Bite club: St. Petersburg's new Azúcar Cuban Café

Azúcar Cuban Café opened in August, bringing guava pastries, ham croquetas and Cuban sandwiches to West St. Petersburg.

The vibe: The restaurant is cute but small, with just six seats inside. There were also a few seats outside that will expand the dining room once it cools down.

• With three of us dining, it felt a little crowded, so we decided to take our food to-go.
• The menu offers breakfast and lunch, along with an array of desserts and coffee. For $11.99, you can build your own meal with items like roast pork, fried sweet plantains, black beans and rice, and yucca fries.

The savory: My pal Laura and I ordered Cuban sandwiches. She got the combo meal with half a sandwich and black bean soup, and I got just the sandwich. Both were $10.99.

• Our sandwiches were packed with meat and cheese, and the bread was soft in the middle with a nice crunch on the outside. My full sandwich portion was so big that I saved half for lunch the next day.
• Laura's husband ordered the la minuta ($11.99), a deep-fried tilapia filet sandwich with tomato and spicy tartar sauce. It tasted good but could have had crispier breading, he said, although he noted the breading likely softened on the drive home.
• The star of the show for me were the croquetas (99 cents each). I got one ham and one cheese. The ham croqueta brought me back to the few months I lived in Miami during college. Laura, who grew up in Hialeah and is half-Cuban, also approved.

The sweet: The menu had so many delectable-sounding dessert options, from flan to tres leches to guava bread pudding.

• Sticking to our mango tradition, Laura and I ordered two slices of mango cheesecake ($6.99 each). Y'all, it was so good. The cheesecake was light and fluffy, and the mango glaze on top tasted like sweet summer.

The bottom line: We'll definitely be going back!