La Teresita 3248 W Columbus Dr., Tampa The two-story Cuban restaurant—and its adjacent cantina where Anthony Bourdain once dined—serves traditional dishes of the Latin family’s roots and was recently named among Food and Wine’s “Best Diners in Every State.” Don’t skip a local favorite, “ropa vieja” (shredded beef), and get all the sides, too. Credit: Photo via Google Maps
Tampeños, plus Best of the Bay voters and critics, already know that La Teresita is a gem of a restaurant, but Food & Wine made it official in its list of “The Best Diners in Every State.”

Published over the summer (yeah, we slept on the news, sorry), the magazine’s editors said that La Teresita, located at 3248 W Columbus Dr. in West Tampa, “is perhaps the city’s most famous Cuban restaurant.” They lauded the horseshoe-shaped counters, budget-friendly helpings of ropa vieja, buttered cuban toast and cafe con leche, adding that, “soaking up the vibe is half the point.”

La Teresita was one of two Florida restaurants to make the list alongside Sarasota Amish food mainstay Yoder’s, which was praised for “big breakfasts, crispy broasted chicken just like they do it up north, and a sometimes overwhelming selection of pies.”

This article appears in Dec 29, 2022 – Jan 4, 2023.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...