<\/p>\n
TAMPA \u2014 After nearly one year in New Tampa, Marcos Silverio feels comfortable declaring his Box of Cubans fast-casual restaurant a success.<\/p>\n
Not only did Silverio and his wife, Oni, open a second location of their popular Cuban sandwich shop during a tough time for restaurants, but it strayed far from its original location in Riverview to pick a spot in New Tampa where two restaurants, Mochinut and Mahana Fresh, had failed in the previous two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve had that mentioned, you know, numerous times, especially from clients that have known us from our Brandon days, because they basically work in that area, and they live in New Tampa.,\u201d Silverio said. \u201cThey were very concerned about us.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for a business that started in a gas station and opened its first location in a tricky spot as well, the Silverios are no stranger to challenges.<\/p>\n
In fact, Silverio is currently looking to add a third location, maybe in Brandon.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, my belief is that if you have a good product, provide exceptional customer service, and you provide value, people are going to come,\u201d he said. \u201cI will stick with that any day. That is the winning formula.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Food<\/p>\n
Silverio\u2019s menu delivers some of the area\u2019s best Cuban goodies. Yelp named Box of Cubans Tampa Bay\u2019s Best Restaurant in 2023, and earlier this year it ranked as the 29th-best sandwich shop in the U.S.<\/p>\n
We can see why, after downing one of their traditional Cuban sandwiches, generously stacked with slow-cooked pork and pressed on La Segunda bread. It deserves every bit of the attention it gets. But its tasty cousin, the Media Noche \u2014 served on a sweeter, egg dough bread \u2014 deserves some of the spotlight as well.<\/p>\n
While Silverio keeps things traditional, he likes to add a few of his own touches. The Mojito Pork sandwich, one of our favorites, layers sauteed onions, sauteed pickled jalapenos, melted Swiss and its house cilantro with tender and tasteful pork.<\/p>\n
The Cuban griddle, a sausage, egg and cheese omelette with a strip of guava in the middle served on Media Noche bread, is another original favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like to be traditional, but those two sandwiches are unique to us,\u201d Silverio says.<\/p>\n
Other top sellers include the Steak \u201cPan Con Bistec\u201d and the Black Bean Cuban Bowl, both featuring perfectly cooked and tender Palomilla steak. Responding to requests, Silverio has also added a veggie bowl, with a vegetable medley he describes as an Asian and Cuban fusion.<\/p>\n
Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?<\/p>\n
Box of Cubans is open all day, so take your pick.<\/p>\n
Our favorite? Breakfast.<\/p>\n
A frothy caf\u00e9 con leche (which is also offered frozen) pairs beautifully with French toast, a hearty Steak and Egg Sandwich or even just a few pieces of Cuban toast.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned Cuban griddle and Pipo\u2019s breakfast sandwiches are great, and Silverio recommends the breakfast sliders \u2014 sausage, egg and cheese on caramelized fresh toast buns, drizzled with strawberry puree.<\/p>\n
Despite a haul that included multiple sandwiches and a bowl, the 20-year-old in our group said the ham, egg and cheese empanada was his favorite. We wouldn\u2019t know, because he didn\u2019t share.<\/p>\n
But Box of Cubans has 13 different varieties of the empanada, including a southwest veggie option, a cheeseburger option and sweeter versions with banana and Nutella or guava and cream.<\/p>\n
Pro Tip<\/p>\n
The location isn\u2019t as tricky as you think. There are multiple ways to get in, and if you shoot for the popular Glory Days on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, the Box of Cubans is just a few doors down in the next plaza. It\u2019s worth the trip.<\/p>\n
The Verdict<\/p>\n
Friendly service, exceptional sandwiches, and a plethora of other options. But breakfast is a can\u2019t miss, as you will see with my upcoming story \u201cI ate French toast and drank caf\u00e9 con leche every meal for a month, and here\u2019s what happened next.\u201d Yum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 After nearly one year in New Tampa, Marcos Silverio feels comfortable declaring his Box of Cubans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[17524,17519,17520,14845,3081,16919,17521,3082,17526,17525,688,17523,3078,3079,276,3746,17527,135,137,136,17522],"class_list":["post-22621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-american-cuisine","tag-beacon-bites","tag-box-of-cubans","tag-breakfast","tag-cooking","tag-cuban-cuisine","tag-cuban-sandwich","tag-cuisine","tag-cuisine-of-the-americas","tag-european-cuisine","tag-food-and-drink","tag-food-and-drink-preparation","tag-food-watchlist-articles","tag-foods","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-new-tampa","tag-north-american-cuisine","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-western-cuisine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}