Carlos Eats: Ybor City Lunch Dining Guide + Wright's Gourmet Status + More
My recommendations and thoughts.
Welcome back to the newsletter edition of Carlos Eats! The goal here is to provide quicker updates and hopefully so more background on my thoughts and opinions in an easy to digest format. The focus on social media nowadays means much of what I share is lost in translation and buried on the timeline. Hopefully this provides a good outlet for you to see more of what I have to say in a permanent way.
If you have feedback or suggestions, feel free to email me at carloseats@gmail.com. Pitching or media inquiries should go to carloshernandesu@gmail.com due to inbox capacity (I am at 1TB already!).
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Dining Guide: Top Ybor City Lunch Spots
I have a new dining guide up on Carlos Eats of the top lunch spots in Ybor City. When writing the guide, I thought about affordability and quality, history, and food culture. I wanted to focus on what makes Ybor City unique from other neighborhoods and where I personally have and do spend my money in Ybor City for lunch.
Ybor City is historically a working class neighborhood and the roots of that are still apparent even today. The restaurants have a mixture of tourists and locals dining, but locals are what really keep them going. The Italian and Cuban food roots are apparent on most menus and many of the small business owners in Ybor are exactly what you would expect for a real slice of Tampa.
I also tried to consider new restaurants that may not be getting exposure and the places that have been mainstay for years. Although there are plenty of iconic restaurants in Ybor City, that doesn’t mean I would eat there for lunch on any given day as well.
Read the dining guide at CarlosEats.com.
Wright’s Gourmet House up for sale:
Speaking of history, one of Tampa’s most iconic bakeries could soon be sold to the Casper family, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times. The Casper family owns the Oxford Commons restaurant group and previously owned McDonald’s franchise locations in Florida. This is an important thing to watch as Tampa is evolving. How does Tampa maintain its history? Do the places that made Tampa a place worth living in survive and how do they survive? Those are important questions for the public and media to ask.
Personally, my interactions with Wright’s Gourmet House are limited, but when I was in 8th grade in 2004 I worked a summer internship downtown and I would order delivery from there for lunch to the office and it was always superb. Time will tell.
Where I’ve been recently in Tampa Bay:
The Wat Thai Temple: It’s been a few years since I visited. Prices have gone up quite a bit. Curry is now $13. I think that is more than before, I could be mistaken, but I remember the curry/rice dishes had combos before. The price of soup also increased to over $13 as well. Still had a nice crowd though not as busy as before. It’s a little too hot for this, so will probably return in the winter.
Shortwave Coffee (Sparkman Wharf): Good quality iced Americanos. Plenty of seating and plugs as well as Wi-Fi. In fact, I wrote this newsletter there.
Ybor City Coffee & Tea: Stopped in for some coffees this week. Good coffee. Chill vibes.
Bella’s Italian: Never fails me for a delicious Fettucine Alfredo, bruschetta, and Caesar Salad. If you’re new to Tampa and have never been, go. Their late-night specials are not to be missed either.
Azteca D'Oro (Brandon Mall): This is a fairly new Mexican spot at the Brandon Mall. It is very pricey, but the food quality is good. Carne Asada is over $30. The Carne Asada tacos do not miss though. I would def. come back for Taco Tuesday. Enchiladas are good. It’s really busy too. It reminds me of a fancy version of Vallarta’s which was once a Tampa staple.
That’s all for this update! As always, let’s connect on social media.
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter (X), Threads, YouTube.
Have a great day,
Carlos Hernandez