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<\/p>\nSeminole Heights is set to add an affordable Cuban spot to its ever-expanding roster of restaurants with Coco’s: In the Heights. It will debut in late October at the former Nebraska Mini Mart space.<\/p>\n
Coco’s: In the Heights is the second concept fromowners and native Tampe\u00f1os Carlos Carrillo and Adam Hendricks. Coco’s at 40th Street located in East Tampa’sJackson Heights was their first.<\/p>\n
Theirvision for this spotis Havana nights, Carrillo said at the new restaurant Monday.<\/p>\n
Coco’s: In the Heights will offer more elevated Cuban fare than their current locale. Think loaded tostones, Cuban-style bowls and beer and wine. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, the restaurant will host live music on the patio.<\/p>\n
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Tacos from Coco’s: In the Heights. Coco’s is a new Cuban restaurant taking over the former Nebraska Mini Mart space in Seminole Heights, Tampa.<\/p>\n
Coco’s at 40th Street is in the tradition of Tampa’s iconic Cuban-style sandwich shops, likeBrocato’s, Coco’s at 22nd Street, Palm Avenue and West Tampa Sandwich Shop. The duo’s Tampa sandwich shop roots show up on the In the Heights menu, with a Cuban and palomillo steak sandwich, as well ashandmade devil crab. Pro tip: fresh ground espresso and cafecito will not be on the menu but are available, Carrillo said.<\/p>\n
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner. Come the new year, Carrillo wants to try addingbreakfast.<\/p>\n
Spending around $100,000, the team revamped the sprawling corner space with tile throughout an interior dining room that will seat around 24; tile in the bathrooms and kitchen; and new kitchen equipment. The patio will have yard games like regulation corn hole and giant Jenga, and the ping-pong table is staying, he said.<\/p>\n
Carrillo said he wants to hold community-drivenprogramming like a Halloween movie night on the lawn after trick-or-treating.<\/p>\n
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Tacos from Coco’s: In the Heights. It is a new concept opening in late October in Seminole Heights, Tampa.<\/p>\n
There is a humble vibe to Carrillo, who grew up working in his father’s 20-year-old restaurant Coco’s Sandwich Shop on 22nd Avenue in Palmetto Beach.<\/p>\n
He and his teamnever seek to win awards for their food, he said \u2014 that’s not why they’re in it. Theywant to offer the best service and the cleanest place, he said.<\/p>\n
“Not everyone’s going to think you had the best Cuban, but if people like it, if it’s the same every single time, they will keep coming back.”<\/p>\n
Carrillo started Coco’s Latin Cuisine as a food truck in 2019 in Tampa. Carrillo posted on social media where it would pop up to build a following. You could find Coco’s on any given day in enclaves like New Tampa, Temple Terrace and Apollo Beach. The duo officially moved into the building of Coco’s at 40th Street in 2024 but spent a year before that serving out of the food truck in the parking lot due to permitting issues.<\/p>\n
The well-known Seminole Heights space was recently slated to become Nebraska Roadside, a food trailer park that announced its upcoming debut on social media in June. That never cameto pass. Nebraska Roadside’s Instagram account has since been deactivated.<\/p>\n
Most recently, Nashville hot chicken concept King of the Coop occupied the space for a half-year or so in 2025.<\/p>\n
Nebraska Mini Mart<\/a> had a six year run. It shuttered in 2025, handing the reins to Joe Dodd of King of the Coop. The mini mart was a Proper House Group concept that was a self-described “vibrant third place” that mimicked an old-school mini mart that originally stood on the lot in the 1950s.<\/p>\n “We’re open to doing anything as long as people show up and the community is supporting us,” Carrillo said.<\/p>\n 4815 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa. @cocosat40th.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n The Tampa Bay Times Food Hub launched in 2026, a four-person team covering Tampa Bay’s dynamic and expanding food scene. You can contribute to the hub through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want food news weekly in your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top 50 Restaurants: Check out our food critic’s list<\/a> of the area’s best spots.<\/p>\n Follow our updates on the local restaurant landscape on Instagram at @tampabaytimesfood<\/a>.<\/p>\n