La Teresita Restaurant — Restaurant in Tampa

Dining at La Teresita Restaurant (also the Cafe and Bakery) is a great way to be indoctrinated into the Cuban cuisine and the local-Latin food scene. La Teresita stands out and rises above the surrounding dining venues located on Columbus Drive when it comes to taste and flavor (and there are a handful of great eats along this stretch).

The parking lot is generally behind the building. As you're looking at the building from behind, the left side of the restaurant is reserved for the cafe/diner and to-go bakery. The right side of the building is for casual and formal dining.

If you're looking for take-out or something more casual, I suggest going to the left side of the restaurant. Immediately from the rear, you will find the to-go bakery which has a door to the cafe/diner. Or you can enter the cafe/diner directly from the left side of the building.

The bakery section has a few seats which is primarily used by those waiting for their orders. While there are cases to display the fresh and locally baked pastries, you can also order the same meals that you find inside the cafe/diner to-go.

With that being said, I am sharing my experience with the left side, specifically the to-go bakery.

Walking into this section, I immediately gravitated to the rows and trays of fresh baked goods that were displayed in the two large glass cases within. Seeing the appealing guava pastries and morsels, I knew I had to get some along with my meal. The cashier/clerk was extremely welcoming and helped me with some recommendations. Each day had its lunch specials, and for this particular day, he recommended the ROPA VIEJA.

I cannot emphasize this dish enough, but I will simply leave that name right there in CAPS LOCK and come back to it later. Two side dishes come with the meal, so I selected the Garbanzos soup and Arroz Amarillo (yellow, medium-grain rice). I also ordered the Casco de Guayaba - one plain and the other with cream cheese (Con Queso Crema). Despite being take out, the portions were extremely generous - both the main entree and rice came in their own aluminum pans (approximately 8" x 6"); while the Garbanzo soup came in its own disposable soup bowl (12-16 oz).

I found myself being teased and tortured by the amazing aroma of the food as they waited next to me on the car ride back to place of sanctuary. The moment arrived when I finally parked and opened up the containers. The moment I took a bite into the shredded beef, I was blown away to say the very least. The flavors were incredible, and the meat was extremely tender. It paired nicely with the stew/sauce it was cooked in. There were neatly sliced bell peppers which added additional flavors and texture to the overall dish. The flavor and texture profile continued to evolve as I scooped the beef into the fluffy rice. I continued to do this between all three items - the beef, rice, and soup - orchestrating a beautiful symphony within my mouth.

In hindsight, the meal was heavy, and even though I found myself full mid-way into the meal, I couldn't stop myself from eating and finishing the rest (I'm fairly certain that both Asian and Latin culture share the sentiment that food should not be wasted). I did not fail in this regard, and I did not regret one bit of bloatness afterwards.

Furthermore, I capped off this experience with the guava pastries. And when I tell you how flaky and decadent the guava paste was as it nested itself with those layers of buttery goodness, I am not exaggerating. This was one of the first guava pastries I've had since I last lived in Florida, and this was amazing.

La Teresita, I hope the best for you and your continued success. If you live in Tampa, you have to get yourself La...

La Teresita/Capedevila’s never disappoints and has always been consistent with the excellent quality of their food, the very best prices of any other Cuban restaurant in the area, and really nice service. We were seated at 6:30pm, I had my heart set on ordering the tasajo dinner and was disappointed when told they had run out especially so early, so I opted for the filete salteado instead, we also ordered the yellow rice and chicken, and bistec de palomilla which were all delicious and delivered to our table without a long wait. The atmosphere is nice, very clean, and welcoming, which is why I always come back. However tonight the patrons were very very loud, and then, there were 2 people at 2 separate tables doing what I consider “rude, disruptive, and one of my biggest pet peeves in a restaurant environment” I’m sure many if everyone would agree on this one. Having a conversation on their phones, via video chat, on loud speaker, max volume! Both were on calls to friends or family in Cuba, and I know this because I’m Cuban, and could understand/hear everything being said, as I’m sure the entire restaurant could! I didn’t say anything, I would never be a Karen, but I do think a member of the staff should have come forward, and politely said something about this. Talking on a cellphone on loud speaker is very disruptive, and just plain obnoxious. I’m not sure why people think it’s acceptable to do this, I really don’t! I’m not faulting the restaurant, however, it would’ve been nice if a staff member would have come forward and said something, don’t you think? This is not going to stop me from coming back, I really enjoy having lunch or dinner at La Teresita, my only suggestion is, please don’t allow people to do this, politely ask them to stop, it’s disruptive, rude, and not cool at all, put up a sign in both English and Spanish if you have to, but for the comfort of all your patrons it’s not much to ask. I’m probably the only one tonight saying something about this but rest assured I wasn’t the only one bothered, I overheard other patrons around my table talking about it amongst each other expressing their feelings about it. Aside from these 2 incidents tonight, everything else was as excellent as usual. Thank you for taking this into consideration and I hope it can be addressed so all your guests can experience a more comfortable dining atmosphere...

My husband and I went to this restaurant on Friday, 05/16/25. When we first walked in, there was someone at the front counter, but they didn't greet us for several minutes at which point it wasn't a, 'Hello, sorry for the wait " or, 'Welcome, to La Teresita,' it was 'A hostess will be with you in a moment.' Almost 5 minutes later, a hostess finally came back to the front of the restaurant and promptly ignored us. We were on the verge of leaving, but she finally asked if it was just the two of us and took us to a table. We had heard this place had good food, which is why we chose to eat here on one of our only 2 days in Tampa. We sat and were once again ignored, this time, by the wait staff. Our 'server' brought food to the table on the left of ours about 10 - 15 minutes after we were seated. He averted his gaze away from us when we tried to get his attention, and then went around us to the table on our right to give them their bill. The 2 gentleman at that table told him we would like to order and had been there waiting for a while and with his back to us said there was nothing he could do because the tickets were already piled high in the kitchen. The waiter walked away without ever making eye contact and couldn't even be bothered to take a drink order. After wasting at least 40 - 50 minutes without even a drink, we finally got up and left. I have worked in the industry, so I know that things sometimes happen and have a lot more patience than most, but this was ridiculous by any standard. I would advise avoiding this place and going around the corner to Havana 86. They greeted us as soon as we walked in, seated us within 2 minutes, and took our order shortly after we laid our menus down on the table, and the food...