Gonzo’s Sandwich Shop
1902 N. Himes StreetOur first full day in Tampa was a long one. We started our day about 8:30 AM and didn’t get back to our hotel room until almost 2:00 AM. We knew going in days were going to be long and opportunities for meal breaks were going to be short.
We had a decent break around 2:00 and needed to find a Walmart to pick up some cases of pop and water for the week. I found one not too far from downtown near where our remote work site was located. My co-worker ran inside to do the shopping while I sat in the car and looked for someplace to eat.
We were in an area of West Tampa that was pretty commercialized. There were a lot of chain restaurants in the area that we could have picked up lunch from but what fun is that? I found the local sandwich shop tucked in to a strip mall behind the Walmart.
Gonzo’s Sandwich Shop is on N. Himes Street right at the I-275 interchange. The shop is in a small strip mall that can only be accessed from the southbound lanes of Himes Street or from Chestnut Avenue which connects Himes to Dale Mabry Highway.
Walking in to a restaurant in Florida was such a culture shock. There were still signs on the doors requiring masks but there is no capacity restrictions in restaurants and it’s pretty much business as usual. I didn’t feel uncomfortable in this particular restaurant because we were the only ones in there at the time.
The restaurant is a pretty standard counter service sandwich shop. A guy met us near the register and there were a couple of menus laying on the counter for us to look over. We both put in an order for a sandwich and fries to-go.
We took a seat in the small dining area while we waited adorned with Tampa Bay Buccaneers memorabilia. Co-worker would have been fine eating there but we were running low on time and eating in a restaurant..even if we’re the only ones there still makes me kind of nervous (I would give in once during out week in Florida…just not today).
Co-worker asked the order taker/cook which sandwich he recommended. He said the West Tampa and I was already leaning towards that so I ended up ordering it.
The West Tampa is smoked ham, corned beef, pork drizzle (whatever that is), Swiss cheese, bread and butter pickles, mustard and mayo. The sandwich comes on thin, soft, chewy bread The meats are all cooked and cured in house so pretty much everything is made fresh. The sandwich has a large portion of meat between the toasted bread. There were a lot of delicious flavors that came with every bite. The pork was really juicy and was really the dominate flavor in each bite. The sandwich was pretty similar to a Cuban which, as we found later in the week, fits in pretty nicely in this part of town.
The sandwich didn’t come with a side but I added on an order for fries. They were simple crinkle cut frozen fries so nothing special but a good addition to the meal.
The bill for my meal was right around $13 before tip.
Gonzo’s Sandwich Shop was a good early week find for us. I told my co-worker I’d rather not eat fast food when I travel if I could help. Early in the trip I’m usually pretty good about finding places to eat….later in the trip, I sometimes slack off and get lazy. Finding Gonzo’s really got my lunch search kicked off on the right foot.
SW Michigan Dining 