Mangos Cafe and Specialty Store — Restaurant in Temple Terrace

My husband and I decided to visit Mangos Cafe after hearing how great their food is. We live in the Apollo Beach area and the time was about 4:15pm and the establishment closes at 6pm. So we drove all the way there in the grueling rush hour traffic. We made it by 5pm! When we walked in and looked at all the trays of food, I got a little disappointed because most of the trays were near empty. My husband said, "I guess we did get here too late". Then the server announced that they were out of oxtails! Another bummer!! So, I'm saying to myself, "there is no way that we drove all the way over here, in rush hour traffic and not get something to eat???!!". So I ask the kind lady, after looking at the nearly empty tray of mac and cheese, is there anymore mac and cheese coming out. She said yes, they are making it at the moment and it will be ready shortly. That put a smile on my face! But we had to wait to start placing our orders because the kind lady(I apologize I didn't get her name) was doing call in orders and online door dash orders. I get it! It's an hour til closing, and everybody wants their dinner too. My husband and I are very patient people(most times)😉...so finally after about 10 mins, we place our order for dine in. I ordered brown stew chicken, mac and cheese, brown rice with peas, fried cabbage, lemon pound cake for dessert and watermelon lemonade drink. My husband ordered bbq jerk chicken, brown rice with peas, mac and cheese, cabbage, and plantains. We got our food and brought it to the table to eat. The mac and cheese was still being prepared in the back. We then started finally to eat, and oh my God!!!!! I thought I was eating with Jesus! The stewed chicken was seasoned to perfection with the gravy over the rice and peas. The cabbage had the perfect crunch that made it perfect with the mouth watering seasonings. My husband even said the bbq jerk chicken was superb!! Finally, the just out of the oven mac and cheese was brought to our table. No disappointment at all!! It tasted amazing that I totally forgot that it came late. Everything was chef kiss perfect, down to the water!! My husband said that was the best tasting water he ever had and we have a water filter system in our home. Go figure! Lol. We was served so much food, we couldn't finish it all. So we took the remaining home. I had to leave another tip because the servers, the cook, were all over and beyond nice and professional. We will definitely be back. Oh, and before I forget, I did eat some of the lemon pound cake in our truck going home, it tasted like heaven!!! It was sooo moist and creamy with the icing on top. Hats of to the baker!!! Job well done...

Mangos

Ambiance-B+ This spot is the epitome of work with what you got.  They hit the nail on the head of originality and professional decor.   This is how you start business. And the music sets the mood for an enjoyable dine in experience my only knock was that it was pretty hot in the restaurant. It was explained by the owner that the AC went out over night and that they were in the process of getting it fixed.

Cleanliness-A Great attention to cleanliness, even the bathroom is inviting.

Appearance of food-A When food looks vibrant with an expectation of flavors to follow, it doesn't get better than that. I especially liked how the ribs and cajun riced looked.

Taste-B

I had the bourbon ribs, dirty rice, yams and collard greens with their special drink. The ribs were tender, easy to eat but lacked any real seasoning except the sauce on it...they were a lil sweet for my liking. The collards were nice and complimentary to the yams. The collards had a spice that was oh so nice, good flavor but they were missing the pot liquor flavor that you usually get from well cooked greens.....but good none the less. Those yams were the truth, not overly sweet but sweet enough to let you know that they were yams. They also had a beautiful fresh spices feel to them. The star of the show was the cajun dirty rice, man oh man...just get it and be thankful you did. That rice made everything around it better, it was the QB of the meal. I also had a peice of there fried honey chicken, the crispy was light, and the came through, but a lil more seasoning could have made the honey more appreciated in this item. And their paradise drink was a great addition to the entire meal. Just a great overall flavor combo when the food is eaten together.

Pricing-B

The meal with drink ran me about 18.00. Great lunch spot and even take home dinner option for the price. The overall flavor and and quality make this price point suitable.

Overall grade-B+

Im a firm believer in supporting all businesses that contribute to the growth and sustainability of a community. with the flavors, ambiance and overall simplicity in executing a great meal with varrying textures and flavors....Mangos should be considered an option of yours when wanting great quality Caribbean and soul food without the garbage feeling when finished eating. Oh and get the Cajun rice...

NOT IMPRESSED BY ANYTHING! I went here based off an Instagram post and was wasn't pleasantly surprised. The restaurant was hidden away and poorly marked in a plaza where construction work was being done on the outside of it. The line was wrapped around tables where people had to eat so if you decided to eat in you'd most likely have other customers waiting to order hovering near or over where you were sitting to eat. The food options vary based on what day you choose to come in to eat so if you're in the mood for carribean call or check SOMEHOW BEFORE YOU COME because your options maybe limited to soulfood themed food theme instead. Service is slow paced. The server fixing my order DIDNT SMILE OR HAVE A PLEASANT ATTITUDE, she barely acted she wanted to be there working. Her co workers were nicer. I ordered the honey fried chicken wing with greens and Mac and cheese. Mac and Cheese was tasteless and had a decent texture but the flavor was subpar at best. I don't want cheeses they used but they need to go back to the drawing board with that recipe because it wasn't memorable. Greens where bitter and almost intolerable, chicken was the highlight and decent. It wasn't a saving grace to for returning. I paid around $20. I suppose that's standard. As stated before, if you're looking for a take out experience from a black restaurant that will have your impressed and ready to return, THIS AIN'T IT!

P.S. : In response to your clapback to feedback YOU OPENLY SET YOURSELF FOR BY HAVING A PUBLIC BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT FOR PROFIT. There is far better, I've had waaaaaay better, the quality and taste of your food doesn't even come close to the level of professional or worth buying, you will continue being in business BUT THINK ABOUT FOR HOW LONG😳, CONSIDERING HOW MANY BUSINESS GO OUT OF OPERATION EVEN WITH THE BEST OF SERVICES, GOODS AND ATTITUDE (which you did display in your Google response)! Sometimes taking humble feedback is better than a quick snappy comeback (like someone else in Google reviews mentioned about one of your employees...