The Search For the Best Cuban in Tampa

by Lauren Youngerman on October 7, 2014

The Cuban is a classic sandwich with a foggy history. What’s known for sure is that it was created sometime during the late 1800’s when people were immigrating to Florida to Key West and Tampa to work in cigar factories.

Later, the sandwich also followed the influx of Cuban immigrants to Miami. At one point, there was a large debate through National Public Radio which ended up landing Tampa the rights of calling itself the home of the “original Cuban sandwich.”

The Cuban sandwich – sometimes called a cubano – is a made on Cuban bread with the usual ingredients consisting of ham, roast pork, salami, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles.

With all of those delightful ingredients, what’s not to love?

My personal adventure is taking me to restaurants and sandwich shops throughout Tampa in search of the best Cuban.

As the starting point for my on-going search, I seek out places that advertise the “Best Cuban Sandwich” in Tampa, as well as word-of-mouth recommendations from local people I meet in the area.

Here’s the results of my search so far to date for Tampa’s Best Cuban Sandwich:

The West Tampa Sandwich Shop and Restaurant

The West Tampa Sandwich Shop and Restaurant

This diner on the corner of Armenia and Douglas was recommended to me by a friend — and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. This little place is very laid back with amazing prices, and a very interesting clientele. They have pictures posted all throughout the restaurant of their famous visitors, many of which are political figures. One of their famous sandwiches is named for President Obama after he ordered it in the restaurant when he was once in Tampa. The “Obama” (or the honey Cuban) is a Cuban with no mustard — but honey drizzled on top of the sandwich.

I made sure to try both a regular Cuban, and the Obama, and I was more than pleased! I personally preferred the regular sandwich, but those who prefer things to be a little sweeter are sure to enjoy the Obama sandwich.

This restaurant doesn’t only serve Cuban sandwiches, obviously. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you can find all kinds of Cuban and Latin American dishes.

The Columbia Restaurant

Me enjoying some of the Columbia’s sangria.

The Columbia is Florida’s oldest restaurant, and something you don’t want to miss out on. I went here recently with my mother for lunch and tested out their Cuban. Now this is a bit of an upscale restaurant, so the prices aren’t as great as the place previously mentioned, but it’s definitely worth it.

When I ordered a Cuban at the Columbia — I wasn’t overly thrilled. It wasn’t the traditional idea of a Cuban, but a more upscale one. It was, by no means, a bad sandwich. I just have had better ones. My suggestion is to definitely eat at the Columbia, but try one of their famous Spanish dishes and maybe some of their Sangria. My personal favorite is their Sangria de Cava–Yum!

The Cuban Sandwich Shop

The Cuban Sandwich Shop – N Florida Avenue

The next stop on my list was The Cuban Sandwich Cafe located on North Florida Avenue. This restaurant has been around since 1975 and boasts on their menu that they were a previous winner of “The All Tampa Cuban Sandwich Contest.” I ordered a Cuban from here for pick up on my way home for work the other day, and honestly wasn’t too thrilled. Sometimes, I’m a little picky when I eat and this time I ordered a Cuban without mayonnaise or mustard because I wanted a lighter sandwich.

I was a bit disappointed by this sandwich. On an entire sandwich, I only had two pickle slices and one slice of tomato. There wasn’t anything bad about the sandwich besides that, but I just wasn’t impressed.

These are the Cuban sandwiches I’ve had in the past week and a half, and I’m still going to continue my search! If you want to follow my search on Instagram, I’m tagging photos of all of the places I visit with the hashtag “#S4BCiT” (Search for Best Cuban in Tampa).

Where’s your favorite place to get a Cuban? And if you aren’t in a location where Cubans are popular — what’s your city’s best sandwich? Please scroll down and post in comments below.

This post was written by Lauren Youngerman, a student at the University of South Florida studying international business with a focus on Spanish and marketing.

She is a member of her school’s sailing team, and also works as a sailing coach at a nearby club.

Lauren is an adventure seeker who has had the opportunity to live abroad in both Brazil and Nicaragua, as well as to being a part of the U.S. Army.

Currently completing a social media internship for VentureTime Travel, Lauren seeks a career in marketing after graduation. Learn more about Lauren’s work experience via her LinkedIn profile.

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