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Flavor Of Puerto Rico Savored At Sponge Docks

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST

Madeline and Eddie Rodriguez love cooking dishes based on the flavors of Puerto Rico, at Latin Flavor Delights, their eatery just south of the Sponge Docks on Alt. 19.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: March 7, 2009

What's in a name? Apparently a lot when it comes to restaurants.

When they bought a former Greek-style restaurant at the corner of Pinellas Avenue and Athens Street, Eddie and Madeline Rodriguez simply changed its name from The Olympia to La Olympia.

After four years, however, the couple decided merely substituting "la," the feminine form of the definite article "the" in Spanish, wasn't communicating to potential customers the nature of the food they are serving.

So it was out with La Olympia and hello, Latin Flavor Delights.

After the second name change, people started pulling off the road and walking into the quaint eatery to sample its dishes and their special Puerto Rican touch.

"Latin food and Puerto Rican-style cooking is more flavorful than spicy," Eddie said. "People expect Latin food to be spicy but it's not."

Eddie and Madeline take pride in the fact that their bean dishes are made from scratch and do not clump together, as in Mexican cuisine. There are no refried beans in Puerto Rican cooking, Eddie said.

In Latin dishes yellow rice is flaky rather than sticky, prepared with special sofrito spices.

Their Cuban sandwiches, which have become their signature dish, are made with freshly sliced pork, definitely not processed deli meats, Eddie stressed.

He credits Latin Flavor Delights' delicious dishes with saving the business during reconstruction of Pinellas Avenue. Their financial boat started to sink until he took samples of his Cuban out to road workers. They loved it and kept him in business while Pinellas Avenue, as Alt. 19 is known in the city, was closed to most travelers.

In these tough times he keeps dishes affordable while still using the freshest ingredients, Eddie said.

For example their Cubans or pressed pork subs are $5.14. Other sandwiches, such as chicken or rib eye steak, are in the $5 range. A roast pork dinner with rice and beans is $6.87, while tilapia grilled with garlic butter is $7.48.

Eddie, a U.S. Army veteran, met his wife of 33 years on a visit to New York. They moved to Tarpon Springs in 1998, where they raised their three sons, now age 22, 28 and 30.

Greg and Toni Yeomanis recently stopped in at Latin Flavor Delights to have lunch with daughter Jordan. In these tough economic times, Toni noted, the restaurant offers delicious, affordable dishes that are large enough to produce take-home leftovers.

He has been searching for a great Cuban, Greg said, and he feels at home at Latin Flavor Delights. It's as if he were dining at a relative's house.

It is also good to support locally owned restaurants rather than chain eateries, he added.

Latin Flavor Delights is open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and from 11a.m. until 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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