Venezuelan Restaurant to Open in Downtown State College

Looking for new food options downtown? Juana’s, a new casual Venezuelan restaurant, is coming to State College and might be the fix you need.

The establishment, which will be located at 129 S. Fraser Street, will serve authentic and traditional Venezuelan food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their specialties are made from scratch with fresh ingredients, sourced locally and beyond.

Owners Ady Martinez and Hugo Romero named their new family business after Ady’s grandmother, Juana, who brought her recipes from Venezuela.

Although it won’t be open for another few weeks, Juana’s will host a series of promotional events on a regular basis in preparation.

For now, State College foodies can sample some arepas — a staple of Venezuela — and other specialties at the Downtown State College Farmers Market every Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Check the restaurant’s Facebook page for upcoming events.

Juana’s will be opening in the location most recently occupied by ‘micro-kitchen incubator’ Kitchen Incb. The storefront has long been a launching point for food businesses: Fasta & Ravioli Co., Herwig’s Austrian Bistro and Insomnia Cookies all got started there before moving to bigger digs.

Fasta owner Bob Ricketts, who founded Kitchen Incb., said the incubator is co-locating with Fasta’s site in Pleasant Gap. He said the Pleasant Gap building has extra space, open hours and additional resources that made for a logical move for Kitchen Incb.

StateCollege.com’s Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.