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.
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.
3 editor picks for Cuban mix in Key West, ranked by editorial score. All Key West signature dishes · Cuban mix across every city.
5 Brothers Grocery & Sandwich Shop ★ 4.7
old-town · 930 Southard Street, Key West, FL 33040
5 Brothers Grocery has pressed Cuban mixes and poured con leche at Southard and Grinnell in Key West since 1978, a family corner store with a bench crew.
Sandy's Cafe ★ 4.6
white-street · 1026 White St, Key West, FL 33040
Sandy's Cafe is the laundromat lunch counter of Key West, pressing Cuban mixes and pouring con leche at a White Street walk-up window from 05:00 daily.
Cuban Coffee Queen ★ 4.6
historic-seaport · 284 Margaret Street, Key West, FL 33040
Cuban Coffee Queen pulls con leches at a muralled walk-up window by the Key West Bight, the waterfront original of the island's Cuban coffee mini-chain.