Roast pork, ham, Swiss, pickle and mustard pressed flat in Cuban bread until the crust shatters. Key West calls it a mix, not a Cubano, and it is a grocery-counter lunch rather than a restaurant plate.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Cuban cigar workers crossed from Havana to Key West from the 1860s and made the island a cigar capital before the industry moved on to Tampa. What stayed behind was the food: the pressed sandwich, the coffee window, the bakery bread. In Key West the sandwich is ordered as a mix, and the places that make it best are corner groceries rather than restaurants. 5 Brothers Grocery has pressed them at Southard and Grinnell since 1978 and is the counter the island sends you to for a mix, and Sandy's Cafe works from a window attached to a working laundromat on White Street.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Mustard
Tip from the editors. Cuban bread has a soft crumb and a thin crust built for pressing. A baguette will not flatten; it will just fight the press and tear.
5 Brothers Grocery feeds Old Town Key West on corner-store prices, pressing Cuban mixes and frying bollos at Southard and Grinnell since 1978.
Try: Cuban mix, con leche and bollos
Tip: The Bench Crew of regulars holds court outside each morning; come before the 06:30 rush clears the pastry case.
Sandy's Cafe is Key West's cheapest good lunch, a laundromat window on White Street pressing Cuban mixes and pouring con leche from 05:00 every day.
Try: Cuban mix and cafe con leche
Tip: Order at the window, eat on the stools facing the street; the buchi shot is the fastest caffeine on the island.
Cuban Coffee Queen pairs pressed sandwiches with dollar-scale Cuban coffee at its Key West Bight window, breakfast and lunch for pocket change.
Try: Pressed Cuban sandwich and con leche
Tip: Five windows now operate across Key West, including a roastery at 6 Key Lime Square; the Margaret Street original keeps the mural queue.
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