The Must-Try Miami Sandwich Shop To Run To When You're Craving A Cuban

There are few sandwiches as closely tied to a place as the Cuban is to Florida. If you're not already in the know, this is a grilled sandwich filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard. And these days, you can find Cuban sandwiches all over the state, from modern sandwich shops to old-school cafeterias, with Miami definitely being one of the most popular cities to try a classic version of it. But the sandwich actually has roots that go way back to late 19th century Miami and Tampa, when Cuban immigrant communities began serving the sandwich to cigar factory workers as it made the perfect portable lunch.

In Miami, one spot that always gets mentioned when discussing Cuban sandwiches is Sanguich. It's highlighted in Reddit boards and restaurant guides, and it even has a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. Many sandwich enthusiasts believe this is where you'll find the absolute best Cuban in the whole city. The reasons are many but it really comes down to the effort Sanguich puts into its sandwiches. From making its own mustard to brining its own pickles and curing its own ham, almost every single element is made in-house. That's when a sandwich goes from something thrown together between bread to a dish made with intention, which is exactly why this place has earned itself a cult following from both locals and visitors to the city. Of course, Sanguich also offers lots of other sandwiches as well as appetizers and drinks, but it's the Cuban that it's really known for.

A traditional Cuban sandwich is made with Cuban bread — a long, white bread with a rectangular shape that is light but crispy — that is pressed on a hot plancha until the outside is golden and the cheese inside has melted. This key move also presses all the fillings together inside so every single bite contains a good mouthful of each ingredient. And each of those ingredients is playing a very specific role. The roast pork is garlicky (Sanguich's pork is marinated in spices and garlic for a week), the ham is salty, the Swiss cheese melts into the meats, and then the pickles and mustard are there to give all that richness a little tangy and bright contrast. In a good sandwich, balance is everything. 

And shops like Sanguich have refined this process by carefully preparing every element inside so that the final sandwich is indeed perfectly balanced. In a Reddit post that reviewed a few different Cuban spots in Miami, Sanguich came in No. 1, with the reviewer praising the meaty elements for being full of flavor, and the sandwich having the ideal amount of mustard and cheese throughout. The key to perfecting a Cuban sandwich at home is the same: use good quality bread, properly seasoned pork and ham, and give it that signature press on a grill. Of course, it isn't only Miami that serves its own interpretations of this famous sandwich, so if you're not going to be in town anytime soon, be sure to check out our list of all the other spots to find the best Cuban sandwiches in the country.