While on a recent trip to sunny Florida, my sweetie pie and I found ourselves in Tampa. Knowing that the best way to find the best way to spend a day is ask the locals, we did an informal poll. The clear consensus from the locals was that we needed to visit Ybor City. To bring those of you who have never heard of Ybor City up to speed, here is a little back ground. Pronounced E bor, Ybor City is an area of Tampa that is crammed full of character and a multi national vib that makes it one of the most fun and interesting districts in the country. The area got rolling late in the 19th century and that is a great pay on words. A large influx of Cuban and Spanish immigrants brought their skills in making cigars and followed by Italian and Germans immigrants Ybor City soon became one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the country. The skilled work force turned Ybor City into one of the largest export hubs in the country, shipping hand rolled cigars all over the world. At it’s peak in the mid 1920’s, Ybor City was shipping over 500 million hand rolled cigars a year. Today Ybor City still has a great combination of old world charm and a working class spunk. Walking down one side of 7th Avenue and back up the other was truly an eclectic experience.

We started the day with the sandwich that is Ybor City’s second claim to fame, The Cuban. At a nice restaurant named Carmines we were entertained by the lovely and charming Megan. After a light hearted tutorial on what an IPA is, we departed up the street. In no particular order we passed men in storefront windows hand rolling cigars, tattoo parlors, up scale chop houses, shops selling the finest in… adult toys and marital aids, coffee shops, night clubs and so much more. Early on our walk I felt compelled to stop in a very quaint little cigar shop, Ybor Cigars plus and bought a really nice smoke to enjoy on my walk, when in Ybor City….right? A block later we stopped for a coffee (you have to stay caffeinated you know… or was that hydrated, oh well either way.) We stopped at a place called King Corona. Over a modified game of Scrabble I enjoyed my cigar while the little lady enjoyed a very tasty “Café Corona” , espresso, steamed milk and a spicy caramel sauce. They say it was award winning and we could see why. after that it was mostly a blurr. Sampler trays full of craft beer, tiny espresso shots, a little chat with a guy at Ybor City Wine Bar, to bad they weren’t open yet. Belly dancing? We ended our adventure with an early dinner at Ybor City’s most famous restaurant, The Columbian. Our waiter Carlos was personable, professional and very enjoyable. We split a pitcher of The Columbian’s famous White Wine Sangria and it lived up to it’s billing. Look for the recipe on Buffet Beach’s recipe page soon. It is hard to believe we had as much fun as we did in only about 5 hours, and that was day light hours on a Wednesday, the place is really suppose to come alive after dark. We really can’t wait to get back for that.