Cuban Sandwich appears as a signature dish in 2 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Cuban sandwich · Miami
Pressed pan cubano with roast pork, ham, Swiss, mustard and pickles, the sandwich that turned Tampa-Miami into a regional rivalry and Calle Ocho into a counter-service strip.
The Cuban sandwich emerged in the early 1900s in Tampa cigar-factory cafes, then took root in Miami through Cuban exile counters after 1959. The Miami style omits the salami that Ybor City still defends, sticking with roast pork and ham on Cuban bread, pressed flat on a plancha. The Versailles, La Carreta and Sanguich versions are each defended by partisans.
Where to eat in Miami:
- Sanguich de Miami
- Versailles
- La Carreta
- Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop
Cuban sandwich · Orlando
The Cuban sandwich is roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and dill pickles pressed on a buttered Cuban loaf until the cheese melts and the bread crackles.
The Cuban sandwich originated in the late 19th-century Cuban cigar-worker communities of Ybor City, Tampa, and Key West, where Cuban immigrants combined Spanish, German, Italian and Cuban deli traditions on a single pressed loaf. Tampa Cubans add Genoa salami reflecting Italian neighbors; Miami Cubans skip it. Central Florida absorbed Cuban migration through the 1960s Mariel exodus and the 1970s mass Puerto Rican settlement, and Orlando's Black Bean Deli has pressed the canonical Miami-style Cuban since 2001. La Lechonera El Jibarito in Kissimmee and the Pio Pio counters round out the Latin map.
Where to eat in Orlando:
- Black Bean Deli
- Pio Pio Restaurant