Tampa, Florida – The beloved Cuban sandwich is a delicious, all-American culinary creation that was first served in Tampa, Florida, over a century ago, according to proud local tradition.
It's a tasty and mouthwatering mix (often called “mixto”) of three types of pork, accompanied by cheese, pickles and mustard, on freshly baked local bread. No wonder there's an entire day dedicated to it (August 23 is National Cuban Sandwich Day).
It is steeped in a variety of cultures that helped make Tampa a jewel of the Gulf of Mexico.
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The sandwiches are said to have fed the hardworking, often Cuban-born tobacco factory workers of Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood in decades past. Cuban sandwiches are now served in takeout shops, delis, pubs and restaurants from coast to coast.
“There's a debate about who invented it first, Tampa or Miami,” Tampa food influencer Kiera Andrews (@thisbabeeats) told Fox News Digital.
The founder of a Tampa, Florida, restaurant is credited with inventing the Cuban sandwich as we know it today. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Others claim it originated in Havana or Key West.
Cubans traditionally ate “mixto” sandwiches, but the version known today is a Tampa creation, experts say.
“I'll tell you what,” Andrews said. “I've had Cuban sandwiches in other cities and there's nothing comparable to a Cuban sandwich in Tampa.”
“There's nothing like a Cuban sandwich in Tampa.”
One of the secrets, he said, is the traditional Cuban bread baked at La Segunda Central Bakery, which opened in Ybor City in 1915.
Supplies restaurants and retailers throughout the region.
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Bakeries, restaurants and even the museum of veteran Ybor City cigar maker JC Newman feature murals and billboards highlighting the global inspirations that make Tampa’s Cuban sandwiches a delicious example of America’s unique culinary melting pot.
A sign at La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor City, Tampa, touts the multicultural flavors found in the original Cuban sandwich, with influences from Cuba, Spain, Italy and Germany. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
They feature Cuban pork, Spanish ham, Italian salami, German pickles, mustard and Swiss cheese (all cultures that have a historic presence together in Tampa), served on soft, fluffy Cuban bread.
“It represents all the different cultures that make Ybor City a wonderful place,” Casey Gonzmart Jr., fifth-generation owner of Tampa's iconic Columbia Restaurant, told Fox News Digital.
THE BEST CUBAN FOOD IN TAMPA
The restaurant was founded by his great-great-grandfather, a Spanish-Cuban immigrant, Casimiro Hernández Sr., in 1905.
Ybor City is best known for its Cuban-Spanish culture and cigar-making history.
But it is also the traditional home of Tampa's Italian community.
“The Cuban sandwich represents all the different cultures that make Ybor City a wonderful place.”
L'Unione Italiana, Tampa's Italian club, dates back to 1894 and is located just three blocks from Columbia Restaurant.
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“We can't tell the true story of Ybor City without paying tribute to the Italians,” Gonzmart said.
Casey Gonzmart Jr. is a fifth-generation owner of Tampa’s iconic Columbia Restaurant. His great-great-grandfather Casimiro Hernandez Sr. founded the restaurant in 1905 and is considered by many to be the creator of Tampa’s original Cuban sandwich. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Columbia Restaurant features colorful murals of the sailing ships of Christopher Columbus, the Italian sailor who ventured to the New World on behalf of the Spanish crown.
Food & Wine magazine named Columbia Restaurant's original Cuban sandwich the best in Florida. It even credits Columbia Restaurant founder Hernandez Sr. with inventing this multicultural American delicacy.
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“I hoped it would honor the contributions of the many immigrants who brought life to the Ybor City neighborhood, where the restaurant was located, and to the city of Tampa at large,” Food & Wine wrote in its coronation of the Columbia Cuban.
The restaurant still makes its Cuban sandwich the same way it has since at least 1915, even using bread from nearby La Segunda Central bakery, a company spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor City, Tampa, was founded in 1915. Their freshly baked Cuban bread is considered essential to the perfect traditional Cuban sandwich. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Andrews, an Instagram foodie from Tampa, mentions other Cuban sandwiches you can't miss in Tampa.
The no-frills, cash-only West Sandwich Tampa Shop “feels like one of the first places that would have served the Cuban,” he said.
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Tampa's iconic bakery, La Segunda, has a grab-and-go sandwich shop at its original location in Ybor City.
Here, guests can order original Cuban food and various versions of the original, along with amazing traditional Cuban pastries and sweets.
The Boozy Pig offers a delicious Cuban breakfast sandwich served with eggs, while Wicked Oak Barbeque offers a “Que-ban” sandwich made with slow-smoked pulled pork and house-made mustard barbecue.
La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor City, Tampa, bakes bread for commercial and retail sale but also has a sandwich and bakery shop that sells Cuban sandwiches. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
“Miami, for its part, added an innovation: the iron press, which gives the Cubano the fine look and crispy feel that many people now recognize it for,” NPR wrote in a 2022 interview with the authors of the book, “The Cuban Sandwich: A Layered History.”
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Cuban sandwiches in Tampa traditionally come only on fresh, unpressed bread but impressive in flavor and American culinary tradition.
The Tampa City Council named the Cubano the city's “signature sandwich” in a 2012 proclamation.
