La Guaguita – CLOSED

This place makes me want to plan a trip to Puerto Rico :-P. I first heard of this place on the Cooking Channel show «Eat St». I proceeded to look it up on Google maps and, much to my excitement, it’s less than 10 minutes from my house. I’ve been to a couple Puerto Rican restaurants so I was eager to try this truck out because these days it seems that food trucks deliver food that is as good or [often] better than their sit-​down restaurant competitors. That is absolutely the case here. I’ve been here twice (in one week) now because it’s just that good and have taken friends with me each time because food this awesome is meant to be shared.
Between the two visits I’ve tried the Mofongo con Carne Frita (Fried Pork), Beef Empanadas, Beef Alcapurrias (Fritter), Green Banana Fritter, Chicken Sandwich, and Steak Sandwich. Before eating here, my experience with mofongo has been sub-​par. The way it’s prepared here is moist and absolutely delicious. The fried pork is great because, as we all know, everything tastes great if you fry it. It was accompanied by perfectly seasoned and cooked tostones. The beef empanadas and alcapurrias are some of the best I’ve ever had. The green banana fritter was a great balance of sweet and savory. The bread made the chicken and steak sandwiches great. The meat on both sandwiches are okay, but nothing mind-​blowing.
Overall, it’s an awesome food experience, the main chef is super friendly, and the prices are very reasonable. The food does tend to take some time getting out depending on the order, but it’s TOTALLY worth it. First timers definitely need to go for the mofongo.

I went to La Guaguita this weekend and was very pleased. Being Puerto Rican is an be hard to find places that prepare meals like Mami does and this place came pretty close. We had the mofongo with carne frita, tostones con camarones and alcapurias. Alcapurias may just be one of my favorite foods and these were amazing. So fresh and flavorful. The mefongo was also very good. The tostones were super flavorful but not the crispy-​est. The shrimp that came with it more than made up for it though. There was a good crowd despite the rain and had friendly conversations while we waited for our food to be freshly prepared. I’m so glad I found this place and will definitely be back.

Why 5 stars? Because… I was left speechless.
— — —
La Guaguita was one of those places that had been on my «to-​do» list for quite some time. It’s not super-​close to my house, and I just kept putting it off. I was out and about running errands yesterday and had an enormous decision to make:
Left or Right?
Left meant head home, and eat a lean cuisine for lunch.
Right mean head toward La Guaguita and finally enjoy this long-​anticipated cuisine.
I did what I usually do in a situation like that, I chose the food truck… because I’m weak.
I did not regret this decision, that is for damn sure.
Once I got over to this part of town, I actually had a bit of difficulty finding it. If you are heading West down Hillsborough, take a right onto Sheldon and it’s in the parking lot of a hispanic mini-​mart, near the corner.
I spoke with the owner, who couldn’t have been a nicer guy. He said they plan on opening a store later this year across the street. I hope he keeps the food truck for the novelty! He told me my order would be about 15 minutes, which is definitely surprising for a food truck… but I didn’t mind at all.
Once I took a bite of my beef mofongo… I felt like I wanted to move to Puerto Rico. Wow… I was totally mind-​blown. After one visit, La Guaguita is definitely a place that I cannot wait to introduce to as many people as I can. I have no idea what I was eating, other than it had steak and some kind of twice-​fried plantains. I don’t even care what it was, I just know that it was a complete mouth-​gasm.
Congratulations La Guaguita… just when I thought I was really cornering the market on the best restaurants in town, you hit a grand slam in my face and changed everything.

Excellent food at excellent prices. This place is exactly like the «guaguitas» in the island. I am puertorrican and I’m very pleased to have found a place where I can take care of my PR food craving. Nothing fancy, but in the island these are not meant to be fancy, they serve good food at great prices. Defently worth it.

The steak sandwich barely had any steak and they smother everything in something they call a «mojito sauce»…which to me tasted and AWFUL lot like Russian dressing to me. My girlfriend is Cuban and enjoyed the mofongo and platanos but I personally wouldn’t go back.
The chef was EXTEREMLY nice though and gave us some free samples while we waited. A lot of people seem to like it but it’s just not for me. I’ll head to Big Mikes right up the street.
I’ll probably give it another shot and if I like the meal better I’ll change my rating. It just wasn’t a very good first impression.

luv the food. luv the people. great customer service! a littl corner of Puerto Rico in Tampa! FYI for those living in the northern part of tampa (like me) the owner told me there opening a spot in Lutz!!! N dale mabry towards 41… call them for more info…

This past Christmas la Guaguita catered some of my holiday meals. I ordered several dozen yuca alcapurrias (I guess you can call them deep fried yuca burritos), pasteles (similar to alcapurrias, but boiled instead of deep fried) and lots and lots of mofongos. Mofongo is deep fried green plantain smashed together with garlic and seasoning, formed into a ball, and usually served with a meat side dish.
The mofongo from the Guaguita is outstanding. I have, however, found an even better one at el Mofongazo. Now, for the mofongo connoseiurs out there, you will note that pork rinds inside the mix make the mofongo. The Guaguita uses very heavy garlic but I couldn’t see the pork. The mofongo from el Mofongazo has a lot of pork rinds inside, plus they offer the yuca variety, which the Guaguita does not.
Now, for some this would mean I would go to the Mofongazo and not the Guaguita. Well, it doesn’t work that way. Good mofongo is good mofongo, rinds or not. And the mofongo from the Guaguita is good. I’ll be spending more time at el Mofongazo but I will continue to stop by the Guaguita every once in a while. It’s that good.
They also have rice, beans, and many choices to accompany your mofongo like fish, octopus, and shrimp. This is a food truck at the parking lot of a Latin market, so I wouldn’t recommend planning on eating here. They have a couple of chairs under a tent, but this is primarily a take out place. If you talk to them you can arrange catering of your get together so you can give it a distinct Puerto Rican flavor. I am most definitely a fan!

Nice pastililtos I’d come back again.

I’ve seen this spot many times as I drove by and always meant to stop in. Finally this week I snuck away and came out to sample the fare. I must say that the Chef was a friendly, informative and an all around great guy! We talked about the cuisine, La Isla (Puerto Rico) and other topics while my food was prepared. I bought a steak sandwhich and was treated to a meat alcapurria and was encouraged to try a jugo de parcha which I did and wound up ordering one as well.
The steak sandwhich was everything one could hope for and more. I meant to eat half and wound up devouring the entire thing, plus the alcapurria and the jugo de parcha. Needless to say I was pretty much useless at work for the rest of the afternoon at the onset of a yummy food coma! Catholic guilt set in when the wife asked what I had for lunch and when I told her, well, let’s just say that I was not the most popular guy on the block. I adamantly maintained that I was on a scouting mission for her and her eyebrow rose ever so slowly, sooooo!
I came back a couple of days later with the family. We tried the arroz con gandules with juicy heavenly pork and a salad. The portions were generous, the price incredible and the flavor, wow, what an authentic taste of La Isla. I felt like I was five years old again at my mother’s house. My wife was very pleased at everything we tried and can’t wait to go back and I am now the hero and the most popular guy on the block!
In closing I must mention once again how good the food is and how awesome the service is. It seems that lately customer service has been lost in most places and it is good to see that here not only is it alive and well, but genuine, honest and a welcome blast from years gone by.

This place is becoming my favorite lunch spot. Always hits the spot. Awesome service. The food is filled with flavor. Today we tried some new things. A steak sandwich, a plantain special and a chicken empanada. While we were talking about how great the empanada was, the chef brought us a crab empanda and a shrimp one for free! They were to die for. I love this place and can’t wait until they get better seating. (:

Slamming!

If you want some Puerto Rican cuchifritos (fried street food), then La Guaguita is the place to be! Stuffed potatoes, alcapurrias, empanadas and roast pork sandwiches. And they don’t serve up Cuban-​style roast pork that’s drowning in that mojo junk either. This is slow-​roasted pork with garlic and it’s own juices – the way it oughta be!
They used to be on Dale Mabry & Waters, but now they’re at Sheldon and Hillsborough where the Latin mini market is. Do yourself a favor and go get FED some sabor de Puerto Rico!

Awesome spot for Puerto Rican food! Had the Mofongo with Carne Frita awesome & delicious! The dish comes with tostones & salad (its just iceberg lettuce & tomatoe). If they had better greens for the salad I would give it a 5 star! But hey you dont come here for salad anyways. Good portions at a good price, plus they got all the other Puerto Rican favorites like gandules, pernil, and empanadas!

A friend and I went on a ethnic market hunt and just as I started complaining that there are basically no Puerto Rican food spots in Tampa, I turned around and saw a food truck called La Guaguita waving a Puerto Rican flag.
A quick look at the menu and I saw many favorites such as mofongo, alcapurrias, pastelillos, tostones rellenos con pulpo, arroz con gandules y pernil, tostones, and also various sandwiches. All choices were at reasonable prices (~$ 8 for a full meal, $ 1 or $ 2 a la carte), this truck doesn’t over-​charge for ethnic food. They also had various refreshments, including my personal favorite: Malta India.
I decided to order their arroz con gandules y pernil or rice with pigeon peas and roast pork ($ 6.00), which was fantastic! It only took a few minutes to come out and I would say it was as good as a home-​cooked meal (sadly my family doesn’t cook much Puerto Rican food these days because they became lazy!). The rice was moist and the peas also had an authentic taste. The pernil (roast park) was also excellent and really hit the desired taste perfectly, the fat was rich with succulence. Normally I only have this dish during the holiday season, so it was nice to enjoy it for an afternoon lunch for a change. It also came with small salad that had plenty of flavoring from some salt and pepper.
The employees were friendly with us and the crowd was welcoming, explaining any menu concern we might have. Many people came and went as fellow Unilocaler Odion B. noted. They accept major credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard, so you don’t have to worry about keeping cash on you as well.
I am really happy to have found a Puerto Rican food truck and hope to come back to their empanadas and mofongo in the future :).

Love Food trucks. And La Guagita did not let me down. Located at sheldon and hillsborough, this cash only spot with a few tables to sit outside served the best mofongo busted bistec I’ve had outside of San Juan. People were constantly coming and going — always a good sign the food is good. The Mofongo came with tostones. The coconut flan for desert was marvelous.
PS they are no longer located at dale mabry and waters. They are at Sheldon and Hillsborough in the Latin mini mart parking lot.

Holy cow — I don’t think you can get food this good in a physical restaurant (at least not yet, right Juana?). My husband had shrimp mofongo w/​fried plantains and he loved it. I had pork and rice (my Spanish is horrible, so I cannot tell you what they called it on the menu). It is VERY inexpensive.
The menu is in Spanish, but don’t feel threatened if you can’t speak/​read it. The folks there (both those who work there and those that hang out there) are more than happy to explain each dish.
All food is prepared completely in the truck — NOTHING is pre-​prepared and reheated.

La Guaguita is a tastey little street side vendor which serves up the most authentic and delicious Puerto Rican cuisine I have come across in Tampa! The Mofongo is perfection and the prices are very inexpensive. It is a must try for any real foodie!