Cibao Restaurant — Restaurant in Tampa

First of all, I'm an adventurer. And I believe some of the best food comes from the most unexpected places. I was driving back to Gainesville and thought I should just fill my tank at moment so I could relax for rest of drive. And I was also hungry so I chose a random exit off 75 (purposely). After getting gas a few blocks off exit, I googled food near me. Cibao popped up first. Having no idea where I was or anything about this place, I hit "directions" on Google. Heck, it was only 3 minutes down the street! Cool. As I pulled up I noticed it looked like a small well kept neighborhood market with signs on building advertising their food. There was one other car in parking lot. What heck, right? So I grabbed my wallet and went inside. And to my WONDERFUL surprise there was a long counter, almost like a buffet but all covered where you tell them what you want and they scoop it in a container. OMG!!! I WANTED EVERYTHING! I'm pretty sure the food is Dominican as there is a large area in the Dominican called Cibao. There was yuca con mojo, pinto beans, black beans, white rice, yellow rice, many different stewed meats and I was the only one there ordering so I was taking my sweet time since I couldn't decide. Then I noticed all the people behind me twiddling their thumbs. Def locals and very nice but at that moment I knew I HAD to make a decision. So I chose yellow rice and told lady behind counter to give me what she liked. After she scooped pinto beans she pointed to a stewed meat and said "goat?". I about went through the roof with excitement! I paid and practically ran to my car fork in hand. OMG!!! The meat pulled away from the bone with a plastic fork. The meat and fat just melted in my mouth. It had a thin red sauce. Mild in flavor. But super tasty. Yellow rice was moist with peas in it and the pinto beans were whole had that perfect soupy juice. I didn't want to but I saved some for my husband. LOL PLEASE go to this place. What a little hidden gem. I'm half tempted to make a monthly routine and drive the 2 hours as a treat. You just never know what's there. Pardon the expression... but screw Subway and McDonald's. There's plenty of local places to be...

Can't complain. Location was clean and smelled great. Needed a few more lights on and some clean up around a few rough edges (displays half assembled and shelves not put together). Food was good. Hot, fresh, plentiful and flavorful. I would have added a bit more pepper, but thats me. For the price, I had plenty to take home and enjoyed...

The guy who runs the place is very aggressive the food has been sitting out for hours at a time it looks kind of old he had an altercation and he was rude and aggressive even though the customer was rude first as an acting manager everything...