Hugo’s Spanish Restaurant

Ate lunch here today with 2 bffs on our monthly lunch outing. It’s a cute little place, but being located on South Howard, parking was a problem. I parked 2 blocks away, one in front of the restaurant, and the other circled around for 15 minutes to find a space to open up. The server was very genuinely friendly and even gave us our café con Leche (excellent) on the house because it came after we finished our dessert. The lunch special was chicken and yellow rice and a side of your choice (black beans) for $ 6.99. Not sure why we were charged $ 7.47, but she asked if I wanted onions to to my beans and I said yes. (?) The chicken was a leg and was very tender. The yellow rice was a huge portion and cooked perfectly with separate grains, seasoned well, and not mushy. The black beans could have used more seasoning and just okay, nothing special. My friend and I shared our chicken and Milanesa steak, which was tasty and a huge portion. I also had a deviled crab, only because I love a good deviled crab. I’m not sure what I was expecting for $ 2.49, but it was totally forgetable. The crab was lost in the mixture of filling and not detectable. I would pay more to be able to taste and see the crab in my deviled crab. There was more than enough to eat and I had food to take home. Lunch for the three of us including one iced tea was $ 40. I probably would try a new place before coming back here. The company I was in made my lunch!

Best pressed Cubans! Every trip to Tampa requires a visit to Hugo’s! Great black beans and rice.

Hugo’s is legit. I am a chicken and rice addict and this place did not disappoint. The pollo con arroz was juicy and flavorful. Really friendly staff and nice clean stylish interior. Mainly though they work magic with chicken and rice.
If you find yourself in Tampa and want some Spanish/​Cuban vittles get on over to Hugo’s.
It’s the JAM!!!

Best inexpensive food in south Tampa. I love the 5 dollar breakfast. They have 7 dollar special everyday but I always get the Cuban. Palomilla Steak and eggs is yummy too. If you hit them at a busy time service may be a little slower than you like but usually not a problem for me. The dining room got more comfortable and the prices did not go up.

If you havent gone lately, try it again. I hadnt been to Hugos for a couple years, plus someone recently told me their café con leche wasnt good. So I went there with trepidation and was wowed! FIrst theyve redecorated and its very nice. I had the palomilla steak (pounded thin & marinated for nuevo Cubanos) breakfast. The steak is huge and delicious, the eggs perfectly poached and great huge amt of home fries. The only small complaint was they were kind of chinchy with the cuban bread but readily brought more. The café con leche was very good. My companion had ham & eggs, huge portion of ham w all the trimmings for less than $ 5. I also got a cuban to go and it is a HUGE delicious cuban. At around $ 7.50 its a little pricier than other places but well worth it. What a pleasant surprise!

Am I mistaken or does the Cuban bread taste more like some think you buy at Publix than authentic Cuban bread? Ok Cuban food. Much prefer La Teresita

My wife and I finally went for our first time today. The inside is a surprise considering the outside of the building. Very nice design and feel. The menu was a nice size in the number of options — not too many and not too few — and all of the menu items worked well together. The food we had was incredible and the prices were extremely reasonable! We will definitely be back. I only took of a star because their hours make it very difficult for us to go. I never get home from work before 5 and we typically don’t eat out on the weekends. I’m sure they have their reasons for closing just before dinner but, for us at least, it’s an impossible option most of the time. I’d definitely recommend if you can go for breakfast or lunch!

I’m a little conflicted, Hugo’s deserves five stars in my book, but doesn’t deserve five stars for printing cards offering free fountain drinks for five star Unilocal reviews. It’s just not right, but I am giving the five stars and not taking the free drink (because I finished off with a generous sweet Cuban café con leche anyway).
Is it this the best Cuban sandwich in town? Quite possibly. Is this the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever had? Probably. Is this Cuban sandwich 10 times better than any Cuban sandwich in Milwaukee or Chicago? Definitely. The «Spanish fried rice,» really Cuban-​Chinese shrimp fried rice is pretty good too. We took a county bus from downtown and walked through Soho and a bit of Hyde Park, passing a couple of packed breakfast places boasting of gluten-​free choices. Yech. All of those places were packed with waiting lines for Sunday brunch, but this place was almost empty except for a couple of Cubans (immigrants, not sandwiches). The place was packed with Cuban sandwiches for pick up, pretty much a steady stream of to go orders. We came in at one, they close at two, and the massive pile of pick up orders dwindled as closing hour approached.
Very nice sunny recently remodeled décor, which makes this place different from the other places vying for the best Cuban sandwich in town, it’s a nice space. In spite of arriving less than an hour before closing, our waitress was cheerful and very efficient. We were sated and exiting at exactly 2pm. The Chief of Staff ordered a full Cuban, full press (apparently not a basketball reference) and it was more than she could handle. I ordered the «half» Cuban which is the largest half a sandwich I’ve ever seen, so the waitress was a little dubious when I added the fried rice. They were so good I polished them both off. Don’t be daunted if you’re staying downtown in a hotel, it’s easy to take the county bus there and back with an interesting walk of maybe half a mile or a little less.
Did you ever watch «Lost?» I think they should sell Lotto tickets here.

I meet once a month with a non profit organization I’m associated with and a week or so before that meeting with a smaller crew to review the upcoming events and agenda’s for the main meeting. So, I bring along a few cuban sandwiches to the smaller meeting and a larger «catering» tray of cuban’s to the larger meeting. Going to switch it up a little this coming month, so we’ll see how some of the other catering trays are.
Location: Hugo’s is located down Howard street below Swann Ave on the West side of the road just up from SideBern’s. Parking is available throughout the street, just be careful of the signs because I hear some of the places restrict their parking lots and actively remove cars. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to park directly in front of Hugo’s in a little 3 – 4 parking addition added to the road.
Hours: Note: they are open until 5pm each day, 2pm on Sundays. This is not a night place for a dinner.
Food: The hot pressed Cubans are pretty darn good. For the trays of cubans that won’t be eaten right away, they recommend cold non pressed. I usually buy more than enough and I’ve had people asking to take some home afterwards, they are that good.
Service: pretty quick. with a smile. Counter area on the left for take outs and a dining room to the right for sit down meals. For the tray, i call in advance the day before and note the pickup time. They’re ready when I get there.
Going back: every month. twice.

They just renovated, food was great — best cuban coffee. Loved the breakfast !

Best Cuban sandwich in Tampa! Have it «all the way» pressed! Will be back to try the rest of the menu. Very reasonable prices.

Great place for lunch! Walk if you can since there is only valet parking but once inside the smell of Spanish food cooking gets you hungry! It’s authentic and delicious! Talipia w yellow rice and plantains are the best! Friendly staff

Was visiting family back home in Florida and we went to try this restaurant. The food was delicious! We all got different meals and it was all great. I do not recommend the Sangria, it just tasted like chilled wine with some lemon wedges.
Apparently they just switched owners and from what I heard from my dad it was a good switch — he was reluctant to go after being there under the previous management. After this trip, however, he said he will definitely be back.

We returned to our old stomping grounds because my awesome husband won a free cruise through work! As soon as we found out the ship was out of Tampa, the first thing we said was we had to go to Hugo’s. This is and always will be one of our favorite Cuban restaurants of all time!
While the inside looked different than we remembered — the local artists paintings for sale weren’t on the walls, a server from our college years was still there. While she didn’t remember us of course, we appreciated that she was nice as always.
We didn’t have to look at the menu to order, it was a Cuban all the way for the hubs and arroz con pollo for me. (These two and the ropa vieja are our three favorite dishes.) I didn’t think they gave you bread while you waited for lunch time but lucky for us, our server brought it anyway. There is something about that Cuban bread and butter that just melts in your mouth. We didn’t have to wait long for our meals and man oh man, they were just as mouth watering as we remembered. My husband savored his first bite, eyes closed, enjoying the flavors of the meat and condiment combination. They put mayo, mustard and pickles on their Cuban sandwiches and press the bread, which I think is what really makes it taste amazing. My arroz con pollo was just as good as I remembered. The chicken was the size of the entire plate and was swimming in its own delicious juices. I love to tear off a piece of meat, drown it in the juice and mix it with the yellow rice. It really is muy delicioso. Oh and because the plantains there are out of this world, of course we had to get a side of those to share as well. I’m telling you, if you like plantains, this is the place.
Hugo’s can really do no wrong. It is a family owned/​operated business that has been there for close to 40 years and it is comforting to know that the quality of the food has stayed the same. If you’re ever in the South Tampa area and are craving incredible Cuban, Hugo’s is the one to try!

This is by far the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever had. Other great food items too, and a mom and pop feel. I love the area too. It offers a lot of cute scenery. The service is good, and it’s cheap, especially for the amount of food you get. It’s definitely worth the drive.

Hugo’s has a lot of character. This place was here before the neighborhood became upscale Solis Cuban food at low prices. I like it for lunch or dinner.

Hugo’s is a no-​frills Cuban restaurant in South Tampa with a deli counter in the front for takeout orders and a dining room in the back. Not sure why it’s been years since I’ve been to Hugo’s. The food is good, the prices are cheap, and the restaurant is convenient to my office, but it’s just one of those spots that I forget about.
Decided to have lunch here with fellow Unilocaler, Steve E., since neither of us had reviewed this spot yet. Steve ordered daily special (Boliche) and I ordered the Cuban sandwich. The Cuban was great, but I thought it was going to have roasted pork on it. Maybe I meant to order the media noche??? I always get the two sandwiches mixed up. Steve’s rib eye steak looked pretty good so I might have to try the boliche next time I visit.
The restaurant serves coke and pepsi products, but the coke products only come in the can so we decided to make a great sacrifice and order diet pepsi from the fountain so that we could get free refills. After beverages and tip we each only paid about $ 10 each; not bad for a dine-​in lunch.
My only other minor complaint (besides the canned Coke) is the parking lot. The parking is pretty small and is shared with The Green Lemon so chances are that you will have to park across the street as I did.

2014 started out much like 2013 — lunch at a great little South Tampa spot with my wonderful Unilocal friend, Michelle M. Our impromptu lunches always start out with a text or an Email saying, «What’cha doing for lunch? Let’s go try someplace new…» and off we go!
Today we visited Hugo’s Spanish Restaurant which is located along S. Howard Avenue, diagonally across the street from SideBern’s, and just north of the intersection of Morrison Avenue. Parking on the street can be tricky, but there is a free lot just north of the restaurant, and a second lot across the street and up the block.
The restaurant is basically set up as two rooms. The entry room has a counter designed for carry-​out orders with a refrigerated case loaded with pre-​made Cuban and roast pork sandwiches, along with a cooler for drinks and the cashier stand. The second room is the dining room with a number of booths and waitress service.
Michelle and I found a booth and looked over the menu at their selection of Spanish and Cuban cuisine, including sandwiches, soups, salads, and entrées. Hugo’s also has a breakfast menu just in case you find yourself in SOHO at 7:30 in the morning, but the place closes by 5pm each day, and it is completely closed on Sundays.
Today’s luncheon special was the Boliche entrée which was marinated rib eye steak cooked in salsa criolla, and it came with two sides. I ordered that with a cup of the Garbanzo bean soup and some yellow rice for my two sides. The steak was fork-​tender and seasoned perfectly in the peppery tomato sauce, and the Garbanzo bean soup was some of the best that I’ve ever had. There were lots of excellent entrée choices on the menu including Palolilla steak, roast pork, Ropa Vieja, Picadillo, and Arroz con Pollo to name a few.
Michelle went straight for the Cuban sandwich, and pronounced that it was very delicious in between bites. We had a great laugh plotting to toilet paper Brett’s house on Monday night while we enjoyed our excellent meal. Lunch for the two of us was well under $ 20, so it was lots of food for a very affordable price.
Well worth a visit if you’re in the area!

There is a huge sign on the window that says «Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.» Yet the hours posted on the door are 7:30am-5pm. What kind of dinner hours are those?
I grew up eating at Hugo’s and loved the food and family atmosphere but over the past years it seems as though they were never open at the times I would try to go. Very frustrating. They should update their info online and signs in the window.

When I have to work on Saturdays my job orders lunch for us. So today we ordered from this Restaurant. I went and picked up our order and this is a cute little off the road place. The staff seems really nice.
So on to the food. I must say I wasn’t completely satisfied with that. We ordered the chicken and yellow rice and stuffed potato’s. The rice was a little under cooked, the peas in there you could tell were frozen and there was no seasoning on it. However the mini stuffed potato’s were really good. The food wasn’t bad enough for me not to go back, just maybe not anytime real soon. When I do go I will want to try their Cuban sandwiches, I saw a couple people get those and the sandwich did look better. I meant to ask if they use the honey butter on their pressed Cubans.