Maximillian's Cafe, 1695 10th Street

As a Cuban American that grew up in Miami, I still cringe a little when I see a sandwich shop advertise “hot Cubans.” I appreciate the opportunity for a good dad joke, but it does leave me feeling a tad objectified. More broadly, nobody in Miami drops the “sandwich” in “Cuban sandwich” when ordering one because, firstly, there is more than one sandwich in the Cuban sandwich pantheon and, secondly, Cubans are generally people and not sandwiches.

All of that said, I have no problem when Maximillian’s Café lists the sandwich as a “pressed Cuban” because it’s clearly listed beneath a section labeled “hot sandwiches.” Moreover, the sandwich is damn good and mostly true to form. Roast pork, ham and Swiss cheese come generously stacked between two slices of Cuban bread that, though a little more dense than typical loaves of Cuban bread, was still fluffy enough to not turn into cement when pressed. Mustard and pickles give it all the moisture and tang it needs, but the pepperoncini, not usually found on a Cuban sandwich, was a nice twist. At $7.65 for a 12” sandwich and chips, this hot Cuban runs cheap.

Maximillian's Cafe, 1695 10th Street

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