Miami
Guided tour · 2h 30m
Miami: Little Havana Food Walking Tour with Tastings
Experience the thriving culinary scene of Miami's Little Havana and enjoy tasty, authentic Cuban cuisine. Learn about local history and culture as...
from$70Check dates
History
Media noche (Spanish for midnight) emerged in 1950s Havana cabaret culture as the post-show snack for dancers and patrons of the Tropicana. Miami's Cuban exile community brought the format with them after 1959; Versailles in Little Havana and La Carreta serve it 24 hours a day. The difference from the cubano is the bread: media noche uses a sweet yellow egg bread (similar to brioche), while the cubano uses Cuban bread. Same fillings, very different texture; the sweet bread crackles harder under the press.
Book a food experience
Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Boston
Guided tour · 2 hours
Boston: North End & Little Italy Food Tour with Local Dishes
Choose a 2-hour express or 3-hour full Boston food tour. Taste clam chowder, arancini, brick oven pizza, cannoli, and more while exploring the North...
from$86Check dates
Chicago
Guided tour · 2 hours
Chicago: Gangsters and Food Tasting Walking Tour
Taste some of Chicago's most iconic foods while walking through one of the Prohibition Era’s most fashionable and notorious gangster-ridden...
from$75Check dates
Charleston
Guided tour · 2.5 hours
Charleston: Small Group Food Tour, Savor the Flavors
Experience the flavors of Charleston with the help of local guides. Delve into over 300 years of culinary history as you taste your way through the...
from$111Check dates
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 media noche rolls (sweet yellow egg bread; substitute brioche hot dog rolls)
- 60g unsalted butter, softened
- 4 tbsp yellow mustard
- 400g roast pork (lechon), thinly sliced (sub roast pork shoulder)
- 200g sweet sliced ham (jamon dulce)
- 200g Swiss cheese, sliced
- 16 dill pickle slices
Method
- Slice each roll lengthwise without cutting through the back hinge.
- Open the roll. Spread yellow mustard generously on the bottom half.
- Layer: pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles in that order. Close the sandwich.
- Butter the outside of each closed sandwich (top and bottom) generously.
- Heat a heavy cast-iron pan over medium. Lay the sandwiches in the pan.
- Press down hard with a second heavy pan or a sandwich press; the sweet bread should compress to 60% of its original height.
- Cook 3 minutes; the bottom should be deep golden and crisp.
- Flip; press again; cook 3 more minutes.
- The cheese should be visibly melting at the edges. Slice diagonally and serve immediately, hot enough to burn your fingers.
Tip from the editors. Use a heavy pan to press, not a panini press with grooves; you want a flat-crackled crust across the whole sandwich. The bread should compress to 60%.
Where to eat media noche
Media noche in Miami
Versailles ★ 4.5
Versailles in Miami is the 1971 Cuban institution at 3555 SW 8th Street, open until midnight every night and 1am on weekends with the ventanita pouring.
TryCuban full plates and ventanita cafecito
TipWeekend 1am closing on the dining room; the ventanita stays open later. Order vaca frita and a cortadito.
La Carreta ★ 4.1
La Carreta in Miami is the Calle Ocho Cuban diner at 3632 SW 8th Street, a sister room to Versailles serving abuela-style plates and cafe con leche from 8am.
OrderLechon asado with moros y cristianos and a side of tostones.
TipThe ventanita pours strong cafecito at any hour; the dining room is quieter than Versailles next door.
Sergio's ★ 4.0
Sergio's in Coral Gables is the original family Cuban diner at 3252 SW 22nd Street, serving abuela-style Miami plates across South Florida since 1975.
OrderPan con bistec with crispy potato sticks and a cafe con leche.
TipOpen early for breakfast, late for after-show plates. The Coral Way location is the founding room.
Sanguich de Miami ★ 4.6
Sanguich in Miami's Little Havana is the Cuban sandwich counter at 2057 SW 8th Street, a 2022 Bib Gourmand pick, with the city's reference pressed pan cubano.
TryCuban sandwich and pan con bistec
TipAdd a side croqueta. Closed evenings; this is a lunch stop. Card or cash both work.
Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop ★ 4.6
Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop between Wynwood and Edgewater in Miami is a 1988 Cuban counter with pan con bistec under ten dollars, closed Sundays only.
Why locals goHidden between Wynwood and Edgewater since 1988, this Cuban counter still keeps a pan con bistec lower than ten dollars and locals know to arrive by 9am.
TipClosed Sundays. Counter only; the line moves fast but the dining-room seating is limited.
More cities are in research. Want media noche covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.