A Culinary Crawl Down Boliche Boulevard
This article is a slightly altered version of my piece that ran in Cigar City’s July/August issue, “Go West”. The editor suggested that I write something about Boliche Boulevard, which inspired the culinary crawl documented below. I’ve also included the photos I chose to accompany the article: a friend snmapped one or two of them.
A Culinary Crawl Down Boliche Boulevard
For many years, Columbus Avenue has been fondly known as “Boliche Boulevard” because so many Latin restaurants could be found there. The namesake dish is an accurate mascot for Tampa’s Latin comfort food. A beef eye round roast stuffed with chorizo and topped with tomato based gravy, boliche is a common blue-plate special, the Cuban equivalent of meat loaf or brisket. I recently took a trip down Columbus to appraise its status as Boliche Boulevard. Beginning at its intersection with Dale Mabry, I drove east in search of good food.
You won’t find any fancy bistros on this chow trail, where Cuban cuisine is the norm. Tampa’s Cuban culinary scene remains frozen in the pre-Castro days of the 1950s. Cuban exiles have largely been cut off from developments on their mother island. Culinary change in Cuba itself has been slowed by shortages and Communism’s suppression of the restaurant scene through regulations. Tampa’s Cuban cafeterias specialize in comfort food like the “meats and threes” of the Deep South. The old style food reminds one of a time before Castro, the Cold War, and the U.S. trade embargo.
Tampa’s Cuban community celebrates its cuisine daily in humble diners and cafes on Boliche Boulevard. Three standbys uphold old-fashioned Boliche Boulevard: Arco Iris, La Teresita, and the Lincoln. Arco Iris is my current favorite, although that is subject to change. La Teresita’s counter is tough to beat, especially when dining solo, because no one there eats alone. It is also open all night on weekends, a great plus for the dancing and drinking crowd. La Teresita is the Cubano version of the greasy spoon. The Lincoln’s Spanish bean soup is among the best in town, although I’ve heard the food was better under previous ownership. With Arco Iris, which boasts the highest quality food, all three restaurants provide a comforting, predictable experience. The food in these places will rarely surprise or disappoint you. They are the old guard.
Intent on having Boliche on the boulevard, I enjoyed a tender and flavorful roast at Arco Iris. But first, I delved into a bowl of Caldo Gallego, a Galician soup of white beans, turnip greens, and abundant pork fat. Yes, that floating mass in the bowl is a hunk of pork fat. And don’t forget the Cuban toast. Enjoy!
Some Cuban favorites in Tampa: black bean soup, morro rice, Spanish bean soup, fried plantains, Cuban roast pork, and boliche. Arco Iris does Cuban diners proud.
Further down the street, you will find Snack City, a humble little place that has one secret weapon: Alfredo Naranjo’s wonderful ice cream. His vibrant tropical flavors cater to a variety of immigrants. His coconut, mamey, and guava flavors satisfy the local Cubans. Mexicans love the strawberry. Several Thai restaurants serve Alfredo’s wonderful ginger ice cream for dessert. Colombians love the guanabana, or soursop. Indians treasure the mango, cashew/raisin, and kesar pista, a curious blend of saffron and pistachio.
Although Snack City is known especially for ice cream, it serves full meals as well. My favorite is the Cubana frita, a hamburger with ketchup, onions, and loaded with potato sticks. A burger and fries in a bun.
Colombian food, with its penchant for beef, seems right at home on Boliche Boulevard. Down the street at the intersection of Howard, Antojitos is one of many relatively new Colombian restaurants in Tampa. Antojitos serves up huge platefuls of steak, fried fish, and a fried pork chop as big as your head.
You’ll notice the hot case at the counter, brimming with all kinds of exotic-looking treats. The chorizo is juicy and larger than its dried Spanish cousin. The dark blood sausage is mild and flecked with rice. Arepas are a Colombian snacking mainstay, an unleavened corn cake often topped with farmer’s cheese. The white farmer’s cheese is thick and mild and the arepa crisp. The corn-crusted empanadas score big points, especially loaded with aji, a thin green salsa with a spicy heat but no burn. The aji seems to compliment most of the food, especially the fried and grilled items.
Cold drinks, in turn, balance aji’s insistent heat. Colombians love fruit we don’t even have names for. Fruit nectar shakes come in 15 flavors such as pineapple, mango, papaya, and tamarind. I especially like to order flavors I’ve never heard of. A curuba milkshake is a favorite, as is blended lulo and ice.
On a cruise down Columbus, you might want some lighter fare than the chicharrones (fried pork skin) down the street. If so, get thee to Grass Roots Organic Restaurant, where the food is radically different from the nearby Latin eateries, and no less earnest. This haven for vegetarian, vegan, and raw diets relies on fresh vegetables and inventive seasoning.
This is no simple beans and rice kitchen. Instead, Grass Roots seems to have thought deeply about how to make such healthy food a little fun, too. The zucchini “spaghetti” is actually a highly stylized salad. The zucchini is shredded into long, thick noodle shapes. The “alfredo” sauce is an intriguing paste derived from cashews and spices, with a nice pinch of black pepper. The “meatballs” were crumbly veggie matter that tasted more nutty than meaty. The shredded house salad sports a smooth mango dressing. The falafel and veggie burgers are tasty, satisfying, and quite healthy. Veggie drinks include a variety of natural juices, fruits and vegetables, including seaweed.
For those who cannot go without meat and dairy, there is one more essential stop on Boliche Boulevard. At 60 years old this year, Brocato’s is the oldest restaurant along our chow trail, and it wins a loyal following with massive sandwiches, stuffed potatoes, and some of the best deviled crabs in the Tampa Bay area. Just north of Columbus east of 50th Street, hard hats, blue collars, and hungry locals crowd the dining room and counters on weekdays. Truly a Tampa institution, Brocato’s has expanded several times to accommodate its growing clientele. There is an outdoor dining room and shaded picnic tables for al fresco dining, nice alternatives to the loud, cramped, and crowded dining room during lunch rushes.
The regular sized sandwiches are too much for most, and for a couple dollars more, the large is truly massive, even for this ravenous writer. The Italian sub above is a well stuffed, well pressed feast for three. The Cuban sandwich is impressive and generously laden with meat, but not overstuffed. The roast pork sandwich is a real winner, and the meatball is hard to resist. The chicken parmesan sandwich is also massive, with a two layers of fried chicken cutlets with the sauce and cheese.
There are a variety of other great sandwiches, and a few entrees, but the devil crabs stand out among the region’s best. So many other devil crabs are greasy dough balls with questionable seafood content. Moist and not the least bit doughy, accented with tiny pieces of onions and bell peppers, you will probably find a bit of crab shell in Brocato’s croquette, and take comfort in it. They are worthy successors to the old Seabreeze’s legendary devil crabs. Don’t forget the stuffed potatoes, they are too good to be ignored, stuffed with a real picadillo, not plain ground beef. The olives are especially appreciated.
By my estimation, Boliche Boulevard still lives up to its name quite well. It reveals a Tampa in constant flux, where various ethnic roots and lifestyles vibrantly mingle and coexist. One can taste that diversity and goodwill on a culinary crawl down Columbus Avenue.