Hyde Park Village was one of my favorite places to spend time when growing up in South Tampa. Sadly, for awhile it turned into a bit of a ghost town, but in the past several years it’s started to revive! Several new businesses have opened their doors in Hyde Park, and half a dozen more are scheduled to open in this next year – including Buddy Brew Coffee, Goody Goody Burgers, On Swann, and Sur La Table.
Clearly
their main focus is tacos. They’re
pretty cheap – just $2.50 or $3.50 each – and not just your standard beef or
chicken flavors. We ordered one each of
baja fish, pork belly, spicy chorizo, curry shrimp, and sesame ribeye
tacos. We also ordered a side of their
grilled corn with lime, cayenne, and cotija cheese. You fill out the menu by ticking off how many
of each menu item you’d like (sort of like at a sushi restaurant).
While
we waited for our food, we sipped on a mojito and margarita. I think they offset the inexpensive food
prices with pricey drinks, but they can definitely justify doing that because
they were amazing. The margarita was one of the best I’ve ever had – they squeeze
the lime juice right there in front of you, so you know it’s fresh, and it wasn’t
sickly sweet like the pre-made mix that a lot of Mexican restaurants serve. They have an entire menu just for different
types of tequila (if you really wanted to go all out, you could try their
tequila flights – we weren’t quite that adventurous).
I’d
recommend pretty much everything we ordered.
The corn was traditional Mexican street-style – which I’d never had
before, but now I don’t want corn on the cob any other way. I think our favorite tacos were the pork
belly and chorizo.
We
finished off with something sweet – churros with chocolate dipping sauce. When I was a kid, there used to be a churro
truck that parked outside our elementary school, so they are a
nostalgic food for me.
It’s
kind of a loud atmosphere, so if you’re looking for a quiet date night, this
isn’t your place. But if you want a fun
night out with really tasty modern takes on Mexican food, go check them
out!
bartaco
has several locations around the country.
The Tampa one is located at 1601
W Snow Ave, Tampa, FL 33606 and is open 11:30am – 11pm Sunday through Wednesday
and 11:30am – 1am Thursday through Saturday.