OMAHA'S BEST CUBANOS
The Cubano is one of the most well-known and beloved sandwiches in the world, and for good reason—when made right, it’s absolutely delicious.
At its core, the Cubano is comprised of roasted pork, ham, mustard, Swiss, and pickles between two slices of Cuban bread, pressed or griddled to achieve a crispy exterior. But while the original is excellent, the sandwich also provides a fun playground for chefs to put creative twists on.
There are all kinds of interesting Cubanos in Omaha, ranging from very traditional to wildly unique. I haven’t tried them all, but after an extensive month-long search, these are, in one man’s opinion, the best of the best. As a traditionalist, I gave extra points to the sandwiches that didn’t stray too far from the original concept. But, as you’ll see, I can appreciate some adjustments if they improve the sandwich.
Also, RIP to The Hunger Block. The El Jefe Cubano was the GOAT.
***Only regular menu items or specials offered at least once per month were considered on this list.***
1. Aviles Latin Market
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️
The meat on the Cuban Sandwich at Aviles Latin Market earned it the top spot on this list. This tiny grocery store with a deli in the back makes tremendous carnitas—juicy, rich, and with a touch of toasty caramelization, they’re more flavorful than the pork I’ve had on any other Omaha Cubano. And while Aviles doesn’t use a traditional Cuban bread, the telera roll (typically used to make Mexican tortas) is pressed to achieve a crunchy exterior.
The Swiss is melted to give a nice gooey texture, and the mustard aioli adds a creaminess to the tart yellow mustard. The ham gets a bit lost, but I couldn’t care less. The bread and meat, while a bit different from the traditional Cubano, make this sandwich a standout.
2. Ybor
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
Named for the city the Cubano originated in, this take walks the line between tradition and deliciousness better than any in Omaha or Lincoln. And while this sandwich might be tougher to attain than most others on this list, it’s absolutely worth the extra effort.
Ybor is a pop-up operating mainly in Lincoln, but it also has events in Omaha. Its aim is not only to offer delicious sandwiches, but also to help formerly incarcerated individuals incorporate back into society.
What makes this Cuban Sandwich special is Ybor bakes its own Cuban bread, usually lard to incorporate a rich flavor. Lard is also slathered onto both sides of the sandwich as its pressed, giving it a pleasant crunch. The roasted pork is rich and tender, and it’s wonderfully balanced by the sweetness of applewood smoked ham. The house pickles bring acid, the Swiss is perfectly melted, and a slight slather of mayo adds a creamy consistency. It’s a near perfect Cubano.
3. Dirty Birds
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️
Dirty Birds makes nearly every component of this sandwich, and it comes out in the final product. The pulled pork luxuriates in a mojo marinade before being smoked, giving it a slight citrus flavor. The ham is brined and smoked, keeping it moist and juicy. The bread & butter pickles are made in house and bring just a touch of sweetness. The dijoinaise lends not only tangy, but a creamy consistency that ensures not one centimeter of the sandwich is dry.
And the bread, a baguette baked in house, brings it all together. Butter and pressed, it’s masterfully crispy and golden brown. Add in some sweet/heat from Dirty Birds’ signature “Debo” sauce to really send this sandwich to the next level.
4. A Catered Affair
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
A Catered Affair‘s owners lived in Miami previously, and it’s clear they know all about what a Cubano is supposed to be. No bells, whistles, or chef-y twists here; this thing is traditional and downright excellent.
The Cuban bread on the 305 (Cubano) is pressed to give the sandwich a crispy shell, and it has a nice textured, flaky consistency. The pork is wonderful, juicy, and with just the right amount of salt. The Swiss is melted perfectly. The mustard and ham are both quieter in this version, regulated to role players.
The real kicker on ACA’s Cubano are the house pickles, which are crisp, fresh, and bring just the right acidic punch to cut through all the meat.
5. Nocturnal Eats
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️
The pork is the star of the show on Nocturnal Eats’ Cubano, and star does it ever. The pork is so rich and savory and gets a nice caramelization on the flattop. The black forest ham has a nice smoky flavor and some pleasant char. The pickles are thick and lend plenty of texture and acidity, the white American cheese is perfectly melted, and the dijon mustard adds a creamy tang to each bite.
The bread isn’t traditional Cuban bread, but it’s a nice substitution. It’s pressed on the flattop to get a solid crisp, though a bit more texture would send this sandwich to the next level.
But at the end of the day, this sandwich shines because the roasted pork is spectacular, and all the other elements orbit around it well.
6. Cuban Kitchen & Latin Flavor
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
Everything about the Cuban Sandwich from the tiny Cuban Kitchen & Latin Flavor food truck is upper echelon, starting with the pork. Meaty, juicy, and slightly sweet, it’s complemented nicely by thick-cut ham. A tangy mayo/mustard helps cut through the rich meat, and Swiss cheese literally oozes everywhere.
But the bread is the true game changer here. This sandwich is pressed to crispy perfection, so much so that each bite elicits a crunch you can hear from the next room.
The only drawbacks to this sandwich are the pickles (they get a bit lost) and its availability. The food truck has been on a construction job site for months, so access to it is limited. It does some festivals and events and, when it does reopen to the public at large, this Cubano a must-get sandwich. Follow on Facebook for updates.
7. Pa Mas Taqueria
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
It’s all about tradition at Pa Mas, and that’s a beautiful thing on the Pa Mas Cubano. You’ll find no chef-y twists or substitutions here. It’s the sandwich as it was created to be, but with great ingredients prepared really well.
That starts with the Cuban bread, which would be perfect if it were 5% more toasted. But even without prime crispness, it still has a very solid exterior and a slightly sweet flavor. The pork is fantastic, with bright, zesty undertones from its mojo marinade. The mustard adds just the right amount of tang, and the Swiss is melted so well it adds a creamy consistency, almost like a mayo.
The smoked ham is very good, but its aggressive salty flavor dominate some bites. A slice or two less of ham would make this sandwich truly elite, but it’s fantastic as is. If you’re a Cubano traditionalist, this is one you must try.
8. Get Real Sandwiches
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️
Get Real Sandwiches is known for putting modern spins on classic sandwiches, and the Cubano is its crown jewel. There’s a slight tweak on nearly every element of the sandwich, and most are a definitive upgrade.
The dijon mustard adds more intense sharpness than yellow mustard, and aioli brings a tangy, creamy consistency. The Cuban roll is brilliantly toasted, and the house pickles are thicker and add great texture. The swap of pulled pork for pork belly can be hit or miss depending on the bite: the rich pork belly is sinfully delicious, but it can be a bit much and a tad chewy, especially in fattier bites.
9. Pulled BBQ
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️
As a restaurant that specializes in pulled meats, it’s no surprise that the pork on Pulled BBQ‘s sandwich is excellent. Succulent and rich, it’s complemented well by the smoky ham and crunchy pickles. The Swiss is melted perfectly, and the Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce adds sweetness and smokiness that traditional mustard lacks. It’s a great twist.
What lacks is the bread. I appreciate that Pulled BBQ presses its French bread so it gets nice texture, but it doesn’t have that awesome Cubano crispiness that one looks for. It’s not a perfect Cubano, but it’s a wonderful sandwich. Pro tip: get a side of the Carolina Mustard from the Sauce Bar and go town dunking this sandwich.
10. Star Deli
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️
At first glance, I thought I’d knock Star Deli‘s Cubano for its bread choice, but the toasted baguette actually mimics pressed Cuban bread very well. It’s firm and crusty on the outside with soft, chewy insides that made it a fantastic stand-in for the traditional starch.
The roasted pork loin is moist and juicy, the ham has good smokiness, and the pickles are thick. But it’s the dijon aioli, which adds tang and moisture, that sends the sandwich over the top. It’s not a picture perfect example of what a Cubano, but it’s a spectacular take.
11. Blatt Beer & Table
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️
The meats absolutely shine on Blatt‘s Tipsy Cubano. The porked pork is rich and velvety, with pieces of crusty, salty bark. And Blatt subs out the ham for slices of cheesy bratwurst, which strays from tradition but majorly amps up the flavor.
The bread isn’t a Cuban roll, but it’s toasted to give it a nice exterior. Unfortunately, the dijonnaise makes it a bit soggy and lacks that mustard zing, and the pickles get lost. Serving it with a cup of creamy beer cheese soup is an added bonus.
With several substitutions, I didn’t really feel like I was eating a Cubano. But was I eating a delicious sandwich? 100% yes. If you’re not a traditionalist, this is one to seek out.
12. Porky Butts BBQ
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️
The Mayan, an occasional special at Porky Butts BBQ, is a meaty masterpiece that’s far from traditional, but it’s plenty delicious. It’s smokier and sweeter than most entries on this list, but the curveballs it employs are mostly enjoyable. Porky Butts starts the sandwich with a mountain of meat: tender pulled pork, thick slices of smoked ham, and bacon form a salty base exploding with flavor. The melted Swiss is quite prominent, but just when this sandwich threatens to be too rich, a sweet mustard BBQ sauce and thick-cut pickles cut through and provide balance.
If there’s a downfall to Porky Butts’ offering, it’s the bread. The roll doesn’t have that crusty edge a Cubano needs.
The addition of bacon, BBQ sauce, and chipotle aioli give this sandwich a very different flavor profile than most Cubanos, but it’s eminently enjoyable in its own way. And it comes topped with a juicy, tug-off-the-bone rib. How cool is that?
13. El Arepon
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️☀️
Depending on the bite, El Arepón‘s version could hang with just about any Cubano, and it’s among Omaha’s most traditional takes. With Cuban bread pressed to produce a crusty shell, pungent yellow mustard, Swiss, and ham, El Arepón doesn’t need any creative twists. It submits a straightforward Cubano that is, for the most part, delicious.
The wild card is the marinated pork, served in large chunks rather than being pulled. It’s great flavor-wise, tangy and with a slight sweetness. But some portions are quite fatty and chewy, which pulls away from the strong elements of the sandwich. 85% of the bites are wonderful, exactly the classic Cubano flavor you hope for. But with so many other standouts in Omaha, that 15% knock it down a few slots on this list. I’d still drive to Bellevue again to get it.
14. Railcar
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️
On flavor alone, Railcar’s unconventional take on the Cubano would be higher on this list. Its deviations knock it down a few spots, but let’s be clear: this is a delicious sandwich.
It’s just not a Cubano. Not with a slightly toasted roll, though warm and buttery, replacing the smashed Cuban bread. It also has no mustard and the pickles are few and far between.
But the roasted pork shoulder is succulent and bursting with flavor, and the ham has a good salt/smoke balance. The greyere is gooey and nutty, and a garlic aioli adds a creamy element to break up the mountain of meat.
15. Benson Brewery
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️☀️☀️
So much of Benson Brewery’s Cuban was spot on, from the use of traditional ingredients to the creamy, tangy IPA mustard. But one very important element drags it down like an anchor: the bread.
I truly appreciate that BB toasts the bread to giving it that necessary crispy exterior, but the use of a baguette in this case created some sharp edges and made a mess of the roof of my mouth. There is also just too much bread, as the amount of carbs drowned out many of the other elements and makes for a pretty dry sandwich.
And that’s a bummer, because the rest of the sandwich is pretty good. The pork shoulder is smoky and has a good amount of fat, the ham adds a good meaty, savory flavor, and the house pickles bring a good punch of dill. A different bread choice would move this sandwich several spots up this list.
16. Ponzu Sushi & Grill
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️
Ponzu Sushi & Grill serves an excellent pulled pork sandwich. But this is not a Cubano.
The pork is excellent, as it provides the dominant flavor with a pleasant toasty flavor and a slight sweetness. It’s clearly finished on the flattop, as the edges have a wonderful crisp texture. I also appreciate the heat in the sriracha aioli, which leaves a pleasant but not overbearing burn on the palate.
But if you served this to me blind, I’d have no idea it was supposed to be a Cubano. The ham and pickles are completely lost, and the provolone, while nicely melted, is more sharp and nutty than the mild, sweet Swiss. And the bread completely lacks the crispy exterior a Cubano requires.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a very tasty sandwich that I’d happily order again. But it strays too far from what a Cubano is supposed to be.
17. Jukes Ale Works
Meat: 🐷🐷🐷
Bread: 🍞
Accompaniments: 🥪🥪🥪
Tradition: ☀️
There’s a lot this sandwich does well, starting with the tangy, slightly sweet Boiler sauce. The Swiss is melted properly, and with more ham than most on this list, this sandwich has a savory, salty punch.
Subbing in a ciabatta roll is a real miss, however. The bread is pleasant, but it’s soft and completely lacks the crusty brilliance of pressed bread. And the pork, while slightly sweet, simply lacks the flavor of others in Omaha. It’s still a tasty sandwich, but the bread choice is a significant downgrade.
BONUS: Izzy's Pizza Bus
Considering this is a pizza, I can’t in good faith include it in a ranking of sandwiches. But the Cubano Pizza, a special of the month at Izzy’s Pizza Bus, better captured the spirit of the Cubano better than most sandwiches on this list, and only Aviles’ version topped it in terms of pure flavor.
Izzy’s offering starts with a great base: an airy, chewy dough that’s similar to focaccia bread and topped with a hearty helping of its brick cheese blend. Next comes rich, succulent carnitas and chunks of salty, decadent smoked pork shoulder. Dill pickles and a delicious garlicy mayo/mustard drizzle cut through the richness of the meat and create a pizza I’ll be thinking about for a long time.