In our Oct. 29 issue, we told you that Box of Cubans restaurant was getting ready to open in the space previously occupied by Mochinutโs New Tampa location at 17512 Doรฑa Michelle Dr., off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just north of the BBD exit off I-75 in the area known as Highwoods Preserve.
Well, owners Marcos and Oni Silverio and their son, Marcos Jr. (MJ) have now opened their second Box of Cubans location (the other is in Riverview) and everything weโve sampled so far has been pretty great.
In addition to tasty pressed Cuban sandwiches (left photo), Box of Cubans also offers 14 different varieties of empanadas โ from beef & cheese and chicken to banana nutella and guava & cream cheese. My current favorite sandwich is the โpan con bistec,โ with mojo-marinated Palomillo steak, Swiss cheese, sautรฉed onions, crispy potato straws, mayo and a house cilantro sauce (top photo). There also are Cuban rice bowls with black or red beans and your choice of protein, garlic toast and sweet plantains that I havenโt sampled yet, although I did also enjoy Box of Cubansโ black beans and rice.
Box of Cubans also serves a variety of breakfast items, even though it doesnโt open until 11 a.m. during the week and 10 a.m. on Saturday & Sunday. โWe sell our breakfast all day,โ Marcos told me. โAnd we already have customers coming in at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday ordering our breakfast sandwiches.โ
The bacon, egg & cheese on pressed Cuban bread is delicious and I also enjoyed the ham, egg & cheese empanada. But, my surprise favorite breakfast item is the torrejas, or Cuban-style French toast (right photo), which is topped with powdered sugar and served with both breakfast syrup and a warm strawberry dipping sauce. Incrรฉible! The cafรฉ con lechรฉ is excellent, too, and other hot and cold coffee drinks are available.
To place an order online, visit BoxofCubans.com, or call (813) 632-9021 and please tell them I sent you! โ GN