Would you open up a restaurant to keep your favorite sandwich alive? Well, that’s what Scott Snapp, who owns downtown Plant City newcomer Norma’s Cuban Sandwich Shop with his son-in-law Leo Mesquita, has set out to do.
When Snapp heard about the closure of the late Norma’s Ybor City Cuban Sandwich Shop, a cash-only Plant City mainstay with a familial vibe that shuttered in March after more than 30 years in business, he was upset. Not only because he loved the sandwiches, as Mesquita tells it, but also because he dug the owner, Candy Haywood.
“He felt bad for her, and he felt bad for himself — he couldn’t eat a Cuban sandwich anymore, because that was his favorite place,” said Mesquita, a native of Brazil who moved to Valrico at age 15.
Then something happened. Mesquita — who was in his third year with Florida Power & Light and looking to let his entrepreneurial spirit tap into a new career venture — received a phone-call proposition from his father-in-law. Knowing Mesquita was itching to do his own thing, Snapp asked the University of Central Florida alum if he’d like to go into the restaurant business with him. The answer was a no-brainer.
On Nov. 18, the duo’s reborn Norma’s celebrated its soft opening at 120 N. Collins St. They transformed the 1,600-square-foot property, which most recently housed a tea room, into their 20-seat sandwich shop fairly quickly — and while Mesquita, the general manager, was in the process of getting married. He got Snapp’s call in early July, quit his job and moved to Plant City from the Jupiter area later that month, and began working on the project in August.
Andy Nassar, a cheffy friend whom Mesquita met while attending Durant High School, joined the team as kitchen manager early on, developing the lineup of grub, menu pricing and food costs, among other things.
The owner of the previous Norma’s was a huge help on the food side, too, as the goal was to keep three popular staples — Cubans, garbanzo bean soup and black beans — as close to their original versions as possible; Haywood was happy to share her recipes with Nassar and show him the techniques she used in the kitchen.
“People in Plant City love her food,” Mesquita said. “They were big, big, big fans, so we knew that we had to keep the food the same, and she has been very kind to sort of help us get established.”
Not in the mood for a Cuban? More classic sandwiches like turkey and cheese, roast beef and Philly cheesesteak are available, in addition to the sides — among them chicken and yellow rice, deviled crab, stuffed potato and brownies, freshly baked by Mesquita’s mother-in-law Karen.
Diners scope out what they want to eat from a simple chalkboard on the wall that adds another charming element to the cozy, casual restaurant’s hometown feel, then place an order at the counter. Takeout requests can also be made by phone, with online ordering and catering coming soon.
Since this Norma’s is a totally new entity, Nassar plans to keep the community on their toes in the near future, blending rotating sandwiches and other dishes with the aforementioned items they’ve come to love over the years. Breakfast, for example, is in the works (think sandos, Cuban coffee and maybe even muffins).
The restaurant operates from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Once breakfast service kicks off, however, they’ll likely open as early as 8 a.m.
“We want to perfect our lunch, and once we get that 100 percent down, then we want to expand into breakfast and make that just as good,” said Nassar.
According to Mesquita, when it came down to choosing a location, he and Snapp were drawn to the up-and-coming appeal of downtown Plant City.
“You have the car show every third Saturday of the month, food trucks, the bike show,” Mesquita said. “Downtown, we feel like it’s the next place to be in Plant City, if it’s not already.”
This article appears in Nov 23-30, 2017.