La Teresita Cafe and Bakery

Love eating here. Authentic Cuban restaurant. They have nightly specials. But also have ala carte menu. Always great as they can accommodate big parties. We called 30 mins before we showed up on Friday night at 7 pm. They were able to sit 16 of us. Service is pretty quick. Food is tasteful. Ropa vieja is delicious and it came with two dishes- bean soup is great. Make room for dessert and coffee. They also have a bakery and cafe section.

This place is so good. Been going there off an on for 40 plus years, since I was a child. Best plantains ever. Everyone always likes their food a the servings are large. Be sure to plan on leftovers. Service is good. They have the best buttered Cuban bread and an original Cuban sandwich. Outstanding bread an rice pudding.

La Teresita seemingly offers an authentic Cuban experience, but falls short. The current mid-tier ratings on Yelp do not surprise me at all. The building has a café on the west side with counter seating and a separate full-service restaurant around the building. We decided to try the restaurant after finding the café full and were seated promptly.I ordered a classic Cuban meal of rice, beans, chicken, plantains, yuca, and Cuban bread. Unfortunately, the food was somewhat disappointing as it lacked flavor; the chicken was underwhelming, and the Cuban bread seemed stale. To finish, I tried a café con leche, hoping for a redeeming feature given the presence of a dedicated café, but found the coffee to be over-roasted and unpleasant.Overall, I'm still looking for a solid authentic Cuban restaurant since moving to Tampa Bay. This isn't it.

Delicious hot Cuban bread comes to your table quickly and is so good. Cuz and I chose Tuesday specials for lunch. I ordered Ropa Vieja ( shredded beef) with yellow rice, and black bean soup for my sides. Cuz ordered Puerco Asado (roast pork) with collard soup and yellow rice. Both soups came out barely tepid, we both like soup really hot. My beef was excellent, but cuz thought her pork could have used some more seasoning.We both ordered grandé Cuban coffee with milk, rice pudding, and 3 cream tres leche cake all three were wonderful.

Cafe conleche and Cuban toast is the bomb! They have an amazing breakfast cooked to order everything is on point! Service is great they are very attentive. The ambiance is dated but you know these are always the best places as they put more love into their food than they do their facilities.

I have said it many times: I will take the food and the experience of Tampa's La Teresita over much fancier, pricier Cuban food on that side of Tampa Bay any day, all day.The reason is simple -- nowhere else in this area reminds me as much of dining in Little Havana eateries. It most reminds me of Versailles on Calle Ocho, though of course without all of that restaurant's fanciful decor -- the fact that it takes up almost an entire street corner, that you have a dining room, a cafe, and a bakery all available on one site, and what's there is made with love and authenticity, all remind me of the places I used to go with my dad growing up in South Florida, the places where I ate well and napped in the car on the rides home. On this particular trip, I went for the Puerco Asado special -- it comes with two sides and I went with classic black beans and white rice. We also got an order of four croquettes for the table, and my buddy got a Cuban Sandwich that he talked about for the rest of the night, he was that impressed. All of it served simply, with no pretension -- just quality.The dining room's a little loud and the live music can make conversation a little challenging, though that night the guitar player playing instrumental versions of Yacht Rock songs put a huge smile on my face. Unexpected, but still great.I don't get over to La Teresita very often, but when I do, I always have a great experience. It's like I told the guy who seated us and asked about how everything was as we were leaving. "Es lo mejor, siempre."

The food is amazing and the people are very kind. I only had one first world problem, I wanted my Yuca as an app, and the food came too quickly afterwards. The portions were large and a great value for the money.

Ropa vieja is sooooo good here!!!! I love their Cuban dishes and it's fun to come on different days where they have different specials. Their croquettas are delicious too, a great app! Service is always quick and friendly.

Teresita café has the potential to be a good spot but it was a miss for me. It shares a wall with another Mexican restaurant that is very popular so it needs to do some changes for sure. First of all the food is mediocre. I got the enchiladas verdes and they were a miss. The tacos dorados my boyfriend had were mid. The guacamole was filled only half way through and somehow the lemons given to us were dirty (like literally, dirt on the outside). The salsas were good but the cut was so poor I think I cut veggies better. The thing that really just let me know I'm not coming back is we were 2 of the four customers there and it took them like 5 mins to get us a menu. Then they got my order wrong (which is why they tried to make it up with more rice which I did not eat). It took them forever to take our order. The service was just not good. I cannot imagine how the service is when they're actually full (if that ever happens). Ambience is fine. There's pictures on the wall, the seating is all right I mean it has potential but the food is bland and the service horrendous considering we were two of the only four people there. Would not recommend and I likely would not go back.

If you want an authentic Cuban food experience, then this is a good spot. The cafeteria style part of the restaurant has the vibe and feel of an authentic experience. The fresh bread is great and the dishes are excellent. I enjoyed the arroz con pollo and it's a great value for the amount of food you get. Food comes out quick and you can't go wrong with whatever you order. If you want a table service meal or carryout, they also have those options. Be sure to check out the bakery as well.