A February 8th article in the New York Times Travel Section caught our attention: In Key West, A Taste of Cuban Coffee Culture. We had an upcoming visit to Key West on a 7- Day Western Caribbean cruise, and we kept the article in our trip planning file to check out some of the places mentioned for Cuban cafe con leche and Cuban sandwiches.
The Traditional Cuban sandwich at Five Brothers in Key West, Florida.
In our pre-trip research for Key West, we learned that thousands of Cubans fled northward during the outbreak of the Ten Years’ War with Spain during 1868-1878. Many Cubans came to Key West, bringing with them the cigar making industry and Cuban food and culture. By 1873, Cubans made up the majority of the population in Key West. Don Vicente Martinez Ybor was influential in bringing the cigar industry to Key West, and then later moving the family operation to the Tampa area, to what later was renamed Ybor City.
While the cigar industry moved to Tampa, the Cuban cultural influences did not disappear from Key, and today you can easily immerse yourself in cafe con leche and Cuban food.
After clearing U.S. immigration to depart our cruise ship, we headed to the Truman Little White House for a brief stop before heading out further into Key West in search of a taste of Cuba.
The 5 Brothers Grocery & Sandwich Shop at the corner of Southard and Grinnell Streets was our first stop for cafe con leches. The small grocery store has a busy food and coffee counter, with utility workers, mothers with strollers, and a wide assortment of other locals waiting for their sandwiches and coffee late on a Saturday morning. Originally, we just ordered two cafe con leches, but they were so hot, sweet and silky, we decided we needed to some food to accompany them.
We ordered one Traditional Cuban sandwich to split and two ham croquettes. Five Brothers is a cash-only establishment.
The ham croquettes cost $.65 each. We also tried to order a side order of Bollos, but they were not available on the Saturday that we were in Key West.
We sat on the chairs outside the shop, sipped our coffees, ate our food, and took in the local scene in Key West.
This is not a light meal, so when we finished, we were ready for some more walking. We headed in the direction of White Street, passing by the slightly spooky Key West Cemetery.
On White Street, we found Sandy’s Cafe, which is basically a to-go window in front of a laundromat. By now, it was past high noon and quite warm, so we opted for the iced cafe con leche with a light amount of sugar. As you can see from the sign, Sandy’s is also cash-only. The Mexican food looked good, but we weren’t hungry.
Around to the side of Sandy’s, we peeked into the M & M Laundry. Doing your laundry here would have to include coffee from Sandy’s.
We continued down White Street in search of a third establishment mentioned by the New York Times: the White Street Sandwich Shop.
There is no sign that lets you know you’ve arrived at The White Street Sandwich Shop, but Google maps assured us we were in the right spot. The window is again part of a laundromat. By now, we ordered our cafe con leche over ice with no sugar. The guy behind the window that served us was funny.
There is no where here to sit, except perhaps in the laundry area; we did not check, just got our coffee to share and continued on our walk through Key West.
Eventually, we made it to the water, near the Casa Marina Waldorf Astoria Resort. The view above is from the pier accessed at the corner of Reynolds Street and Atlantic Blvd.
As we continued our coffee-fueled walk, we encountered numerous roosters roaming in Key West.
Eventually, we made our way to the Green Parrot Bar, known for its live music, but great for a low-key cold beer on a Saturday afternoon. We were back to a more touristy area of Key West.
A side benefit of our day exploring Key West’s Cuban coffee culture was the 16, 544 steps registered on my Fitbit, a good workout to offset that sweet coffee and heavy Cuban food.
If you want to explore a more local side of Key West, check out some or all of these Cuban coffee spots.
If you want to make your own Cuban coffee at home, start with Café Bustelo Coffee Espresso. We use the both the coffee bricks as well as the Keurig K-Cups .
Are you a puzzle fan? Check out this Key West puzzle:
Key West – 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out other posts on our recent cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam:
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