The District’s Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar, will celebrate National Cuban Sandwich Day this Sunday, Aug. 23 by offering its popular full-sized Cuban sandwich at a special price of $5. Two hundred of the delicious sandwiches will be available, starting at noon on Sunday and until supplies run out
Known as the official sandwich of Tampa and Key West, the Cuban sandwich or “Sándwich Cubano” is a variation of a ham and cheese that likely originated in cafes throughout Central and South Florida. Cuba Libre’s Ybor City version, the El Cubano, is regularly priced at $15.25 and made from a combination of sour orange marinated pork loin, Genoa salami, ham, provolone, Swiss cheese, and yellow mustard-pickle relish, served with crunchy plantain chips. Cuban sandwich aficionados and bargain hunters are encouraged to order and pay ahead to pick up their reserved sandwiches from Cuba Libre’s dedicated pop-up carryout station located along H Street, NW. Delivery within a two-mile radius is also available to those who order directly from Cuba Libre’s website.
National Cuban Sandwich Day started out as a prank in 2016 by a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times who was curious how many news agencies would run a story of a fictional food celebration.
“We’re embracing this ‘holiday’ wholeheartedly because it did actually catch on, and we feel strongly that we Americans need more flavor in our lives as well as another day off from work to enjoy food and family,” says two-time James Beard award-winning Cuba Libre Chef-Partner Guillermo Pernot.
Cuba Libre is calling on Congress to make National Cuban Sandwich Day, Aug. 23 an official federal food holiday and has even filed a Change.org petition, which anyone can review and sign here: http://chng.it/TcPXxKL2xt.
