Man. Cuban sandwich is fine. How long can they last (since you said that you bought a few to take back to the room)?
Since I prefer to travel alone, Iâve eaten alone at many restaurants and havenât been bothered by it. If I wanted to try a fancy place, I do like to grab a DC or two.
Not in particular, no. For me, meals are a social occasion, so I enjoy them a lot more with company.
Also, with a partner or several, you get to try so many more things at any given restaurant, whereas my own eating capacities are limited to 2-3 courses/plates.
That said, if I had to, Iâd prefer bar or counter seating to a single table.
I only live about 3 hrs from Tampa and usually bought them the night before I left. I popped them in a beverage cooler I always kept with me on trips and they kept fine til the next day when I shared them with the hubby. Except for the time I bought three and ate one for supper and one for breakfast the following dayâŚand may have munched on one while traveling homeâŚ
Nowadays I visit St.Pete more often and still grab a cuban or three on the way home. They just dont make them as well in North Fla. I have made my own many times thru the yearsâŚbut it isnt as good if the bread isnt⌠and you also cant get good cuban bread in N.Fla. Publix bakery comes.close. But it isnt the sameâŚ
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Hi, Chem:
My take on this is that I hate dining alone, whether cooking for myself at home or dining out.
I try to balance the boredom of cooking alone (or scrounging) at home with the loneliness of dining out stag. Most times, with this choice, I stay in. I suppose another reason I do this is that I think I will save the $ to spend later when I host/entertain guest(s).
Aloha,
Kaleo
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Chem, they were created to be lunch for workers at the sprawling cigar factories in Tampa â no refrigeration! So a pure Cuban has boiled ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard, and bread-and-butter pickle chips. An Ybor City style Cuban has a slice of salami on it, too (a nod to Yborâs unusual ethnic mix of Spanish, Italian, and Cuban) â but no butter, no tomatoes or lettuce, and fergawdssake no mayonnaise.
As such, itâs all cured meats (the roast pork was marinated in mojo before being roasted) and hard cheese â and no butter or dairy.
As such, actually keeps pretty well â Iâll throw mine in the cooler, thanks, but theyâll hold their own for a long time.
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I have been known to deeply enjoy a dine-out-alone meal a time or two in my liife, but⌠I donât particularly like dining alone in an actual restaurant. What would ALWAYS happen to me was the wait staff would be so concerned and solicitous about me dining alone that it was hard to enjoy my meal. Obviously I made them uncomfortable! SOOOOOOO⌠I would order a full meal to go (even the poshest restaurants in town will do this for you if you ask nicely enough) (or lie! âI have a friend in the hospital and I want to take him/her a really special mealâŚâ) and then I would drive to a particularly scenic spot I had in mind when ordering, park my car with the best view âstraight onâ in front of me, get some really good music on the car stereo, then enjoy a quiet, relaxing, and delicious meal all by myself without a nervous wait staff!. Except I was never really âby myselfâ in the lonely sense. Iâve never found anything wrong with âenjoying your own company.â But I have found out that sometimes itâs best not to tell other people about it because they may think youâre nuts! But nuts or not, Iâve always found it a very relaxing and renewing experience. I donât do it any more. As Bette Davis once said, âOld age ainât for sissies.â But the memories are really fun! If you decide to give it a shot, remember: Do not roll down the windows if a bear comes to see what youâre eating!
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So true. Sometime the staffs just come over to talk to me for 5-10 minutes while my foods were just sitting there getting cold. Still, I do enjoy the conversations, but I totally get what you mean.
But have you noticed that wait-staffers ONLY stop and ask if the food is good when youâve just taken a big bite and canât talk? Maybe I go to the wrong restaurants?
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Ha ha ha. That too, but I think they do that regardless if I eat lone or with friends⌠usually worse when I am with friends.
As an ex-Tampa bay resident Iâve learned that the bread doesnât travel well either. We got out first Publix last year in the Triangle. Itâs a hike so I have yet to check it out but I hope they have Cuban bread in their bakery!
âI hope they have Cuban bread in their bakery!â
I hope they do too, because thats the only place that I can find halfway decent cuban bread. Finding a bakery that can or will make it is close to impossible. It should be tough. And crispy. And have wonderful crevases. And served in a paper bag. Some places try to pinch the tops of a french loaf, smash it, bake it, and call it cuban.
I didnt mention this in my earlier post, but when I buy them to take home I dont get them pressed. I wait till I get home to do that. I love a fresh pressed hot one, but if they do it before the long ride home, they suffer. Then again I love a fresh one too without heat.
PsâŚwhen I was young, in school a paninni press wasnt something I knew aboutâŚcant tell you how many cuban sandwiches were reheated with an iron and tin foil 
alas, even my Bay-area Publix has only their own Cuban bread. Luckily the meat market gets a delivery of Casino fresh Cuban bread (yes, the 3-foot loaf with palm fronds still stuck in some of the loaves) on Saturday mornings.
YES.
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