Island Deli

The Cuban breakfast sandwich was great; good ham and lots of cheese. The Cuban coffee was great. While I’ve eaten breakfast the past few days at the hotel, it’s $ 18.
This appears to be a family run business. I’m glad they are here by my hotel because there appears to be absolutely no choice in dining in this area unless you want to pay much higher prices.

Good and quick Cuban style breakfast or a quick lunch. Nothing fancy, just good, cheap and authentic. Not a place to bring a date obviously but a decent place to grab a quick breakfast or lunch.

A modest deli counter with a cheerful, accommodating proprietor. I got there at 6:20am, as Unilocal said it opened at 6am. This was wrong – it opens at 7am – but the owner let me order anyway. I got a breakfast sandwich, which was ordinary fast-​food fare except for the excellent bread. Coffee was fine. Had it been later, I might have looked for a proper breakfast restaurant, but this did my trick on the way to the airport.

In an area of over priced hotel food and tourist traps, Island Deli was a good find. Good food for reasonable prices. It is hidden but worth looking for.

Solid Cuban sandwich. I wish they served plantain chips/​fries instead of Doritos, but overall good food. Worth checking out if you’re staying downtown Tampa.

I’m not sure what was going on when I went there, but there was no amazing Cuban food or anything. I went for breakfast based on the Unilocal reviews. What a mistake. The menu is basically bagel, bagel with eggs + meat or chicken/​tuna salad sandwich. Coffee was horrible. There’s no menu posted on here for a reason. I did not see stuffed potatoes or anything like that. The whole place was dark and weird looking. I will not be going here again.

In the AV business we tend to be very limited on how far we can go for lunch, luckily the island deli was right around the corner from the Marriott waterside. Authentic Cubans, great black bean soup served up hot and cheap. Great little place.

We did a quick, «I am starving, who delivers, SOS CALL. Somehow we reached Island Deli. What a great non choice this ended up being. We got one of their salads that was fresh, plentiful and chock full of good eats. We also got a cuban, that I must admit was pretty good, in competitive Tampa for Cuban sandwiches. The bread was fresh & it had more than a meager serving of meat. The pork was good, the sandwich was authenic.
Next time we need food in that area of town, we will be sure to try them again.
What’s a girl to do? When you’re hungry, ya gotta eat.

Tiny little spot in kind of a food court downstairs next to the hotel on Harbor Island. Great sandwich selection. Went for the Cuban and it was excellent. One of the best I’ve had. Grab one and eat outside by the water.

Great place for a quick Cuban sandwich or café con leche. The owners are friendly. I stopped by while in town for business. I’ll come again if I’m in the area.

Discovered this little place tucked away in a hallway near my hotel. I must have been the last to know about it because it was crazy busy! Only 2 people working at this little stand but you wouldn’t know it. I had a pastrami and swiss on wheat. Warm pressed sandwiches, chips, sodas, coffee, and pastries. I took my sandwich outside to eat near the water and enjoy the lovely day. You can beat the price although it is funny that they charge a fee to use credit cards. It seems with how busy it was they probably profit enough to be able to pay the fee for credit cards :)
Stop in and get a cuban, wrap, salad or other pressed sandwich!

I’ve been here dozens and dozens of times. Always good. The man has been given a name similar to the nickname for the soup guy in Seinfeld.
Great good. Try it!
I get the grilled chicken wrap. It is so juicy. I have him add pickles and hold the cheese. Many get the Cuban sandwiches. He has fresh salads below the counter. There is a club salad or a chicken Caesar. Breakfast is equally good. The smoothies taste great. The beans and rice special is very good. My entire office eats here. The line can get long but moved very quickly. Much better than the pizza and sushi place next door. Ick
He now also takes credit card.

This place is a hidden gem if you like a real, authentic, Cuban sandwich. And stuffed potatoes, too. Wow. I can believe that there have not yet been any reviews about this place yet.
Island Deli is not a Cuban restaurant per se, though it’s owner is of Cuban heritage. In fact, Island Deli is just a walk-​up counter in a strip food court area of the Westin hotel at Harbor Island, with a common seating area for all the food court shops. You won’t find a restaurant atmosphere here. It’s a food court.
Harbor Deli has tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, wraps, salads, and a few other food items, in addition to their Cuban sandwich. They only serve breakfast and lunch. They also have a small paper menu that shows they have stuffed potatoes and black beans and rice during lunch.
Breakfast is pretty much limited to sandwiches, croissants and bagels, though the Cuban egg sandwich (with choice of meat) for well under $ 4, and Cuban toast (with it without cheese, both under $ 2) are the breakfast of my choice. I was raised on these. No cereal for me.
Of course they have coffee ($ 1.79 large bold and full flavor), espresso (I didn’t have any), bottled sodas ($ 1.69 20 oz bottle), and other beverages. Their prices are typical of what you would find in a mom and pop sandwich shop, not the sticker-​shock typical high prices usually found when you’re stuck in a hotel.
The Cuban bread is authentic, made right here by a bakery in town, per the owner. My taste buds and mouth fully agree. My point of reference is that my mother is Cuban, 80 years old, and I was born and raised in Key West, Florida. She bought fresh Cuban bread at a local bakery every day. I don’t live there any more, but was raised with a Cuban palate and heritage.
I ate at Island Deli twice during the last week in March 2014. I had the stuffed potato and Cuban sandwich twice, each.
The stuffed potato is yummy. It was $ 1.89. The potato is velvety smooth. well formed, amply large (two would be a filling meal), with tasty, yet not over seasoned ground beef filling. These are precooked (deep fried) ahead then refrigerated. They are microwaved to reheat as needed, but still very good.
Hot sauce is available upon request on the side. Be sure to ask them to microwave it longer than normal if you like it very hot. Since the stuffed potatoes are refrigerated, in what must be a very cold fridge, and since it is almost the size of a tennis ball, it can reheat unevenly. Ask them to heat it an additional 15 – 20 seconds to ensure its hot all the way through. I cut mine in quarters, pour hot sauce on it, let cool a moment and it comes out just right.
The Cuban sandwich is delightful and authentic. They offer a regular size (about 8 inches $ 5.69) and large (about 12 inches $ 6.99). The owner asked if I wanted lettuce and tomato. I declined and said pressed. He replied, «you want it authentic.» I nodded.
Authentic in Tampa Is ham, seasoned pork, pickles, salami, Swiss cheese, and yellow mustard. Adding mayo is also common, which I did. In Miami authentic is the same but without salami. I really can’t add any more. This Cuban sandwich (or Cubano, mixto, or Cuban mix, as it’s also called) is the real deal. Enough said. And if you like it with lettuce and tomato, do that. They will add it after pressing. Eat what you like. It’s your money. You gotta enjoy it.
The Cuban sandwich actually originated in Tampa eons ago, when Tampa was a major commerce center for the state, and, well before any city in south Florida was a spec in the mangroves. Many Cubans came to Tampa for seasonal work and native Cuban recipes followed them.
As south Florida grew, the Cuban sandwich became popular there, and when Cubans fled Cuba in the late 50s, many that had freely traveled to Tampa as seasonal workers, fled to Miami and the Cuban sandwich came along for good.
Regardless of how and where it originated, the authentic Cuban sandwich is one that has to be experienced if you are in the area. It’s authentic, inexpensive, and a taste you’ll long for if you can’t get authentic Cuban bread where you live.