Acapulco Tropical

Small little restaurant on the corner of a small strip mall. Very clean interior and cheap menu prices. I ordered the chips and salsa which was very bland for me, even salt didn’t help but when it came to the meal it was packed with flavor. The Spanish is some of the best I’ve had. I ordered 3 mexicano tacos (chicken comes chopped, not shredded) Mexican BBQ and chorizo. The chorizo was the star for me, such a nice spice factor. I asked for the hot sauce which is the red. Whoa that stuff is HOT but such a nice compliment to my lunch.

Cheap Mexican food. Our group of four ordered: beef enchiladas with red sauce, three mix Mexican tacos with rice and beans, fried fish, and steak ranchero. My Mexican style tacos came with red and green sauce. The red was amazingly hot and the green was delicious. It is clean and welcoming with music playing at a good level along with several tvs playing sports games. Everyone was happy with their food. The salsa that came with he tortilla chips was good. My husband even wanted to buy some to take home with him. It tastes like homemade good.
Very pleased with this by accident encounter.
When I asked very one at the table for any complaints the only complaint from grandma was that we were going to waste too much food (very nice sized portions).

This is an pretty descent authentic mexican restaurant. It open recently, so service runs slow due to short staff. They should consider having more waitresses and a 2^nd chef to serve faster during lunch/​dinner hours. They serve traditional mexican dishes, and some tex-​mex for those who like that. Their $ 1.00 tacos are actually like the ones you’d find in Mexico, small corn tortilla size, generous meat portion, cilantro & onion. We order asada & pastor meats, pastor comes with grilled onions & pineapple, too. We also tried their shrimp soup and were pleased. I give their tacos an overall score of 8.5 out of 10.

PROS:
–Neat, clean restaurant
–Price — while not the cheapest taqueria, still good prices
–Friendly staff
CONS:
–rather bland flavors and odd food combinations
LOCATION:
Small strip center on the corner of Columbus and Lincoln. Parking is available in front and on the side.
FOOD:
The menu provides a good range of traditional Mexican items. Tacos make up about a quarter of the choices. They can be ordered individually ($ 1.49) or as part of a platter (up to $ 8). Protein choices include: asada, pastor, barbacoa, carnitas, chick and fish. A good chunk of the menu is focused on Mexican meals such as enchiladas, bistec and fajitas. Prices range from $ 8 — $ 14. There are also a number of a la cart-​type options including burritos, quesadillas and flautas in the $ 8– $ 10 range.
On my visit, I had a cup of tortilla soup and a burrito with carnitas. While simple, the soup was very good. Unfortunately, the burrito was a real disappointed — on a couple of levels. First, the carnita meat was tender and juicy but very light on flavor. It was as if it was well stewed but with very little seasonings. Second, the guts of thing included «pickled» jalapenos. I have nothing against jalapenos, I love them. But, as a Mexican restaurant, use fresh ones if you are going to use them in your food! I also think there was mayo involved — gack. The most obnoxious part was the pile of ruffled french fries served with it. Really? Fries instead of beans and rice or at least something that goes with the style? If quantity of food is important, both the burrito and the pile of fries were large portions.
I was pretty underwhelmed with my food but it wasn’t horrible, 2 Stars for Food.
SERVICE:
I sat at the bar and my waitress was excellent. There was a bit of a language barrier but she was polite and friendly. On my lunch visit, there were about 15 patrons who kept both servers busy. However, service was timely and without issues.
I have no problem giving 5 stars for Service.
VALUE:
Overall, I’d say menu prices are a bit higher than average but you do get a lot of food. However, I didn’t particularly enjoy my burrito and really didn’t eat the fries. They do have a daily special (it was a $ 5.99 quesadilla the day I was there) and half-​priced beer from 2 — 6 Monday — Thursday.
I’ll give 3 stars for Value.
ATMOSPHERE:
The interior is a touch divey with a gaudy red bar but its airy and clean. Several nice tv’s are mounted around the place playing ESPN and soccer (futbol). I actually like the atmosphere.
4 stars for Atmosphere.
Overall, I’m not writing this place off because I do want to try the tacos. I’m kicking myself for not doing that on this visit. I’ll update this review once I do!
Food: 6/​10, Service: 9/​10, Value: 7/​10, Atmosphere ⁷⁄₁₀

In town on business and looking for my Mexican fix and found a gem. The margaritas are made from scratch, not just tequila and a pre-​made mix. I had the enchilada plate which has 5, yes 5 enchiladas with rice and beans. I had 3 steak and 2 chicken enchiladas which were some of the best I have ever had. Plan to return.

If you were in town early to watch the Bucs play, this might be an awesome place to stop. Saturday afternoon, preseason game 3 and we are waiting out the storm. Hmm… what about Mexican. Arrived to small but clean stripmall restaurant. Bartender and three male patrons at the bar. Front and back menu offering standard Mexican fare. We ordered theTrio of salsa verde, guac and Pico de Gallo which came first with housemade tortilla chips. Plate of nachos arrive shortly afterward. Unable to decide what meat we wanted, so we said surprise us. Each little bite yielded a different protein. Cotija cheese is sprinkled liberally over this pile of met cheesy beany goodness.
Seriously, the cook knows how to cook!
Hope the Bucs hold up as well as Acapulco Tropical!

I was aimlessly driving down Columbus, not really in search of food, when I noticed this Mexican spot. I had to do a U-​turn because I am on a mission to find the best taco in Tampa. Well it is safe to say that Super Tacos is still the clear #1 after eating here. Not that Acapulco Tropical was bad, it’s just not in the same league. By the way, don’t get Acapulco Tropical confused with Acapulco Mexican Grocery… two different places.
So upon entering, I noticed this place had potential because it had that divey smell that a good taco joint should have and I was the only gringo there. The waitress promptly came over and asked me: Que quiere tomar? so I got the horchata, which was smooth but too milky and not enough cinnamon. I ordered 3 tacos: pastor, steak and carnitas. The best of the 3 was the carnitas — the pork was tender, good flavor and the right amount of grease. The steak was average. The pastor was very salty so I didn’t even eat it after trying a few pieces of it. Where they could really improve is the tortilla. They double up on thicker, store-​bought tortillas instead of those thinner ones made from scratch. The smell of the tortillas is a little off-​putting too.
The service was fine considering only one person was responsible for the bar and the floor. So she had her hands full, literally, as there were about a dozen people there. All things considered, it’s not a bad spot. If I was in the neighborhood, I would consider going back but I would either just order carnitas tacos or try something else.
FYI: It does have a full bar and Happy Hour (M-​T 2−6p) is half-​priced beers.

I like this place. It has a real bar, and there were a bunch of Mexican people dining in when I went.
The food is very inexpensive. Less than $ 2 for a taco. Most platos are under $ 10 except for seafood. Service was quick. My waitress was nice.
I tried three tacos: lengua, carnitas and carne asada. I liked the lengua the best. The meat was delicate and mild. The other two proteins were fine, but Tacqueria Emanuel and Acapulco grocery both are better. Also, the tortilla are not handmade, which meant while the tacos were small, you got full on the double layer of store bought tortilla.
There is a big menu, so maybe I’ll return when I want Mexican food and beer. But for lunch, there are better Mexican places nearby, in my opinion.

Great burritos and their happy hour specials are awesome. Highly recommended giving this place a try.

The service here is a bit slow however the food is great and reasonably priced. Loved their dollar tacos and dollar beer, but will drive there any day of the week for their nachos!!!

I was scared to try new tacos at a new place that just opened up… But me and my sister were feeling daring. When we first walked in it was super clean and neatly organized, we were greeted and told we can sit any where. The menus were already on the table and the server was super nice a little slow but nice. The menu had a variety of food which surprised me a lot. I got the carne Asada tacos with extra cilantro with rice and beans. My sister also ordered queso and chips. But let me tell you, the food was out of this world, the meat was tender and juicy and was perfectly cooked! I was very impressed! I now feel as if I am obsessed with this place, I want to go everyday now! Overall a great place to eat!

A nice twist to Mexican food. The menu size was just enough that you have plenty to choose from. Prices were very reasonable.
Drink prices were worth the visit. Over all service and staff were friendly and courteous.
.

An excellent Mexican restaurant, almost as good as Miquel’s. Not big on ambience but well arranged and more open than the predecessor Lincoln Cuban Café. the Mexican dishes are quite varied, very flavorful and reasonably priced. Their Mexican style ceviche is delectable and tortilla soup very authentic. They offer American or Mexican-​style taco — and only a dollar per unadorned taco. Also a bargain on beer ($ 1 for a Polar), $ 4 for home-​made Sangria and $ 5 for Margaritas… also offering Micheladas… a Mexican beer/​tom juice specialty. The also have a separate bar… one of the few along Columbus.
Good luck on having a Mexican restaurant survive in a mostly-​Cuban calle. We will help.

They have a nice selection of food and super affordable. Authentic feel, friendly staff, and $ 5 margaritas. We will be back!