"Where Quality Rules" and other Tampa, FL Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Alessi Bakery

Alessi's has been around forever. Everyone in my family got their wedding cake from there. (Alessi’s wedding cakes are to regular wedding cakes what Gretzky is to AHL players. Seriously, they have a whole philosophy on them > http://www.alessibakeries.com/Wedding.html) It's a real Tampa institution.
Alessi's features real Italian, Cuban, and Spanish treats as well as a deli with some Southern American dishes (think stewed okra) thrown into the mix just for fun. I’m not a big fan of the deli, since I can’t eat meat and almost EVERYTHING on the other side of their sneeze guard has meat or lard in it, but my father tells me it’s good. There are plenty of local specialties like deviled crabs and Cuban sandwiches. They do have a vegetarian sandwich that’s around four bucks, but it’s nothing to write home about. The bakery and I, on the other hand, are well acquainted. I have seriously never been disappointed with anything that I have gotten there. Also, the food is made fresh every day, so if you go around an hour before closing time, they'll give you some stuff for free and there’s always a couple of two-for-one specials running.

Favorite Dish: Anything with guava in it = good. In fact, they sell their guava preserve in jars, so you can make your own treats at home.
Also, their rum cake and strawberry bomba are completely amazing. They usually only sell the bomba cake around Valentine's Day, but you can special order it anytime.
My brother is also a fan of the scichatta (I know I am probably buthering the spelling of this), but then again, that's more meat.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Bakery
Comparison: about average

Phone: (813) 879-4544
Address: 2909 West Cypress St, Tampa, Florida, 33609
Website: http://www.alessibakeries.com/

Restaurant Name: Pipo's and Son Cafeteria Restaurant, Inc.

"Cafeteria-style" usually means "crappy," but not at this joint. Sure, the ambience consists of some framed posters from Goodwill of lighthouses in the distance, miss-matched flatware, and fake-wood serving trays, but the food makes up for it. Usually, I don't like so-called Spanish food because I find that locally it has the danger of being one of two things: laden with meat or mislabeled Mexican food. Pipo's is the real deal, though. My brother and father like the Media Noche sandwich - I always get black beans and yellow rice. It's dead cheap, too. The pallea is the most expensive thing by far, and it's $12.95. Most things are under $10.00, and they really dish it out.

Favorite Dish: They make platanos just like my Nana, and platano-making is what I would consider my Nana's greatest asset.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 813-882-0184
Address: 7233 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, Florida

Restaurant Name: EVOS

EVOS is totally a McDonald's for hippies. There's no drive-thru or big, ugly / scary clown, but there's also no cage-to-slaughter food from animals or super-secret "fillers" (nice word for poison garbage put in most fast-food burgers to make them last until Reagan's head is unfrozen from its cryogenic state to reign in the distant future). EVOs serves organic, locally-produced, (according to them) "humane" fast food. There's a few vegetarian options (they used to have no vegetarian foodon the kids menu - but they've added a champion veggie burger), but its mostly free-range chicken and cow for the sandwiches / wraps. My mother tells me they taste good. I think that the vegetarian food they serve here is the cat's meow, though, so I'm not really sure why you would have to eat something dead.
Also, there's the totally awesome and amazing air fries. They are cooked with hot air - how neat is that? They have different flavours of ketchup, too. That's always fun to play with.
Besides having good food, they're a really friendly, responsible local business. That's always nice to see.

Favorite Dish: The veggie burger here in no way resembles a hockey puck. It's the best!

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 813-258-EVOS
Address: 609 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, Florida, 33602
Directions: There's also an EVOs in Westshore Mall (157 Westshore Plaza, Food Court, Tampa, FL 33609), but I don't like that one as much. There's also one in St. Petersburg (2631 4th St. N (and 27th Ave.) St.Petersburg, FL 33704), if you're swinging by there.
Website: http://www.evos.com
Other Contact: comments@evos.com

Restaurant Name: La Teresita

La Teresita is this sprawling set of awkward peach buildings in the middle of various even uglier strip-mall style shopping plazas and gas stations. The inside of the place is not all that awesome to look at either - - think of you grandmother's family room with, like, semi-tacky framed paintings and plastic flowers.
However, the assault on your eyes will soon melt away as soon as you taste the very moderately-priced food at La Teresita. My daddy has been taking me their since I was a baby, and I've never gotten sick of eatting there.
They serve what a guess that http://www.tbo.com crowd would call "Latin" food - - yellow rice, black beans, platanos, cuban bread, etc. My dad usually gets the pork because he is a meat-eatter and says its good. I always get black beans and yellow rice.

Favorite Dish: I cannot get my yellow rice to be as good as theirs no matter how hard I try - - and I think I make pretty good yellow rice.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (813) 879-9704
Address: 3246 W Columbus Drive, Tampa, Florida, 33607

Restaurant Name: Ceviche

Ceviche' is the type of place that you take your girlfriend's mom: it's not expensive, but it's no Denny's, either.]
All of the food at Ceviche' (besides the desserts) is available in either a dinner size or a tapas size. If you order the tapas, don't get all miffed when your waitress only delivers, like, half of it. Tapas come out in stages, so everyone has a chance to share. The food is authentically Spanish - unlike some "Spanish" restaurants in the area that serve tacos and the like.
Sadly, there is not much vegetarian food on the menu: papas fritas, aceitunas, pimientos, ensalada, etc. What they have is pretty good, though.

Favorite Dish: My favorite thing here is the Torta Valenciana. It's awesome. They have Flan here, too, that's pretty good, but tell them to go lighter on the syrup.
My meat-eatting friend says that the Paella is also very good here, but it takes forty minutes to an hour to cook.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (813) 250-0134
Address: 2109 Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, Florida 33606
Website: http://www.cevichetapas.com/

Restaurant Name: NK Cafe (The Natural Kitchen)

The NK Cafe was started in the early 70s . . . before my time . . . as a vegetarian restaurant for hippies. Overtime, the NK Cafe has added some meat dishes (yucky) to their menu, but they've kept the philosophy that food should be presented as naturally as possible. Most of the food here is organic, all of it is without preservatives. Further, I've never had anything here I didn't like. . . it tastes really good!
** Only open for lunch until 3 p.m.

Favorite Dish: The Girlfriend Special Salad is my favorite, though the Grilled Chese is awesome, too.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: (813)-874-2233
Address: 218 W Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa, Florida
Directions: Right across from Fox 13 Studios
Website: http://nkcafe.com/
Other Contact: nkcafe@aol.com

Restaurant Name: Rick's Italian

Rick's is a little family-owned place on Davis Island - a small, man-made chain of islands. I'm not sure if Katy likes this place because of its location (my grandmother taught at the pre-school down the street until the day she died and its where all of us started school), or because its actually a good restaurant. I think it's a little bit of both.
I know that the both of us really like garlic knots - these little buns that are full of garlic and butter. Yummy. Also, Katy's a little bit crazy about the tiramisu here.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (813) 253-3310
Address: 214 East Davis Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33606

Restaurant Name: Donatello

So, you want to go out to eat, but you also want to get your ass kissed from the moment you walk in the door to the moment you leave. Where ever should you go?
Answer: Donatello.
The food here is really, really good - and it better be for what they charge - - but the real draw here is the service. It's very old school with waiters pulling out chairs and whatnot, but it's nice.

Favorite Dish: The tirimasu is awesome here, as is the Souffle Grand-Marnier

Leave a Comment

Theme: Italian
Comparison: more expensive than average

Phone: (813) 875-6660
Address: 232 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33609
Website: http://donatellorestaurant.com/

Restaurant Name: The Wine Exchange

The Wine Exchange's menu changes pretty often, so its really hard to say what kind of food they serve. I've had everything from Polish to Thai here, and it's all been fairly good.
The place itself is pretty small - few tables and a rather large (compared to the rest of the place) bar. There is a patio if you want to sit outside.
If you're out shopping in Old Hyde Park, this is probably your best bet for lunch.

Favorite Dish: If they are on the menu, the sage and olive oil pierogies are really, really good.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (813) 254-9463
Address: 1611 W. Swann Ave. Tampa, Florida
Directions: Right next to the movie theatre - - parking is either on the street, in the garage across the street, or behind in the movie theate's lot.

Restaurant Name: ¡Viva La Frida! Café y Galeria

Viva la Frida is probably the best example of survival in the restaurants-built-in-homage-to-dead-Marxist-Surrealist-Mexican-painters genre that I can think of.
Originally, Viva la Frida was located in Ybor City, the historic Latin district of Tampa. But, when trendier places started moving in, burritos and pico de gallo were no longer paying the bills. So, poor little VLF (then Angelica's Mexican Cafe and Frida Khalo Homage, named after super-nice owner Angelica Diaz) packed it up and moved to cheaper pastures in Seminole Heights. Though the little strip of Florida Avenue they are now on is not as interesting as Ybor, the restaurant itself is as awesome as ever. The food's not at all Taco-Bellish (I don't eat there, but I've heard things) and the Frida-Khalo-inspired art is awesome. Also, there is a full gallery that hosts showings, mainly from local artists.

Favorite Dish: The Starvin' Artists specials here are cheap and good. I'm kind of a tubby artist, but they let me order it anyway.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Mexican
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 813-231-9199
Address: 5901 N Florida Avenue, Tampa, Florida
Website: http://www.vivalafrida.net