I’ll admit that the primary time I occurred to stroll into the Kangaroo Specific gasoline station at 17519 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa final 12 months, I used to be truly in search of the Paris Baguette bakery — which is now positioned throughout BBD, however hadn’t opened but.
However, what I discovered was a bit of the gasoline station’s comfort retailer that was a Cuban-style bakery that really was open — generally known as CAO Bakery & Café— and also you have been undoubtedly hit with a whiff of scrumptious baked items in a big show case as you walked in the direction of that case.
“OK, nice,” I believed, “I can all the time go for a guava pastelito, a beef or rooster empanada and/or a slice of cake — or all the above.”
CAO stands for Cuban American Authentic, nevertheless it is also the precise final identify of one of many co-owners, Antonio Cao, who’s a third-generation baker. Antonio and his associate and childhood pal, Carlos de Varona opened their first bakery collectively round 2000, in a really Cuban space of Miami known as Westchester, not too removed from Little Havana.
As we speak, there are 20 CAO areas, largely in South Florida — though there is also a full-service CAO Bakery on W. Hillsborough Ave. in Tampa — with extra on the best way. The BBD location is corporate-owned, however franchises can be found, in response to Antonio’s spouse Yvette, who handles the advertising of the model.
“Most of our different areas are full-service bakery-restaurants of anyplace from 2,000-4,000 sq. toes,” Yvette says. “We have been in search of a spot within the Wesley Chapel space and located that the earlier vendor at this location had left, so we determined to open what we name an ‘specific’ location there as a check market.”
Even so, I had no concept how enormous the menu on the New Tampa CAO was till I spoke with Yvette. Sure, there’s a super choice of freshly baked (from frozen) candy and savory treats which are delivered from Miami to Tampa twice every week. However wait, there’s extra.
“You possibly can inform that every thing is freshly baked on premises,” Yvette says. “As soon as folks discover us, they inform us they love us!”
And, regardless of being open for lower than a 12 months at this location, nearly all of CAO’s Google critiques are 5-stars out of 5, together with buyer Omar Rodriguez-Hazan, who says he drives an hour from South Lakeland no less than as soon as every week, “to benefit from the flavors of Miami. The meals and repair are superior. Don’t be fooled by the very fact they’re positioned in a gasoline station. They’re a top-notch bakery which I extremely suggest!”
As for the non-pastry meals choices, CAO has scrumptious bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches (beneath left), a twist on the favored Media Noche sandwich known as Medio Dia (above proper; it’s a traditional guava and cheese pastelito full of ham and melted Swiss) and even a churrasco steak plate (prime picture) of which buyer Jason Hicks mentioned in his 5-star Google overview, “The meat was tender and the chimichurri sauce was nice. The Cuban sandwich was good additionally and the costs are cheap.”
Different sandwiches embrace the frita CAO (a Cuban-style cheeseburger that may be a house-made mix of beef, pork & chorizo, topped with crispy shoestring papitas, Swiss cheese and sazon aioli) and the Croqueta membership (signature croquetas de la casa, layered with sliced turkey, crisp bacon, melted American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes & mayo) — and plenty of extra.
Different happy clients have beloved CAO’s catering choices, like trays of varied pastelitos and croquetas proven above.
There are also extra American dessert favorites like strawberry cheesecake (backside picture on subsequent web page), carrot cake and Latin dessert staples like flan, cuatro leches, panetelita dulce de leche, flan cheesecake and a lot extra.
And, many purchasers, together with yours really, rave about CAO’s café con leche, together with Oscar Olivera, who known as it, “The most effective café con leche in Tampa, no questions on it!!!”
For extra details about CAO, name (813) 280-9640 or go to CAOBakeryCafe.com to order pickup or supply on-line. Should you use code “CAOTAMPA” whenever you order, you’ll save $5 off any order of $20 or extra. Or, point out the advert beneath or this story whenever you order in particular person to obtain the low cost. And, please inform them I despatched you!
