Good morning and happy Sunday friends! I’m so happy you took a few minutes out of your day to read about my thoughts and opinions, mostly about food, but always from the heart! That being said, I went on a little excursion this morning and found some fun treasures along the way! And the treasures inspired me to share a few things that make Tampa special!

I made the, nearly, 15 mile trip to South Tampa early this morning to hit up Trader Joe’s before the rest of Tampa woke up and stormed TJs parking lot. My nightmare being stuck in a cluster of a parking lot! I digress… So I wracked my brain for a bakery or coffee shop to visit since I was all the way out there. I decided to drive until I saw something that spoke to my foodie soul. And then I remembered ALESSI! I hadn’t been there in a hot minute so I headed down Cypress until the infamous faded green roadside sign welcomed me into the parking lot. Like a sailor to a siren, I was drawn in. And surprisingly for 9:30 on a Sunday morning, there were only a few other cars in the lot.

I walked in to a sea of Scachatta and Gasparilla regalia. Two mainstays of old world Tampa.

For those of you not from Tampa, Scachatta in Italian means “squashed” or “flattened”. But in this case, its what local bakeries call a thick, rectangular Italian pizza bread consisting of sauce, a thick meat paste and a little parm strewn on too. It doesn’t have an abundant cheese layer, making it more of a hybrid pizza.

And Gasparilla, for y’all not familiar with this Tampa tradition, is a pirate festival consisting of several weeks of parades (similar to Mardi Gras with beads and festive floats!), runs, balls and parties! This is what makes Tampa most notable, since it’s inception in 1904! The parade has several variations, one catering to children and a few for adults, alcohol and non-alcoholic. The floats are elaborate and always pirate themed, run by Krewes. According to Wikipedia, The theme of the festivities is an invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasparilla), who is a popular figure in Florida folklore.

Getting back to Alessi, they have all of the quintessential Tampa treats, sandwiches and coffees you have to try to get the real flavor of the area. They have a sandwich station where you can order sandwiches like media Noche and Cubans. They have several bakery cases to wait in line and order until your heart’s content! Cases of cakes, cream filled pastries like eclairs and cream puffs, Italian tea cookies, rainbow cookies, guava pastry, danishes and Cuban loafs to name a few.

And the Gasparilla displays merge the two Tampa icons perfectly! They are full of beads and pirate ships and feathered hats!

Today was the perfect time to visit Alessi and leave feeling like I’ve satisfied my Gasparilla craving!

*I was not paid or compensated for this independent restaurant/ food review. I paid for this meal and experience as any customer would have.