Around me, aficionados light up. The scent of tobacco mingles with more Cuban coffee and Cuban sandwiches hot off the grill. The warm smells get me thinking—it’s time for lunch, and I want to indulge in an Ybor City tradition—a Cuban sandwich. As I sink my teeth into the roast ...
Ybor City was the “Cigar Capital of the World,” producing half a billion cigars each year. With so many immigrants, Ybor City was a thriving immigrant community that offered affordable housing to immigrants, a strong Cuban community, and ...
by Karen Pacheco On Avenida Republica de Cuba, we stand before a yellow brick, neo-classical building reading the historical marker about El Circulo Cubano (the Cuban Club). This structure, built in 1917, contained a theater, pharmacy, library, ballroom and cantina, and is listed on the Nati...
We stopped in Ybor City to look around, have lunch and a Cuban coffee. Columbia restaurant was great! If you like cigars then you’ll want to stop here. We decided to come back that evening for the Reliaquest Bowl kick off parade. We had a great time. Good spot for a parade and ...
“A Cuban sandwich, a devil crab, a stuffed potato, all the things that make Tampa unique,” smiled Manteiga. It’s so unique that someone could come along and reopen it, according to Gia Pena, who has operated the 188-seat restaurant since 2016. ...