El Tipico Criollo

This place is great, good selection and good is tasty. Its definitely worth a try. And for $ 6 you get PLENTY of food. I probably hit it up 2−4x a week.

So I’m certain this place will ultimately settle at 3 stars because most people aren’t as tolerant of mediocrity, but…
Value speaks volumes for me these days, and this joint is a dead ringer for that label. Forget that the «specials» food items may not be the perfect temp. Accept that they will offer neither the best table service nor attentive hosting. Assume cramped seating and unforgiving table sizes if you choose to dine in or out front. Oh, and prepare yourself for zero condiments available at your table too. If you can handle those things, then come in for a simple weekday dinner that is altogether different and affordable.
We all loved the chicken soup. It makes you thirsty, but at the same time contains chopped up bone-​in chicken so my daughter could learn the flavor benefits of marrow to brothy soups. More refined restaurants will hide this fact by removing those pieces and charging double.
The roast pork smothered in red beans and sauce served over a bed of yellow rice disappeared quickly and filled me up for $ 6. It was seasoned enough to appease my need for hot sauce while simultaneously not requiring a glass of water for sodium balance.
We all thought the tamales were odd and represented the low point of the meal, but then again we are from Chicago and Tom Tom Tamales definitely represent a less ambiguous approach to this dish. Covering lukewarm corn based mush in a lukewarm corn based wrap is not what we expected.
But I digress…
It would be great if I could gush over everything we experienced, however the truth is you should come here. Either get take-​out dinner specials to warm in your microwave or wait for made-​to-​order from the kitchen… or arrive exactly when they fill the «specials» food line.
COVER ME, I’M GOING BACK IN!

The food tastes like home. The staff is friendly and attentive. Every time I come to Tampa i bring the family to eat here. I recommend it highly.

This shit is nasty AF. I got 2 dry ass empanadas, a dry ass Cuban sandwich and one of they dry ass meat combos that came with some dry ass pork and dry ass rice and beans with some dry ass plantains. This shit is nasty, worse way to give away $ 14 bucks! I wish I would have just gotten an empanada and not all the rest of the food. If I would have eaten the empanada first, I wouldn’t have ordered from here after eating that.
I’m going to try Mr. Empanada next.

La atención está fatal la cajero nuevo no saben ni copral y cuando pido orden de atrás no save como cuando el otro cocinero estaba era mejor la señora ni saluda parese que le tiene miedo a la jente me encantaba mi viste mi pechuga mi pecado con ajos que ya no hacen Buenos pero ya encontre mi verdadero cosinero en el rincón latino ese si cocina el tiene su propio restaurante el que cocinaba en el típico ya no vol al típico porque siempre lo dueno tienen cara de enojó y todo ya no es lo mismo

This is a great place if you like real good authentic Spanish food. I ate from the buffet, but wow what a treat! The pulled pork, Spanish rice and beans are my favorite, and just like my mother used to make. I read comments over the speed of service. Who cares? It’s worth the wait. If you want speed, drive through a Chipolte. If you want home made style Spanish food, I highly recommend you try this place. Open from 6:30am to 8:30pm

I enjoyed the food but the service was a little slow if you weren’t eating from the buffet. The servers were friendly and the food had Good Dominican flavor.

It was bad… The fish was smelly and awe full. i dint like anything about it, be it food ambience or service.

Friendly staff, amazing food, amazing prices.
Yucca done perfectly, soft and sweet plantains, delicious pepper grilled chicken… Everything is decadent. I could live off their food.

Now, don’t let the 3-​star rating fool you, I like this place. It is close to my house, the roast pork is the closest I’ve found to what I would have at a family Christmas dinner back at home, and you can’t beat the prices.
The cons at this place are more about the service. I went in a few weeks ago to get some «morcilla» (a traditional blood sausage and rice spicy that’s really bad for your cholesterol but SO good!) and they conveniently had some ready, though they did not look very fresh. I asked the lady behind the counter if they were fresh, she answered «of course», so I asked her to pack what they had on display; about ¾ lbs. I was skeptical about the freshness of the morcilla, so I tried a little piece. Much like other type of sausages, when cooked the morcilla should feel firm, but plump to the touch. The piece I grabbed was hard. Like cuban style bread that’s been on the counter for a week hard. I said to the lady: «I thought you said the morcilla was fresh». «It is», she replied. At this point, I took the piece of morcilla out of the bad and banged it against the counter so she could hear how hard it was. I guy came back out of the kitchen and asked me what the issue was, so I explained it to him, he apologized and asked me to wait a few minutes so he could cook some fresh morcilla for me. He did and I left happy, so on that front the service was great. Still, if I hadn’t checked, I would’ve arrived at home with the bad morcilla.
In summary, please do go and get some food. It is good and reasonably priced. Just make sure that you check what you are getting because they will try to push old and stale product out, if you’re not paying attention.

This place is great. They have Colombian empanadas and great food. The Cubans are really good as well. I can’t wait to try everything on the menu.

Ordered for delivery for lunch. while the wait was over an hour. the food was well worth it! Got the pork with yellow rice and pink beans as well as tostones… just like my family makes! I was so impressed! Next time I’ll be sure to order earlier and hopefully they have carne guisada available!

Home style dominican food at its finest! Their Mangu with Salami and queso frito (Smashed green plantain, salami chunks, and fried cheese) is one of a a kind! Makes me feel like I’m back home in D.R. The perfect spot for wether on the go or to sit and dine!

Excellent! I had marinated pork with rice and beans! Just like mom used to make! Fantastic! I’m here for a week, I’ll be going back! Mmmm. Yum!

This place serves exceptional Dominican food and drinks. Everything Caribbean from chimichurris to country club drinks, they even make delicious shakes from all kinds of fruit. This is my favorite Dominican spot in Tampa

Great food, I love their breakfast sandwiches and guava pastries. The staff is extremely friendly and make an effort to please!

I’ve had two sandwiches from here, and both were really great. The first, obviously, was a Cuban sandwich and I found it to be up there with some of the best in town. Pepo’s Jr. on Northdale still occupies the throne, but El Tipico is a little closer to home and is a fine substitute when there’s a craving. Their roasted pork here is really good, and if wasn’t for that, their Cuban would rank a lot lower for me. Why? Because they use boiled ham. In this day and age, there’s just no reason to ever serve boiled lunch meat ham. It’s largely un-​flavorful and only acts as a pink-​colored filler on the sandwich. There are other cost-​effective hams that actually bring TASTE to a sandwich. Also, they add lettuce and tomato by default. While I like to break from tradition sometimes and add tomato, this is a no-​no. Still, not bad in a pinch.
Their «Philly» is a non-​traditional version. Served on fresh Cuban bread with provolone cheese and slices of what appears to be skirt steak with caramelized peppers and onions? Sounds like a real mash up, huh? Perhaps they should just called it the «Tampa Cheesesteak» so as not to offend «Philly» purists. Either way, the sandwich is good. I might have enjoyed it more than the Cuban.
As for the name of the place, El Tipico, I think it’s funny. We do indeed have a ton of these little spots in the 813, so it’s not like they’re offering anything vastly different from the others, and I think their satirical name suggest that they know it. But what I can say is that it’s probably the best TnC has to offer, and I plan on eating here a bunch.
CUBAN SANDWICH REPORT CARD:
Bread: Fresh, bakery unknown.
Ham: Lunch meat /​boiled ham
Pork: Pernil Al Horno
Salami: Yes, but no peppercorns
Swiss: Yes
Mustard: Yes
Pickles: Yes
Pressed: Yes
Lettuce/​Tomato/​Mayo: By default
Rating: 3.5 /​5.0

Earlier I wrote: I loved my heaping portion of pulled pork, my beans and rice, my sweet plantains and guava cake. My gang let me taste their Cuban sammich, chicken and potaters. We were also with a vegetarian in tow who opted for an egg sammich and loved it as well. Luckily we speak Spanglish, but if we didn’t, I don’t believe I’d have trouble ordering, since a lot of the food was sitting behind a buffet-​type window for easy point and grunt ordering if need be. The guava cake was outstanding and fresh. The steak Sancocho peasant soup looked great, but with prices these low and portions so huge I had to take it easy.
Well, I did go back, and it seems they did make some price amendments. Three Cuban sandwiches of some sort were listed all at three different prices. One was at 4.00, another at 4.99, and I was charged 5.00. I did utilize the pint and grunt method, although I fully understood when the front desk girl asked the chef for the price and she threw up five fingers. Still a good experience!