Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Continuing our quest to find the best sandwich shop in the Bay, we headed over to Mazzaro’s Italian Market on 22nd Ave. in St. Pete for lunch this past Saturday.  Why I’ve lived in Tampa for a year and a half now, and haven’t been to Mazzaro’s before now is beyond me.  I thought Castellano & Pizzo Italian Foods on Henderson in Tampa was a great place, and it is, but the much larger Mazzaro’s is in a class by itself.

After fighting through the Saturday afternoon crowds to check out Mazzaro’s many aisles of Italian foods, including a huge wine and cheese selection, and every other goodie imaginable, we got in line at the deli.  Traci decided upon a meatball sandwich (peer pressure from Sticks readers? Just kidding).  I went with a muffuletta sandwich, as I was curious to taste what Mazzaro’s version of a muffuletta was like.  The muffuletta is an Italian sandwich that was invented in New Orleans, which is where I grew up.  The deli guy serving us cautioned that the Mazzaro’s version of the sandwich wasn’t served on real muffuletta bread (a large round loaf of Italian bread), but assured me that it was still very good.

After enjoying peering in the deli cases at all sorts of prepared dishes while we waited for our sandwiches to be made, we took our sandwiches outside to the back patio.  My sandwich was huge and tasty, but really shouldn’t have been called a muffuletta.  Not only was the bread different, but it didn’t have enough olive salad on it.  That said, it was very good.  Traci loved her meatball sub and let me try a few bites of the sloppy goodness.  It was dripping with sauce and the meatballs themselves were great.  Both sandwiches were only five bucks each and we had to take half home.

After passing the bakery and dessert section of Mazarro’s, we couldn’t pass up the home-made  gelato (Italian ice cream).  We were tempted to just keep trying samples, as they were all so good, but we finally decided upon a small cup of banana caramel for me and pistachio for Traci.  Both were delicious and I think stopping for a “gelato break” may be a requirement for all future visits.  A small gelato is only two bucks. There is also a gourmet coffee bar area and a butcher and produce area in the front of the store.

We definitely plan to visit again and spend more time exploring the store, hopefully when it’s not so jammed.  If there is one downside to the place, it’s that it was packed when we visited.  This doesn’t look like a place that you can get in and out of quickly.  All of the employees we encountered, though, were friendly and helpful.  Given the uniqueness of the place, I can certainly understand the crowds and it’s great to see such strong support for a local business.

Bottom-line:  Whether you’re in the mood for huge, fresh sandwiches from the deli, delicious pastries or gelato from the bakery, or a grocery full of imported foods, there’s seemingly something for everyone at Mazzaro’s.  The only downside I found was navigating the crowds and the lines.