The Best Cuban Sandwiches In Miami

There are some really great sandwiches on this guide. But even after eating them all, we still feel comfortable saying Sanguich makes the best cuban sandwich in Miami. They cure their own ham, make their own mustard, brine their own pickles—and all that effort is gloriously obvious when you eat one. It’s magic from the first crispy bite: an always-perfect ratio of cuban bread, swiss cheese, ham, roast pork, pickles, and mustard. Every Miamian needs to try this sandwich at least once, which is easier to do now that there's a bigger location in Coral Gables.

Babe’s is a Palmetto Bay butcher shop, so it’s no surprise that the best part of this excellent sandwich is the meat. The smoked ham and roast pork are the headliners you bought tickets to see. You will want to stop halfway through eating this and ask them to sign your forehead. The pickles, swiss cheese, mustard, and cuban bread (which they bake themselves) are very capable and talented background singers. But that lovely combination of ham and pork? That’s what you’ll be daydreaming about at work 48 hours later.

Off Site is a Little River nano-brewery that has a menu full of ridiculously good bar food. And on that menu, you’ll find an outstanding cuban sandwich. The bread is pressed crispy enough to play shuffleboard on. But we also really like what’s going on underneath that bread: roasted pork, country ham, house pickles, swiss cheese, and mustard. Another great thing about this sandwich is that you can pair it with Off Site's house lager, which tastes like it was specifically made to go with a salty sandwich.

Louie’s is an outdoor tiki hut situation in the back of a Mid-Beach hotel, and one of the only local-friendly options a mere 15 yards from the sand. This cubano really makes its pork the star of the show. It’s heavy on meat—delicious roast pork spills out of the sandwich. The rest of the usual suspects are all present (pressed cuban bread, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles) but in small enough ratios that don’t distract from the pork. This is just what you want after a beach day or long walk down the boardwalk.

With a name like Breadman, it’s no surprise that what sets this Hialeah Cuban bakery’s sandwich apart is the bread. It doesn’t just crunch—it plays your molars like a xylophone. The sandwich comes with all the typical things, plus mayo (calm down). The slices of bread are also enormous, but the ham and lechon cover every bit of surface area. The entire thing is about the size of a high school composition notebook, but with less doodles and more mustard stains.   

North Miami’s Three Palms serves a big, cheesy cuban sandwich that will require two hands and a big appetite to consume. There are no detours from tradition here—their version is as straightforward a cuban sandwich as you’ll find in Miami. But they do an especially great job of pressing the sandwich. The bread is crunchy and the ham and pork are warmed to the core. They also use an impressive amount of cheese. That’s something you’ll never hear us complaining about.

Enriqueta’s is sandwiched (pun extremely intended) between Wynwood and Edgewater, and serves some of the best Cuban food you’ll find in the area. The menu, like any good diner, will take you a while to read, but the bulk of it is devoted to sandwiches—like their simple, classic cuban. If you just want a classic version with no embellishments, this one will satisfy. And we know we’re judging cuban sandwiches here, but we also strongly endorse their cubano con croquetas. The croquetas stuffed inside this cuban sandwich binds everything together like delicious cement. 

The ham on this cuban makes us feel like we’re celebrating with a holiday roast. There are at least four to five slices of thick ham stacked on top of mustard, crunchy pickles, pork, and gooey swiss cheese. If this sandwich was a cat it’d be a chonker, and its veterinarian would be telling you to stop feeding it so much ham. If you’re here with a friend, get the Elena Ruz and go half-and-half.

If this guide was broken into sub-categories, Mary’s would get “Best Nocturnal Cuban Sandwich.” Do we recommend you prioritize this sandwich over a place like, say, Sanguich? No. But if it’s 2am and your stomach is getting angry, go to Mary’s. This ventanita just off Coral Way is open 24/7 and is also attached to a laundromat, so you can entertain yourself with their very solid cuban sandwich while you wait for your towels to dry.

You know how when sandwiches are cut into triangles, the first corner bite is always the best bite? Well, every bite of the cuban sandwich at this South Beach ventanita is like that. They cut their sandwich thinner than any cuban sandwich we’ve seen around Miami. We’re very bad at geometry, but we believe it could be a scalene triangle? Or perhaps an extreme isosceles-obtuse? Of course, it’s not just the shape that makes this great. There’s a generous portion of roast pork, a healthy amount of cheese, and Las Olas’ location makes it a perfect lunch to bring to the beach.

If your assignment was to make a traditional cuban sandwich and you handed this in, you might get a D-. There’s no cuban bread. Cheddar cheese and mayo are involved. But at least the Miami Shores shop acknowledges this by naming it the “Cubanish.” However, when your hypothetical teacher tastes this thing, they will bump you up to a passing grade and maybe even throw a few sparkly stickers your way too. Proper is an outstanding meat shop, which is obvious after the first bite of incredible roasted pork shoulder and smoked rosemary ham. The cheddar cheese also works surprisingly well. Once again, we’re all for breaking rules when they turn out this good.

Chug’s is a Cuban-American diner. So don’t expect a classic version sandwich here. This one’s made in the U.S.A. with Cuban and American parts. Instead of cuban bread, theirs is served on white toast with salami (Tampa-style) and aioli. Then it’s cut in half and seared along the cross-section. But it still delivers on all the flavors we’ve come to expect from a great Cuban: ham, lechon, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles.

There are few places in the city that do sandwiches as deliciously as Tinta Y Cafe, a small spot in Coral Gables (there's a Miami Shores location too). You should make it your goal to try every sandwich on the menu here, but especially the Patria, their version of a cuban sandwich. They bend the rules here by adding mortadella and using a baguette rather than cuban bread. But, again, rules are meant to be broken when they taste like this.

What’s that saying (we just made up right now)? Reject tradition and embrace the unexpected use of chorizo? Well, if it leads the world to produce more sandwiches like this, we’d print it on bumper stickers and stick it to every car on the Palmetto during rush hour. This Doral shop's “Don Quixote” is made with mozzarella instead of swiss cheese, and juicy bits of cured chorizo instead of lechon. Does the fact that it's made with medianoche bread technically make this a, well, medianoche? Sure. But it still deserves a place on the guide, and it's not the only rule breaker on this list.

Josh’s Corner Diner, a vendor inside this Brightline food hall, actually calls its sandwich the “kinda Cuban.” They stuff theirs with a very thick slab of ham, and provolone is the cheese pinch hitter for swiss. Then they add a pink sauce and pepitas before smacking it all together between two pieces of bread of your choosing (we like the toasted housemade white bread). It looks like a cuban sandwich about as much as a duck-billed platypus looks like a duck, but there’s still ham, pickles, and mustard.

Sarussi’s take on a cubano is an Italian-Cuban-American hybrid that either goes by the Sarussi original or original cuban sandwich, depending on which location you visit. What makes it legit in our book is that it includes roast pork, ham, cheese, and pickles. But from there, Sarussi gets off the exit and speeds away from tradition. They use sweet shaved ham and mozzarella. And instead of pressed cuban bread, they use fluffy rolls, toast the entire sandwich in a pizza oven, and then brush the warm, crispy crust with garlic butter. They also use a garlicky, tangy secret sauce over the traditional mustard.