La Teresita - Tampa, FL

Posted By Michael Stern on January 1, 2009 1:04 PM

"Strong enough to make the rooster crow" is how one nearby La Teresita regular narrated the arrival of small cups of inky espresso to our place at La Teresita's counter one Saturday morning in West Tampa. It is powerful brew, with enough body to deliver a wallop even when you order it con leche. In the morning on the weekends (La Teresita doesn’t open until lunchtime on weekdays) many customers sit at this counter with their newspaper (in Spanish or English) and drink cups of con leche with lengths of toasted and buttered Cuban bread. It is elegant bread – crisp with fluffy insides – and needs nothing more than butter to attain a certain simple perfection. With coffee, it is a great breakfast.

At lunch and supper seven days a week, the long tubes of bread become the foundation for wonderful Cuban sandwiches of roasted pork, and shorter lengths are served alongside huge portions of such Latin specialties as bistec palomilla (sirloin steak, thinly sliced, pan fried and served with yellow rice), chicken with yellow rice and black beans, and ropa vieja, a beef roast cooked so long in a spicy tomato sauce that the meat falls apart when you lift it from the plate with a fork.

There are a few tables scattered about at La Teresita, but the choice seats (and swift service) is at the counters. Seats are arrayed along a sweeping serpentine surface where whole families line up on the rows of stools at dinnertime.

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Posted By Kevin Noble on January 8, 2011 12:23 PM

I used to live in the Tampa area, this place is fantastic! When I lived there, most who worked at La Teresita were Cuban and barely spoke English. A real, true Cuban experience loved by locals.

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ropa vieja

Cuban Bread

Cuban sandwich

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Posted By Ron Cooper on January 8, 2011 8:03 AM

Whenever I'm in the Tampa area I try to eat at La Teresita. Great & reasonable prices, very friendly vibe from the staff and patrons.

Overall Rating

Cuban sandwich

ropa vieja

Cuban Bread

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Posted By Marty Boyer on December 18, 2006 12:09 AM

I skipped breakfast and lunch to prepare for my meal at La Teresita. I was pretty hungry and my stomach had found that special place where it seems that I could not fill up. I was in the right place and my stomach in prime condition. I have to be honest: though I cook a bit, I'm not very familiar with Cuban food at all. However, I was determined to have a good sample.

First, this place is very reasonable. Most dishes are under $7 and the food portions are off the hook in size. The atmosphere is what you'd expect for a diner-type Cuban restaurant. The food is incredible.

So I started off with a nice Vaca Frita ($5.75), or flank steak (the daily special). Flank steak is stringy; it was served with green peppers and onions, very tasty stuff. I expected the texture, but it was grilled and seasoned well. It came with very tasty moro and a black bean soup. The moro was mixed with some type of light meat throughout, very moist and tasty. The black bean soup is simple and well done, with hearty and warm flavors. My food was served with grilled bread as well.

That's a lot of food, but I knew my stomach was in that special place. I then decided to try some banana flan. It was sweet, creamy and chilled so well. The sauce was much better than most because it wasn't so overly sweet. Dessert, tasty, but you know what, I was still hungry. Time for the Cuban.

I ordered the small Cuban ($2.75). This thing was abolutely huge. I couldn't imagine eating anything more than that. The cheese was perfectly melted, with a light mustard, mayo and lettuce, with that crispy bread. Now that is a sandwich.

The locals were kind to my ignorance of the menu. They also pointed out the churro man right up the street, 20 for $3.00; he was selling these out of a van. Amazing dessert on top of dinner, a dessert, sandwich and dessert.

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