Pastelitos are Cuban puff-pastry pockets filled with guava and cream cheese, sweet meat picadillo or coconut, baked to a deep amber lacquer and brushed with sugar glaze.
Pastelitos came north from Havana through Tampa's Ybor City Cuban bakeries in the early 1900s, where the Spanish puff-pastry empanada tradition was reimagined with tropical guava paste and sweet picadillo. The form spread to Miami after the 1959 Cuban Revolution and entered Central Florida through the 1980s Cuban-Puerto Rican migration waves. Black Bean Deli's counter on East Colonial Drive is Orlando's flagship pastelito source, with guava-and-cheese the canonical order; sweet picadillo and coconut variations follow.
2 editor picks for Cuban pastelitos in Orlando, ranked by editorial score. All Orlando signature dishes · Cuban pastelitos across every city.
Black Bean Deli ★ 4.7
mills-50 · 1835 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL 32803
Black Bean Deli on East Colonial Drive in Mills 50 is the family Cuban counter since 2001, with pressed Cuban sandwiches, ropa vieja and a Winter Park branch.
Pio Pio Restaurant ★ 4.4
downtown · 501 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801
Pio Pio Restaurant on East Washington Street near Lake Eola is the Peruvian rotisserie chicken spot with pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado and tres leches cake.