Sabores de Ybor

Sabores de Ybor was created to celebrate the rich Cuban heritage that helped shape Tampa, one meal, one story, and one family at a time.

This project explores how food has preserved culture across generations in Ybor City, a neighborhood built by Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrants whose traditions still flavor the city today. Through restaurant profiles, interviews, and recipes, Sabores de Ybor captures the people behind the plates, from century-old institutions like The Columbia Restaurant and La Segunda Bakery to new voices like Flan Factory, reimagining what it means to be Cuban in Tampa today.

For me, this project is also personal. As someone who grew up surrounded by the sights, sounds, and aromas of Tampa’s Cuban community, Sabores de Ybor is a way to honor those memories—the smell of fresh Cuban bread at dawn, the sound of clinking coffee cups in a crowded café, the warmth of stories passed down at the dinner table.

Sabores de Ybor honors a community whose traditions continue to shape Tampa’s identity, connecting past and present through food and storytelling.