Restaurants in Tampa

After Sweet! By The Cake Factory’s bakers pull the day’s cupcakes out of the oven, they stop short of slathering them with swirls of buttercream frosting or sprinkling on M&M's or nuts. Instead, they invite guests to decorate their own confections at a cupcake bar stocked with cookie and candy toppings. This hands-on approach lends itself to lively birthday parties, wherein a photographer snaps children in aprons, chef’s hats, and rubber Julia Child masks as they decorate six cupcakes each. The bakery’s Sweet to Others campaign proffers a predesigned cupcake each month whose proceeds benefit nonprofit organizations.

The aroma of roasting pork and simmering mojo sauce wafts through La Teresita’s dining room, weaving past hanging tropical plants and a trellised ceiling. Back in the kitchen, chefs plate traditional Cuban dishes, ladling yellow rice and grilled onions onto succulent cuts of beef and layering pork or palomilla steak between slices of toasted bread. Dining companions can cap meals with classic Caribbean sweets such as flan, guava shells filled with cream cheese, or the edible chocolate cigars that Cuba is so famous for.