Pepito’s serves its final arepa: Jerusalemites mourn beloved Latin restaurant

Jerusalemites faced a tough goodbye as Pepito’s, a Latin restaurant located just outside the Mahaneh Yehuda market, shut its doors this week.

For nearly a decade, the Colombian and Venezuelan-influenced restaurant has served a variety of flavorful dishes. It was known for its arepas, a corn-based flatbread stuffed with various fillings. Other fan favorites included burritos, sandwiches, and burgers.

Customer Nir Zarchin has been picking up arepas from Pepito’s for years. He brings them home to his wife, who is gluten-free and enjoys them as a safe and tasty option.

“She will be very sad,” Zarchin said. “It’s nice because it’s authentic. You always see people speaking Spanish here.”

On Thursday, Pepito’s served its last meal. An announcement on the restaurant’s Instagram page stated, “Come eat, drink, and kiss us. You’ll hear from us again :)”

Fans of the restaurant commented on the post in English, Spanish, and Hebrew, thanking the owners for years of delicious food and expressing how much they would miss them.

Many of them asked, “Por qué?” Why is Pepito’s closing?

Why is Pepito's closing? Saying goodbye to a beloved Jerusalem restaurant

The owners – Andrés Darío González Naranjo and Silvia Liplewski – decided to close shop after a tumultuous four years since COVID. Things were starting to look up in 2023, but the war brought more hard times for the establishment.

Starting in 2016, Pepito’s was in the closed part of the shuk (outdoor market). Liplewski recalls the beginning of the business fondly as “the golden years for Jerusalem.”

Tourism was booming, so the couple decided to move just outside Mahaneh Yehuda to have a bigger location, but just two weeks after they signed the lease, everything shut down due to the pandemic.

“We were in the middle of the renovations. We couldn’t finish. We didn’t have workers. We couldn’t go to work,” Liplewski reflected. “We lost a lot, a lot, a lot of money during COVID.”

González Naranjo went to culinary school in Venezuela, and Liplewski received her master’s in business. Opening the restaurant with their combined backgrounds was their dream. They were fully devoted to the restaurant but struggled to find reliable employees.

“We were always lacking good, responsible workers that we could afford,” Liplewski said, adding that this is an issue for all restaurants in Israel.

The pressure of running the business became too stressful for the couple, who are raising two children. For now, they plan to take a much-needed break.

An Instagram user under the handle @r_avram commented on Pepito’s goodbye post, saying:

“Silvi and Andrés darlings! It’s been a while since you wanted to take this step. I wish you ALL the best and much success in everything you set out to do and in any new adventure you begin! You should celebrate this 29.08 that brings good things, for you and for our beloved Venezuela!!!

“A strong hug.”■