Today is Tia Sofia’s birthday. Cumpleaños feliz, Tia Sofia! To celebrate, we did a Spanish-speaking Tampa Bay Breakfast today. Hola desayunos!

We visited the West Tampa Sandwich Shop at 3904 N Armenia Ave on 29 August 2009. West Tampa Sandwich Shop also has a web site at http://westtampasandwichshop.com/. We have been to West Tampa Sandwich Shop probably a dozen times, both for breakfast and for lunch. While breakfast is our focus and lunch is usually none of our concern, I’ve got to plug the lunches here. A Cuban sandwich y arroz amarillo con frijoles negros — que bien! But enough about that other meal. Let’s talk about breakfast.

This was a special breakfast. We were joined by The Sly Red Fox himself, Diamond Dave.

The West Tampa Sandwich Shop is one of our favorite places. It’s always full of hustle and bustle, loud and vigorous, and always welcoming and friendly. Even if it’s your first time here, you’re automatically an old friend.

At these classic Tampa Cuban places you don’t get the usual diner coffee that we so enjoy on a usual TBB. As our faithful readers know, the only way to drink coffee is black. The only exception I make for this is for a Cuban breakfast where there’s cafe con leche (or, perhaps, a French breakfast with cafe au lait). And oh baby, is it good!

We got Cuban tostadas.

We had fun goofing off.

Breakfast came. We had the “West Tampa Special” with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and grits. Marek jumped right in.

And Diamond Dave was pleased with what came out of the kitchen.

Marek surely likes him some pancakes! He’s a chowhound!

When we were done, Marek paid the bill.

He got a little lost along the way.

Somehow he ended up helping one of the staff deliver a breakfast to another table.

He worked enough that I think he may have ended up filling out an application for a real job. He could do worse than working in a great place like this.

Marek made good friends and handed out a lot of kisses.

We had a great breakfast and a fun time all around. Diamond Dave had a great time, and we really enjoyed having him as a guest reviewer.

After it’s all said and done, you can’t ask for much better in Tampa than the West Tampa Sandwich Shop. The food is consistently delicious, the people are warm and inviting, and the atmosphere is simply fun. We are pleased to give West Tampa Sandwich Shop a 4.5 pancake rating.