Pipo’s Cuban Cafe

St. Petersburg, United States

3.9

Closed now

28 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 727-394-7476
Website:
www.pipos1979.com
Address:
9531 Bay Pines Blvd, St. Petersburg, FL, 33708
Seminole
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
470 ft"BAY PINES BLVD & 94TH ST N"
600 ft"BAY PINES BLVD & 95TH ST N"
790 ft"BAY PINES BLVD & # 9675"
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (St. Petersburg) 00:11 Friday, 6 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm

Description

Specialties

A wide array of delicious items to choose from. Salads, sandwiches, Cuban style breakfast and entrees such as Ropa Vieja, Roasted Chicken, Picadillo, Boliche and our famous Roast Pork. Rated Tampa Bays #1 Cuban Restaurant since 1979!

At Pipo’s, every dish is created using only the finest, freshest ingredients. We serve only the choicest meats and seafood, vegetables fresh from the farm, and breads and pastries that are baked fresh daily. Whether you select from our daily buffet style fare or our fun and tasty menu, you will want to make Pipo’s Original Cuban Café your home away from home. Also enjoy our Cuban espresso, Café’ Con Leche or select a refreshing beverage from our beer and wine bar!

Dining is inside our spacious dining room with televisions or outside on our patio.

History

Established in 1979.

Over three decades ago, Ramon Sr. and Sinarah Hernandez opened the first Cuban Café’ in the Town and Country community of Tampa Bay. Focused on staying true to the traditional and authentic flavors of Cuban cuisine, the family committed to using only quality ingredients and proven family recipes to build their menu. That commitment continues today as Hernandez family delivers Tampa Bay’s authentic Cuban taste its patrons.

Whether you choose the award winning roast pork, the mouth watering black beans and rice, or a rich Cuban espresso; you are guaranteed to experience the vibrant and diverse flavors and aromas of authentic Cuban cuisine.

Meet the Business Owner

Ramon H.

Business Owner

Over 30 years in the food industry.

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28 reviews of Pipo’s Cuban Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Saint Pete Beach, FL
It was okay. We order the relle de papa and it was raw & tasted horrible. The pork shoulder was good. The server Miguel was really cool. Wouldn’t go again.
Place rating: 1
Treasure Island, FL
Tonight I went to this establishment with my family for dinner. I will start by saying this, VERY DISAPPOINTED. Service was ridiculously slow, my palomilla steak was charred (not edible), the black beans were cold, and the shredded pork did not taste authentic whatsoever. Just very disappointed. I pity those who think that this is real authentic Cuban food. If you are looking for REAL Cuban food stay away from here! You’ll regret it.
Place rating: 4
St. Petersburg, FL
Great selection of Cuban food. Mostly ready to go when you walk into the resturant. Prices are reasonable. One portion is large enough to share. Leaves room for dessert! This is a great place to have my husband stop at on his way home from work and puck up a meal.
Place rating: 5
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Food was delicious and staff was super friendly. Very clean as well. No complaints :)
Place rating: 4
Columbus, OH
Great customer service and an amazing Cuban Sandwich.
Place rating: 1
Saint Petersburg, FL
Terrible sandwich. Ordered a Media Noche. Served with attitude. Made wrong slob with mustard an butter making the bread completely soggy to the point that had to trow it away. Not the place for a sandwich.
Place rating: 5
Silver Spring, MD
This place was the bomb! The pork ribs were amazing as well as the Cuban sandwich. Yum yum yum!!! Very authentic Cuban food.
Place rating: 3
San Jose, CA
I had my first Cuban sandwich ever at this place. It was large and in charge! Full bodied and full flavored. Also, the sides were authentic and plentiful.
Place rating: 5
Los Angeles, CA
I love this place! Reminds me of a beachside café in California. I’ve had enough pulled pork and smoked meat lately, so I opted for the roasted chicken — dark meat. It was wonderfully seasoned, fall off the bone, juicy, tender wonderfulness! Yellow rice was perfectly cooked and the Plaintain’s were the best I’ve ever had. Deliciously caramelized on the outside with a little crunch here and there around the edges. I’ll definitely come back and I definitely recommend it.
Place rating: 4
Cecilia, KY
We Love, love this place. We have always selected off the «special» menu (the food already prepared) and haven’t had a bad meal yet. The roasted pork and roasted chicken both are flavorful. Saltiada (sp?) is a favorite– chorizo, chicken and steak with veggies all cooked together. Delicious! The BBQ pork ribs are smokey with plenty of sauce, although they were a little tough. The green beans may be canned but they add plenty of seasoning and cook them slow so they are flavorful and tasty. The plantains are cooked to perfection. The yellow and white rice as well as the black and garbanzo beans are good but typical in prep and flavor. I think the portion size are compatible with pricing– I’ve never left hungry. Do try their chimicurri and hot sauce they make– it’s good on everything!!!
Place rating: 4
Miami, FL
Good Cuban food. Excellent coffees. A solid choice for Cuban dishes. The picadillo was seasoned well and the sides of yuca and plátanos were excellent.
Place rating: 5
Thornton, CO
I chose the Ropa Vieja, which was excellent, accompanied with black beans, white rice, & plantains. I also tried a pork tamale, which was excellent as well, and for dessert, a guava cream cheese turnover and beef empanada! The sangria is a wise choice and very good! Overall, this was a spiritual meal, and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking to get warm fuzzy feeling after dinner!
Place rating: 4
Montgomery Village, MD
Pretty good! Some amazing, some just eh… So must choose carefully!
Outside the restaurant is a pork roaster and it smelled wonderful! So I already had my mind set. There is outdoor seating too. But decided on inside since it’s easier access to everything.
Walking in, I encountered the counter filled with delicious looking food. Portions are a good size so don’t go too crazy. Chose the pulled pork and yucca and plantains and black beans and rice. Also the ordered the guava and cream cheese pastry. Once the order is in, you get a number and pick a table. It’s mostly self serve so get utensils and hot sauces (yum)!
So for the food. Pulled pork — can’t get enough of. Rice and beans — meh. Plantains — good and standard. Yucca — good and standard. Guava pastry — ok, pastry part was good but could have used more filling.
I left full, so no complaints!
Place rating: 5
Marietta, GA
Excellent pulled pork in a juice Cuban marinade not to hot! Great homemade green and red sauces! Good variety at the cafeteria bar to see what you would like. I had a hard time narrowing down my selection. I’ll be back soon!!!
Place rating: 5
Beaufort, SC
If you love authenticity in Cuban food you must make a stop at Pipo’s «The best in Cuban Cuisine». The staff are extremely friendly and very inviting. I have eaten Cuban food all over the country and have never tasted it better than if I was in Havana itself. If your in Saint Petersburg this has to be one of your dining destinations.
Place rating: 4
Havelock, NC
The food was fresh and the prices are very reasonable, the service was great. This a good alternative to the Havana Café which is not open on Sunday’s.
Place rating: 2
Dumfries, VA
I really wanted to like this place. I stopped by for breakfast and had such high hopes… I mean, the place is called Pipo’s Cuban Café. Sadly, it was far from authentic, lacking in flavor and overpriced. Perhaps their lunch/​dinner options are better, but I will not be returning.
Place rating: 5
Redington Beach, FL
We come to Pipo’s every time we are in Florida! This restaurant has the best Cuban food, ever! The staff is very attentive, and the food comes fast to your table. Will be back again and again and again!
Place rating: 4
Florence, AL
Great pork and the fried bananas are awesome! Really good beans and rice! Small but friendly staff. Great specials
Place rating: 3
Tampa, FL
A lot of ppl have asked me, what the hell does TL;DR mean? To you Internet amateurs, it stands for «Too long, didn’t read.» With that said…
TL;DR — Just okay Cuban food with smaller portions and more expensive than your local mom and pops
Even though it has the looks of a cafeteria style eatery, they claim to be a sit down restaurant. Despite picking your food through sneeze guards when you first walk in, they insist you pay after you’re done eating. Ok fine. However, when it came time to pay, there was no server in sight to bring me my check. After 10 minutes of waiting, I went to the register where I should’ve paid from the get go. Pipo’s management, if you’re reading this, just take our money right after we order so you can save your customers some time and confusion.
The food itself was just okay. I got the pork dinner which comes with a portion of pork and 2 sides. They start you off with a yummy pieces of buttered Cuban toast but that’s only to distract you from the fact that they have relatively small portions. Needless to say I was underwhelmed by the amount of food I got for 12 bucks. You can get double the food for half the price at other places. I wouldn’t have minded the price if it tasted good but it’s nothing you can’t get anywhere else.
Unlikely to come back. The value just isn’t there if you ask me.
Place rating: 5
St Petersburg, FL
Love their food. Was first introduced to this place at the Jazz festival, and now we eat every time we come back home to Tampa.
We’re not Cuban so I can’t say whether it’s super authentic or not, but it’s a great tasting meal that’s reasonably priced. Lots of options. Please visit, you will not regret.
Place rating: 3
St. Petersburg, FL
I really love cuban food. This Pipo’s location is one of my favorites because they use the pulled pork on their cuban sandwiches. I got kind of ripped off as far as the pork goes this time. I ended up getting the shredded pork wrap which ended up being 80% beans and rice. Actually the second half i ate had only rive and beans, no pork at all. The guava pastry was dry, room temperature and not flavorful.
So you may be asking why 3 stars. Well i have had many good meals at this location. Perhaps this is an off day. I will return and re-​rate.
I do not agree with several other Unilocalers. I do not see this as cafeteria style food. I mean its a restaurant, they have table service and the food quality is far from cafeteria. I wonder when the last time some Unilocalers have been to cafeterias, Lubys/​Picadilly, whens the last time u saw that around. Come On guys!
I also do not agree that theres nothing special about the flavors, most of the flavors are very traditional not explosive. The pulled pork here is the ultimate prize here, dont get stingy on me Pipo’s.
So heres the skinny $ 8 for a pulled pork wrap, was i satisfied? No.
$ 2 for a cold hard guava pastry. Was i satisfied? No.
I could have spent the same amount and went to bodega and had a 5-​star experience.
Service was kind and fast as usual.
Step it up Pipo’s! I expect better from you!
Place rating: 5
St Petersburg, FL
I had the roast pork with black beans and garbanzo beans. Everything was delicious, as always. I eat here fairly often and find the food to consistently excellent. The dining area is a little small, but it works for me. Order at the counter and then they bring it out to you. Watch a little TV while you wait and then eat. It’s all good at Pipo’s! Very reasonably priced for the good sized portions, too.
Place rating: 3
Tampa, FL
I was in the area and decided to check this spot out! The food wasn’t bad and the suggestions the workers gave us were helpful! The chicken and Salisbury steak was pretty well flavored but the temperature was lukewarm. I have yet to try more Cuban food in the area to compare. I do like the café style of this restaurant however!
Place rating: 4
St Petersburg, FL
Wish there were more vegetarian options here. But, it’s Cuban food, so I probably shouldn’t expect them to cater to my finicky tastes, right? But as I’m not 100% vegetarian, I suppose I will try their cuban sammich soon. See how it compares to others in the area.
For a cafeteria style restaurant it’s pretty good though.
Place rating: 4
Palm Harbor, FL
Solid Cuban cafeteria style restsurant. Clean, staff pleasant, food is tasty. I got a sandwich, side of rice and two bottles of water for $ 18. I thought that was a little on the high side for cafeteria style. I will go back as the food is good and you can get in and out fairly quickly.
Place rating: 4
Plymouth, MI
The staff was very attentative and helpful. That is why I gave it a four star and not a three star. Average Cuban food. Kind of pricey but worth a try. I ordered the original pipes pork because I had to try it. I wouldn’t order it again. The pork was drenched in oil when serve it had an ok taste but I would’ve been better off ordering what my wife ate. My wife ordered Mono Pollo this plate is enough for two. We bought a groupon $ 12 for $ 20 worth of food. Cafeteria style restaurant and food. My wife enjoyed her chicken plate it was cooked to perfection with the green peppers and onions.
Place rating: 4
Dallas, TX
It’s always pretty quiet when I come into Pipos, yet their food is quite good. We always order a special, which can usually be seen at the counter when you walk in. This comes with 2 sides of either rice, beans, vegetables, or plantains. The piccadillo is a favorite, as well as the pork. Both are moist and flavorful. In addition, a tamale for $ 4 gets you a nice big tamale split open with a scoop of pork on top. It’s not dry at all and is quite filling.
Overall, Pipos is a tasty place, but for $ 11 meals it’s a little pricey, being just meat, rice and beans. Worth a trip and definitely filling, but again, costs a little more than it should. Service is great though, usually all smiles. I try and go to Pipos at least once whenever I’m in town.