Ybor’s iconic Silver Ring Café reopens in Tampa nearly 40 years after closing: ‘It’s so nostalgic’
TAMPA, Fla. - Two childhood friends who used to make Cuban sandwiches together are coming out of retirement to reopen an iconic restaurant.
For some, a sandwich is a sandwich, but for Nelson Valdes and his old friend Tim Booth, the Cuban sandwich is a symbol of the city.
"It's simple," says Nelson Valdes. "It's what Tampa eats. You come to Tampa, Florida you get a Cuban sandwich, devil crab and breaded steak."
Valdes and Booth were childhood friends whose first jobs were making sandwiches.
Now, more than 50 years later, they're back at it.
Nelson Valdes and Tim Booth are childhood friends who decided to come out of retirement to reopen the Silver Ring Café.
"I was retired. He was retired. He said let's do another Silver Ring," Valdes explained. "I said only in Tampa."
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In 1947, Angel Cacciatorre bought a bar on 7th Avenue in Ybor City and turned it into an icon of local food. It closed in 1996, but now it's reborn in the food court at Westshore Plaza in Tampa.
People who remember the old days are reliving the sandwiches of their childhood.
The Silver Ring Café is known for its Cuban sandwiches.
"Going to Ybor City as kids, walking by the Silver Ring and watching them make the sandwiches in the window, it's so nostalgic," shared Tampa native Mario Nuñez. "Not only that, the sandwiches are excellent."
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"I've been making that sandwich pretty much all my life. Yes, there are a lot of Cubans made, but they're not that Cuban sandwich," Nelson said gesturing toward a sandwich ready to be pressed.
They start with fresh, Cuban bread from Casino Bakery. They add smoked ham, roast pork, Genoa Salami, Swiss cheese, a pickle, and their secret sauce.
Mario Nuñez sits down to eat a Cuban sandwich.
Booth won't give up the secret, but when he owned the Ybor Silver Ring more than 30 years ago, he had already had lots of practice making Cubans.
"I had an order once for 7,000 from Circle K," he laughed.
Since their recent reopening at Westhore Plaza, they haven't had an order that large, but word is getting around the old neighborhood.
Silver Ring Cafe has reopened in the food court at Westshore Mall.
"The first two days, everybody we knew from school was here, everybody from West Tampa. They blew up Facebook," Booth shared.
Social media wasn't even a thing when the Silver Ring helped make a sandwich a symbol of a city.
"It's a tradition of Tampa, the best in the country," said customer Chuck Hernandez. "We've lived in Miami, and they can't hang with Tampa."
The original Silver Ring Café closed in 1986.
Now, a famous place for Cuban sandwiches is back in Tampa thanks to a couple of old friends who couldn't stay retired when there are so many more Cubans to make.
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