Ybor Cuban Sandwich on Anna Maria Island

If you’ve eaten a Cuban in Miami and one in Tampa, you’ve probably noticed they aren’t the same sandwich. The Tampa version, the one people call the Ybor Cuban, has a layer the Miami one usually skips: Genoa salami. That’s the sandwich we put on the lunch menu at Hurricane Hanks, and it’s the one we’d point you to if you’re hunting for a proper Ybor Cuban sandwich on Anna Maria Island.

Why the Ybor Cuban has salami

The short history: Ybor City, Tampa’s old cigar district, was home to Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants living and working side by side. According to Wikipedia’s write-up of the Cuban sandwich, the Tampa version includes Genoa salami, a habit it ties to the Italian immigrants of Ybor City, and the same article notes salami is not usually included in South Florida. A 1934 travel piece it cites described the Tampa sandwich as ham, lean pork, Swiss cheese, soft salami and dill pickle, with a good dose of mustard.

So when someone says “Tampa-style,” that’s the shorthand: ham, roast pork, salami, Swiss, pickle, mustard, and a press.

What’s on our Ybor Cuban sandwich

Here’s the build, straight off our menu: sliced ham, seasoned pork, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, mayo, mustard and pickles, hot pressed. It comes with house potato chips and a small coleslaw, and it’s $16.

You can see the whole thing on the Ybor Cuban page. The press does the important work. It melts the Swiss into the meat, warms the pickle through and gives the outside a crisp edge, so every bite carries a bit of everything. Cut it in half and the layers show: ham, pork, salami, cheese, pickle, all stacked tight.

How to eat it

A few small opinions, since you asked:

• Eat it hot. A pressed sandwich loses something every minute it sits. Don’t wait for the table to finish taking photos.
• Leave room for the slaw. The small coleslaw is there to cut the richness of the pork and salami. Take a forkful between bites.
• Chips are part of the deal. They’re our house potato chips, and they’re good for scooping up any mustard that escapes.
• Sharing is allowed. It’s a full sandwich, but if you’re splitting lunch, the lunch menu has soups, salads, burgers and our Guinness battered baskets to build a table around.

Not the grouper sandwich

Our grouper sandwiches are a separate order. The Ybor Cuban is the ham, pork and salami build described above, so if that’s what you’re craving, ask for it by name.

Lunch on Holmes Beach

We’re at 5346 Gulf Dr in Holmes Beach. The kitchen opens at 11:30 a.m. every day, so a Cuban lunch is on the table from the moment we start serving. Guests rate us 4.5 out of 5, based on 1,939 reviews on Google, and plenty of them are repeat regulars who come in knowing exactly what they want.

If a hot pressed Cuban sounds like your kind of lunch, take a look at the lunch menu and then come see us, or call us at 941-778-5788 if you have a question first. Order the Ybor Cuban, grab a seat, and eat it while it’s hot.