Arco Iris Cafe — Restaurant in Tampa

It was pretty good. Service the best & decor as well as atmosphere. It was long time since been there & more remodeling fix up since the 1st or so fixing. Loved the paintings on wall, tables, etc. The masitas pretty good & morro,etc. I recommend more then the stake, but I'd like to try the full one one day maybe, though even if other was paying idk, I rather go other place, but I recommend for others nearby. Small business deserves it more then other nearby like the Teresita. Always go to Latin places. I have not been able to try the other place at corner from them though. I was curious about it & missed out in a $5 off coupon, cuz depression, etc not get out. 😩 I tried a piece of the stake my brother got. I only liked it was thin soft like I like it visually & texture to bite chew through, but but salty style seasoning of marinade etc Ig, but not bad just I've had better I think though once another place I think at fiesta plaza restaurant the stake there was like that taste too. I wish they did their fried sweet plantains like he Asians do it how it should be done. Food court at Westshore mall. Sorry & a shame no lattin Cuban place gets it perfect or right. Not even close. Only got one small piece was a bit ripe soft. The rst we're not. At least wasn't super hard like in extra portion order. It was a treat that his friends took us to. I only have pork on New Years eve or December. Sometimes Nov & maybe in July during my bday month. That's it. I stated away from rice a long while , but at home it's the longest lasting staple so I have to buy it & pasta, etc cuz poor, etc. Only go out on certain occasions & way less to none cuz of Covid depression worries stuck inside my rented dwelling. I wish they had refill tab instead of $2.11 etc can of soda. It tastes better like cuz the ice idk then at home or in restaurants,but it left me wanting a bit more. Ik is not good for you & having cans home too last few months, etc & all the sugar we have in all foods or pkgs though I don't buy allot still plenty every ingredient just studied it in a online bought course for $17 & just finally plated most Al videos & read the PDF downloaded pucs, etc & book of few recipes hope to try some I like the sound of like smoothies, etc, but all chemicals are basically sugar or turn into it like starch, pastas, potatoes, frozen foods, etc. I wish could eat alive foods just veggies, etc , but I did buy some organic, etc whatever ground beef & stir fry tiny 1lb or less I think expensive meat on Amazon to try yt. Usually I get lowest possible & chicken mostly, but this I had to try fur rn. The rest of my lifestyle doesn't allow for healthier like we others or rich do etc, but at least do this one time cleanest...

I feel it would be an injustice if I did not share my horrible experience at this place. While in town for an overnight visit, I wanted to get my traditional deviled crab and Cuban sandwich fix, as I always do when I am in Tampa. My original plan was to go to West Tampa Sandwich shop, as their reviews are good. Unfortunately, they were so crowded (hence the good reviews) that there was no where to park, so I ended up at Arco Iris, who had plenty of open parking spaces and tables. I thought to myself, it's a deviled crab and Cuban sandwich, right? How could it be any worse than anywhere else? Believe me, it can be and it was! I'm not sure what they are attempting to pass off as a deviled crab, but I can assure you, the filling had no crab at all, and if it did, you certainly could not taste it. The filling tasted like pure onion, and the breading dough was cold and mushy. I smothered it in hot sauce to camouflage the awful flavor and ate about half of it. The Cuban sandwich was the worst sandwich (any kind of sandwich, not just a Cuban) that I have ever put in my mouth. It tasted absolutely nothing like a traditional Cuban sandwich, and had a strange flavor that I cannot even describe. Again, I ate half of the sandwich, washed down with a cold beer (the beer was good, by the way) and could not get out of there quick enough. Honestly, I would eat out of another restaurant's garbage dumpster before I would step foot in this place again. I hate to be so brutal here, but they should required to post a disclaimer on the door about how bad...

In West Tampa on the corner of Habana and MacDill is a quaint Café, Arco Iris, when you walk in, it magically triples in size from what you expected.

Serving up cuban coffee to your liking with milk or without, paired with cuban toast at almost every table. I am all about the bread! There is nothing like it. No matter where you go, stores claim to have cuban bread, everyone's attempt falls short of Tampa's cuban bread. You have to travel to Tampa to taste the difference, the REAL cuban bread. Visit one of the bakeries while in Tampa. The expansive menu and daily specials will surely satisfy what you are looking for. We ordered the special, Boliche, it's a cuban stuffed pot roast with plantains and yuca. A Cuban sandwich with everything and a devil crab. Half a cuban and caldo gallego collard green soup, and a roast pork sandwich with fries. All were delicious. The parking is a little tight, but it rotates pretty swiftly, as are the tables. Clean, fast service and good food.

Visit the small shops, stores, and restaurants, affectionately called "hole in the walls", they are labors of love. You can taste it in the...