A Tampa institution! Every dish is authentic just like we cook at home! Their roast pork is delicious!

Ended up leaving after no one acknowledged us at all. A couple workers stared at us from behind the counter! A couple came in right afterwards and were greeted and given menus right away. It looked like they were regulars so who cares about new business, right? Worst experience in a long time. read more

Great food ! Been going for years. We went this evening and got the Tamal, , Palomilla a steak, the Boliche, the chicken soup reminds me of my aubelas, Ropa Vieja and cafe con leche. Everything was as it always is fresh and delicious. Thanks job well done. read more

I have definitely had better Cuban cuisine growing up in Miami. The atmosphere was nice but very casual. The café con Leche was excellent. The Mojo sauce was the worst I've ever had. It wasn't made with garlic, oil, and salt like I'm used to. Theirs has lime, garlic and water and was almost completely tasteless. The prices are very reasonable and the food was edible. read more

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Smaller space than the other location but same flavorful food. The traffic here is way slower and this place is much more quaint, so the word "Café" truly fits perfectly. I picked up my favorite "fried chicken and fried rice", and yes, it is as good as the other location. I also got a sandwich Cubano, and that was good as well. I was asked about what ingredients to go on the sandwich, which made me think for about a second, but then I remembered that Tampa cubanos are different than Miami cubanos, so.... The menu here is different than at the other location, so check on that. Good flan also. read more

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I ordered special fried rice and it was very very good. The food is reasonably priced.

I have typically gotten Cuban food in Ybor City when I would travel to Tampa but I have a new spot. My family brought me here while I was in town for work. The roast pork and fried rIce were great. The Cuban bread was nice and warm and buttered for an early treat. The black beans were cooked perfectly. You have to try the flan and rice pudding. The rice pudding comes with a cinnamon stick in it. The prices are very reasonable and the service is great. I can't wait to go back. read more

Great food, fair price, parking can be a challenge, yet I manage. Fish has always been cooked just right, rice & black beans great, bread always fresh. I'll be in Tampa next week, know where I'll have lunch. read more

Muy buena comida. Pésimo servicio al cliente. Good food. Really bad customer service. read more

It was a travesty when they closed the Arco Iris Restaurant at Columbus. They had the best pork chunks in Tampa Bay. When I drove by and saw they had closed, I was devastated. Imagine my surprise when I found out about Arco Iris Cafe! It's the same folks. I read some story about their lease not being renewed after 30 years, but about 10 years ago they suspected something and opened this place as a backup. Visionary. They seem to have brought over the chef. The food is just as I remember. This is the place to order pork chunks. As an appetizer or as a platter with rice and beans. Maybe some fried yuca or sweet plantains on the side. The service is competent, prices are low, the atmosphere is authentic Tampa Cuban. I am so glad that this place exists. I now have a place to satisfy my pork chunk craving. Did I mention they have the best pork chunks in Tampa? This place is as good as it gets. read more

I am quite the fan of Cuban food and duck into any and every Cuban restaurant I can. Arco Iris Cafe was on my way to an event so I popped in for cafe con leche and tostada. This review is based on those two items and nothing more. Arco Iris may have the best vaca frita, ropa vieja, roast pork, maduros... (fill in your favorite dish)... ever. I just did not get to try it at 9 in the morning. Arco Iris is a nice, clean restaurant with a couple of tv screens; a full parking lot and tables filled with spanish-speaking people. I ordered my cafe con leche and tostada at the counter and then decided to eat it there. CCL comes in small, medium and large. I went with a medium. It was hot and sweet. I would have appreciated another shot of cafe cubano but I happen to like my CCL strong! The tostada was a disappointment. It was a good size.. probably 10 inches of bread.. and it had the right amount of butter (you could taste it but it did not drip or leave stains on the paper). Unfortunately, it had not been pressed long enough or hard enough. I prefer my tostada to be.. well.. toasted. That means the bread's exterior is crisp and the pieces are thin enough to easily dunk in my CCL without dripping cafe everywhere. Le Segunda is my standard. Perfectly pressed tostada even if the Segunda order is kind of small. I would definitely try Arco Iris again and ask them to toast the bread longer.. or better yet, come back for lunch or dinner to try one of the offerings from the daytime menu. Until I do, I give my little breakfast three stars. read more

I rarely post a review of a restaurant, but I'm so disappointed at this (previously) favorite West Tampa Cuban restaurant. My family has been eating here for years. We had many wonderful family celebrations at the Columbus Dr location. Saturday night (Dec 23rd) wiped those memories away for me and three friends. It started with our waiter coming from the kitchen to say they were out of yellow rice. Then after serving two friends their Cuban sandwiches, he said they were out of my order, Russian fish, and the kitchen was "crazy" so we changed to Cuban sandwiches. He came back to say they were out of them too! My friend and I ended up with terrible Spanish bean soup (not their usual) and sharing our other friends' sandwiches. I also got Congri and the smallest portion (3) of platanos. If they were too busy at 7:30p with prep for the next day, they should have at least been able to offer better options or not stay open. I will give them another try, but I am so annoyed with their treatmen of us. read more

This a cafe and restaurant. This is different restaurant who has the similar name. We like to give it a try. They have good Cuban sandwich. Other than that, the Cuban cuisine is good here also. I would start to say this is very affordable restaurant. I can get meal same price like Mc Donald and is full cook meal. Go figure. I have ordered the Vaca Frita with two side of sweet plantains and the collar white bean soup. The soup is really excellent. The plantains did not over burn. Perfectly prepared. I have order my Vaca Frita extra crispy which mean burn a bit. When the flank steak burn, it taste better. Our time here is great. This was the second restaurant stop of the night. We are not really hungry but to see what they have. Good service. The only thing I can say is only one server entire night. I think is overloaded for her. But she got it and very good on handling it. read more

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hola jente preciosa les contare lo que vi oy,bueno es mi segunda ves que voy a ese restaurante y la primera ves me gusto ellugar la comida muy rica pero la sengunda ves que fuimos fue julio 6 2024. Despues de comer salimso al parkeo que esta atras y vimos un cosinero salir afuera y orinar y asi mismo entro ala cosina que asco no es los recomiendo o saquen esos asqueros de la cosina. read more

Was in the area in business and decided to try out Arco Iris Cafe. The food is excellent and the service I received wad what one would expect at a fine restaurant! read more

Bad service ... they make you wait , without even acknowledging you are there ...la Teresita around the corner

The cafe con leche is always on point and the ham egg & cheese breakfast sandwich is one of the best around

Great spot! My family and I have been coming here for years. The food is great and the price is fantastic! The service is usually pretty quick too. They also go all out when they decorate for Halloween. It's makes it a really fun spot to visit during the Halloween season. read more

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I definitely had a lot better Cuba food before. The server really rushes you to order and does not do a great job in offering what the restaurant has to offer. When the food arrived, the items I ordered lack flavor or too salty that there's no savory component to it. I had a lot leftover which I took it home, but I really did not enjoy it. Even the side items but they were not great either. read more

Arco Iris Cafe - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Cold food,boliche made from horse meat,dry,chuey,tasteless.Yuca not cooked,flavorless.Moros,cold ,no flavor..

Locals eat here, so you know it's good. I was looking for a traditional sit-down Cuban restaurant while traveling, and this one hit the spot. I got the lamb (amazing and melt in your mouth), the chickpeas with rice, Cuban coffee, and the flan at the recommendation of our lovely waitress. It was all delicious. Be prepared - the waitresses don't speak much English, but if you make an effort, they are super sweet. read more

The Cuban food here is legit and at a bargain (Ding! Ding! We have a winner and wallet friendly!), definitely considered a hole in the wall restaurant (Hands down much better than chains) with delicious food and fast service! BREADED CHICKEN BREAST 5/5: The best part about my coworker is that there's no politeness necessary, so since my meal arrived first, she immediately grabbed utensils and started digging into my meal, so naturally when her meal arrived, I took a bite of hers, which was yuuuge, thinly cut chicken breast that was breaded and golden on the exterior with a moist interior (surprisingly delicious!) and a great deal considering it was around $10. All entrees are served with two of the following sides: white rice, chicken soup, moro rice, split pea soup, spanish bean soup, black beans, lentil soup, french fries, maduros, etc. BISTEC DE PALOMILLA 5/5: When it arrived, the beef steak was gigantic, almost as long as the plate, hanging on the edge of the plate and screaming "EAT ME" or at least what my stomach was thinking! It's been forever since I've had Bistec, but this was pretty darn good and a really good price! Every bite I had was tender, easily chewable, not tough (I wish I could work in the kitchen for a day pounding the life away for their meats, would be a great stress reliever!). The onions were lightly fried, could have used more cooking to cut out raw taste, but I still at it all. For the sides, I ordered Chicken Soup, which was correctly salted (Not an overkill, just the right amount!) with noodles that were bouncy and not squishy at all and real, small pieces of chicken! The Maduros were some of the best I had in awhile, reminded me of the ones from Costa Rica. The ends were extra crispy, cooked at peak time, so it was perfect sweetness level! I got a sparkling pineapple soda, definitely paired nicely with the meal. This is a hidden gem, it feels like home-cooked meals made by Cuban grandparents, simply made - so delish with ingredients you can pronounce! read more

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New spot for my Cuban style cooking finally. What a great find. I love that it's clean and spacious dinning. Drove past it one day on our way to another spot to eat both fortunate and unfortunately at the same time when we couldn't get a table at our original destination we were able to eat here. The food is absolutely awesome. I had the shrimp dish that was great but the portion was too small for the price (7 medium shrimps for $14.99). Every other item on the menu was priced perfectly. Service was standard. I wish our server spoke more understandable English and had better knowledge of the food and specials (could had been the language barrier). With this place being closer to home we will be back for sure. read more

Arco Iris Cafe - Creole time - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

THE BEST EVER. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you will leave smiling and full. Must orders are ropa vieja with moro rice and platanos, chicken chicharrones and anything yucca. The yucca is out of this world buttery goodness. Their Cuban coffee is always great, but go early in the morning because the service gets pretty packed and a little slow during lunch hours. It's so good though, no one minds, clearly. They hook it up with the buttered hot Cuban bread free of charge as it should be. Heaven. Their soups are terrific too. Last thing... down the road you can sometimes find the churro man in a food truck. read more

Arco Iris Cafe - yucca, ropa vieja, moro rice, platanos - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Our new favorite restaurant. The friendliest wait staff in town. The lamb shanks were awesome. Also enjoy their breakfast. read more

So, so bad. I'm from Miami and this was a far cry from authentic Cuban food. Only thing we liked was the buttered pressed Cuban bread they bring to the table. Tostones were the small frozen type, not crispy, same for the ham croquetas, frozen type. They didn't have medianoche bread, Cuban sandwich was mediocre with meat too thick and bread not crusty. Roast pork used the wrong cut, pork loin, for true roast pork texture, seasoning was good but meat was dry. Moro rice taste reheated and dry. Sweet plantains were good, but fries were greasy and not crispy. Service was slow and server not really engaged. Plain uninteresting ambiance. Not a repeat visit. read more

I'm a Tampa native and eaten Cuban food for 60 years now. Yesterday I stopped at Arco Iris on my way home and got takeout of picadillo and yellow rice with platanos. The food was excellent from start to finish, i.e., the beef was tender and spiced/cooked perfectly and the rice was actually fluffy (rare occurrence) and the plantains were sweet. tender, and cooked just right. I'll be back for more! Tony Noriega/Tampa read more

Great food, great fast service! Very comfortable neighborhood restaurant. Recommend for lunch read more

Food usually isn't too bad but the service is not really good nobody understands you if you have specifics on a particular thing or have your food a certain way. Their little fussy about how long they take to get to you then they ask you are you eating there while you're sitting in a booth. Very subpar, won't be going back, la teresita is your best bet for Cuban in Tampa. read more

I'd heard a lot of good things about Arco Iris. Perhaps I built it up so much that I set it up for failure. I finally had the opportunity to go for lunch. I left unimpressed. I often measure a restaurant by the quality of its classics. I consider rice and beans a classic, and one that Arco Iris did not do justice to. There was no punch of flavor. It tasted like the dry sum of it is parts, rather than the savory something-more that good rice and beans affords. The plantains tasted like generic sweet plantains. They were on the small side, at least for what I'm used to. The yucca was okay. Kind of bland. There wasn't the punch of garlic that I'd hoped the oily sauce would deliver. The chicken and fish my partner and I ordered were equally underwhelming. In spite of my bad first impression, I would return for two reasons: First: there's a certain local lore to Arco Iris that makes me wonder if I just caught the place on an off-day. Second: There's a section on the menu offering "Chinese Cuisine." I'm very curious. read more

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Fast, delicious, fresh food. Clean establishment, excellent service. Highly recommended spot to enjoy Cuban food. I was just there today and noticed that the establishment has received a facelift. New tables, countertops, and decor. As for the food, it's as good as ever! And the prices cannot be beaten! Absolutely delicious! read more

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Some of the best Cuban food in Tampa. Pork is amazing. Breaded steak is wonderful. Get the cafe con leche in the morning

We ordered vaca frita. Before the entrée, some warm ,buttered Cuban bread was brought to our table. They were delicious. We asked for more crunchy on the beef and the chief did it right. Sites dishes were the white bean soup and sweet plantain. They were tasty. The big piece of beef was nicely fried and flavorful. This is a good place for affordable Cuban food . They have fast and friendly service, clean interior plus easy parking. read more

Arco Iris Cafe - warm Cuban bread before the entree - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

The roast pork was ok, Flavor and texture were off not sure what was going on with it. The Moro on the other hand was very good, service was ok nothing out of this world place is quiet. They have a steady flow of people coming in to eat and pick up food. The prices are very reasonable there Cuban sandwich is $4.25 that's crazy. Not a bad place if you just want to kill some time and eat some really inexpensive food that is better good! read more

Arco Iris Cafe - Roast pork with Moro and tostones. - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

The ox tails are the best in the city, no best in the state. The tip of the day is They only have ox tails on the menu Wednesday and Friday . read more

Arco Iris Cafe - Yellow rice - Cuban Near Me - Tampa, Florida

#175 After visiting a co-worker in St. Jo's a group of us headed back to work but not before we nabbed some lunch. Being in West Tampa, which is a target rich food enviroment this should not have been much of a task and it wasn't. It wasn't hard to find lunch. What proved to be harder would be finding a "good" lunch. Driving on Habana south we stopped for the red light at Tampa Bay Blvd. On the right was Arco-Iris Cafe. We decided to try their Cubans as no one had tried them here before. Arco-Iris Cafe is a branch of the Arco-Iris Restaurant on Columbus. The Columbus location is 4-5 star good, although I had never tried their Cuban. So in we go and order Cubans all the way. Got back to work and saw that they were large and cut sharply on the angle so familiar from West Tampa Sandwich Shop. That's where the similiarity ended. This was a ham sandwich. Oh it might have had a sliver of a slice of pork and hint of swiss but it was a ham sandwich. Once again I was reminded of the heaven that is the Cuban from West Tampa and how they excel over all the others. No one tried anything else so I can't report on other items but the cafe has a full cuban style menu. It is very pleasant and bright inside and the wait staff were friendly and helpful. It has about 20 tables so there is ample room. I would go back and try something else but from now on it's West Tampa for Cubans. Nothing else will do. read more

This place feels much cleaner than the Arco Iris on Columbus. Also, they always seem pretty empty, so service is fast. Food is basic Cuban. Good cafe con leche. I find their Cuban sandwiches to be too salty. read more

Not impressed with the food. Food came out cold and not impressed with the taste and quality of the food. The waitress was not very helpful. Almost appeared to be rude. Definitely won't be coming back and I will not recommend this place. read more

Food came fast which was had me cautious to eat the food. I then go on to eat the food and it was wasn't warm and kinda cold. To top it off the food wasn't flavorful but decent for the price. This restaurant does not give a large portion either so don't expect to get full if you eat a lot like me. I also felt judged and got bad vibes while ordering.T his restaurant definitely isn't top 100 ‍ read more

Great Cuban food and friendly, welcoming wait staff, who allowed us to enjoy a relaxing meal!