Essi Tadrus - Southern Luv BBQ Owner Talks Cuban Sandwich Festival. AlanAlfordSportsTalkShow.com

Hi, this is Alan from the Alan Alpha Sports Talk Show, joined by Isar Tadros, and did I pronounce it right? Yeah, you got it. Okay. How are you? Not bad at all. So, he's from Southern Love Barbecue. That's right. The owner, and I was blessed enough to go to this gentleman's wedding all the way to Columbia. That's right. Please tell us about this event and what you're hoping to accomplish today. So, the Cuban Fest is amazing. This is our second year here, and last year we won second place. But, God willing, this year we'll get first. You know, our Cuban's a little bit different. We smoke our pork in pecan wood. We smoke our own ham. Everything's all made from scratch. We get our bread from Casano's Bakery. And it's a lot of fun. You know, this is an amazing event. It's a great day for it here at Ybor, and super excited, and hopefully we can impress some judges. Yes, and that's the thing. It's not easy. I know you came up second last place last year to get the number one spot. Talk about how competitive it is. It's very competitive. There's a lot of talented guys out here and definitely a lot of great chefs. People have been doing Cubans for a long time, and it's amazing because it's a Tampa thing, and to be a part of it is just amazing. But, yeah, we're coming to win this year for sure. So, I'm very excited to serve everybody here. Our reception's been amazing, and we're very grateful to be out here. Yeah, good luck to the rest of the guys, but we're very excited to serve. You're coming out here to win a Super Bowl. That's it. That's it, man. Just because we got the number two spot last year, we're coming out and we want to do it real special. Again, we hope that we can impress some judges. Yes, I hope so, too. Tell them about your passion, about how deep it is for you to be cooking. I know I can see it through your videos and speaking to you how passionate you are. Tell us about that. Thanks, Todd. Yes, I've been cooking since I started my first restaurant. I was 19. I've been doing this for over 20 years now, and it's definitely a labor of love. We've been doing this. We're very fortunate to be blessed and being able to serve others every single day. We do a lot for our community, and our community's been so supportive of us. That's what makes us work 100 hours a week every week. Wow. So, you put in the labor. You're right. That's it. Tell them about what you serve, maybe here or at your restaurant. Today, here at Ybor, we're doing our Cuban sandwich. Again, it's our seven-hour pecan smoked pork. We got our smoked ham. We do our own hams. We got our bread from Casano's Bakery. We got Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard. Just a really traditional great Cuban sandwich. Then at Southern Love over in Citrus Park, we got amazing barbecue. We're known for our brisket. We make our own sausages. Everything we do, all of our sauce, our sides, all made from scratch. We don't use any preservatives, additives, no liquid smoke or anything like that. All pure cooking. Yes. Tell them where they can find you if they can't make it out today at Citrus Park. 8019 Citrus Park Drive. We're located right next to Suncoast Credit Union in the men's warehouse. It's big and tall right there. We're right in that plaza. Just before Citrus Park Mall, right on the right-hand side. Awesome. Your website? www.SouthernLoveBBQ.com That's S-O-U-T-H-E-R-N-L-U-V-B-B-Q.com Finally, how awesome is Columbia? Oh, my God, man. I love it. I just came from there. My wife is Colombian, Jen. She's out here with me today. We have so much fun at Columbia. I go at least twice a year. You guys got to check it out if you haven't been to Columbia. Viva Columbia! Thank you so much for joining us on the Allen Alpha Sports Talk Show. Thank you so much, guys. I got to get going. All right. Take care.