Looking through the compilation of my dining notes – writing about restaurants, you have things like this – I saw that I’ve had a Cuban sandwich just over a dozen times in the past couple of decades or so. I never knew what the fuss was about concerning Cuban sandwiches, the warm, flattened sandwich born in Cuba featuring at least ham, cheese and mustard, as I’ve never had a really good one. Nearly all I had eaten were from El Rey. El Rey has a drive-thru, at least.
It wasn’t until a couple of weeks that I had my first really tasty Cuban sandwich, and it was a quite a bargain, too. The Cuban Station is a low-volume counter-service – or window-service, actually – operation with a handful of tables located within the convenience store section of a Chevron gas station on Harrisburg, a couple of miles east of downtown. It serves a number of sandwiches and batidos, fruit shakes, and its version of the iconic Cuban sandwich tops the menu and is what the owner is quick to recommend.
Called the Original Cuban Sandwich on the menu, it is made with Cuban-style roasted pork, slices of ham, a judicious amount of thinly sliced of Swiss cheese that’s melted, a bit of similarly thin pickle here and there, mayonnaise and evident yellow mustard on a sturdy, somewhat crusty, admirable fresh bread that’s served warm after a turn in a sandwich press. It is delicious, with the tasty – fairly mild but flavorful – roast pork, which is used the most, setting the tone for the rest of the quality ingredients that work together for an excellent sandwich that might be in a lower-key, but very easy to want the next bite and the next until the substantial construction is no more. At least that is how it’s been twice for me so far, and I imagine there will be more in the not-too-distant future. I put two different flavors of Cholula on the table before eating these at home, but neither warranted a look after I started eating. The sandwich didn’t need any help at all. It is also quite substantial: over a foot long, 12 ½ inches, 4 ½ inches wide, and after the requisite pressing, an inch-and-a-half tall. It is just $7.49, too, a terrific value for the size and quality.
If you like sandwiches, especially Cuban sandwiches, you owe yourself a trip here. There will likely be a short wait, but it will be worth it, for the Original Cuban Sandwich and probably just about any other sandwich or one of the two burgers here.
The Cuban Station
5001 Harrisburg (between Lockwood and Alt 90), 77011, (832) 272-9680
And it tastes much better than it looks.
It wasn’t until a couple of weeks that I had my first really tasty Cuban sandwich, and it was a quite a bargain, too. The Cuban Station is a low-volume counter-service – or window-service, actually – operation with a handful of tables located within the convenience store section of a Chevron gas station on Harrisburg, a couple of miles east of downtown. It serves a number of sandwiches and batidos, fruit shakes, and its version of the iconic Cuban sandwich tops the menu and is what the owner is quick to recommend.
Called the Original Cuban Sandwich on the menu, it is made with Cuban-style roasted pork, slices of ham, a judicious amount of thinly sliced of Swiss cheese that’s melted, a bit of similarly thin pickle here and there, mayonnaise and evident yellow mustard on a sturdy, somewhat crusty, admirable fresh bread that’s served warm after a turn in a sandwich press. It is delicious, with the tasty – fairly mild but flavorful – roast pork, which is used the most, setting the tone for the rest of the quality ingredients that work together for an excellent sandwich that might be in a lower-key, but very easy to want the next bite and the next until the substantial construction is no more. At least that is how it’s been twice for me so far, and I imagine there will be more in the not-too-distant future. I put two different flavors of Cholula on the table before eating these at home, but neither warranted a look after I started eating. The sandwich didn’t need any help at all. It is also quite substantial: over a foot long, 12 ½ inches, 4 ½ inches wide, and after the requisite pressing, an inch-and-a-half tall. It is just $7.49, too, a terrific value for the size and quality.
If you like sandwiches, especially Cuban sandwiches, you owe yourself a trip here. There will likely be a short wait, but it will be worth it, for the Original Cuban Sandwich and probably just about any other sandwich or one of the two burgers here.
The Cuban Station
5001 Harrisburg (between Lockwood and Alt 90), 77011, (832) 272-9680
And it tastes much better than it looks.
