great pastries, coffee, and big Latin breakfasts. Zaguan excels at versatility, allowing you to enjoy everything from a simple sweet pastry with a latte to a large Latin breakfast with corn arepas.
My Overall Rating — 4 ½ Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Food, Return)
Atmosphere — The atmosphere is very cozy and welcoming. Zaguan Bakery & Café is almost split into two sections. You can order pastries and coffee to go from the counter, or sit in the main dining room for wait service. Latin influences are everywhere, from its stucco exterior to the colorful tiles that wrap columns. 1 Star.
Service — Service has always been great. The staff is nice, pleasant, and very friendly. I have had the chance to visit here multiple times, and every visit someone says hello and greets you as soon as you walk in. No issues here, just great people. 1 Star.
Food — There are really two aspects of Zaguan. You can either choose to go for a hearty breakfast or you can select a number of pastries to enjoy. I like to visit during breakfast or brunch because depending on how I feel, I know I will have several options. I am a huge fan of their pastries, and on my last visit I chose a dolce de leche sweet pastry that I happily dunked into my coffee. The croissants are good, but I think they excel at the pastries. Now if you are wanting something heartier, I suggest you try the Zaguan brunch — omelet, beef, and cheese arepa. Their portions are large, and the arepas are fantastic. The beef can be a bit dried out though. Honestly, I am more of a pastry fan of Zaguan vs. their brunches. Either way you won’t be disappointed. 1 ½ Stars.
Will I Return? — Yes. Sometimes I forget to visit Zaguan more often. Apparently they also do cakes and catering orders for pastries. I haven’t used them for that; however, I wouldn’t mind another latte and guava paste right now. 1 Star.
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Food — I’ll award up to two stars for the food, since this is the main reason we dine out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the food.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.

As I’m fairly new to posting reviews on Unilocal,I’ve noticed that a few of my regular favorites have been neglected :-(I forget to check-​in and/​or review. I’ve been going to Zaguan for more than 7 years; always enjoying every meal and the relaxed atmosphere.
This visit we shared a light meal of Cheese Empanadas and Tostones with Black Beans and Rice. The tostones here are my favorite, they ‘double-​fry’ them; making them taste just like home (Belize).
First the green plantain is peeled; cut thick crosswise; and fried first just to soften. Then it’s taken out of the pan and individually mashed to create the pieces that are fried again to product the excellent chip! Yes, time consuming, but totally worth the effort and not as greasy as you would imagine.
For the first time I tried the Cheese Tostones. Tasty, but I guess I’m a purest; I prefer my plantain chips unadulterated :-)
Not this visit, but typically my daughter and I often get either the Arepa (savory corn) or Cachapa (sweet corn) grilled ‘sandwich’. Both are delicious, but we both prefer the Cachapa. They come overstuffed with the fillings of your choice in a ‘thicker-​than-​tortilla’ like turnover. Sometimes I get the Vegetarian Plate of salad with black beans and rice when I trying for light and healthy.
And don’t forget this place is also a bakery! All good here, but everything with guava is my personal vice. The soft-​serve gelato is amazingly rich! I get the Dulce de Leche swirled with Vanilla because straight up is too sweet for me.
I leave here well-​served by the friendly staff and soooo very satisfied!

This place had always been on my radar and finally went after recovering from a bad brunch experience. Tucked away on Oak Lawn, it has a friendly décor on the outside that draws you in. Inside is a cute little bakery that sells a variety of pastries and desserts. In the back is Morelli’s Gelato if you’re craving ice cream (your best bet is getting gelato on top of one of their own desserts).
I ordered the #3 combo with the shredded beef while my friend got the steak and eggs. Each plate came out to over $ 10. My combo came with a side of rice and beans, both of which looked plain at first but were full of flavor. Unfortunately that was my favorite part of the meal. There wasn’t that much of the beef (maybe the same amount as either side) and the beef itself was kind of rough and not very tender (it took more chewing that it should have and the texture wasn’t great). There was a good bit of flavor, but it just didn’t feel very fresh to me.
The atmosphere was definitely nice and cozy, but it didn’t make up for the somewhat lackluster food. Maybe the pastries were better, but the meal (with gelato dessert) was already starting to break the brunch budget. It’s really more of a 2.5 stars rounded down, but it’ll probably be a while before I come back.

Excelente comida Venezolana, comimos unos tequeños de entrada y un pabellon de segundo. Nos atendio un muchacho muy amable que estuvo muy pendiente de nosotros. Nosbse pierdan probar la excelente comida.
Great venezuelan food, we had tequeños and Pabellon. The weiter was really nice and helpfull and took good care of us. Don’t miss this great food.