Sanguich de Miami Pan con Bistec

Pan Con Bistec at Sanguich

This steak sandwich is a pretty basic deal in any Cuban restaurant. For five bucks or so, you’ll get thinly sliced beef and onions, enough fried shoestring potatoes (papitas) to spill out the sides, maybe ketchup or mayo, all between soft Cuban bread. It gets a quick press to flatten, heat and crisp. For another 50 cents they’ll add lettuce and tomato. You can order it a caballo, with a fried egg riding on top.

Or you could fancify your pan con bistec, as Sanguich does. The gold-leaf lettering and stylish Spanish tiles are the tipoff that this is more than your lunch-counter sandwich. On housemade Cuban bread, slow-cooked, thinly sliced top round steak is layered with mojo rojo, made with red bell peppers, tomato, red onion and jalapeño for a little heat. The whole shebang is covered with squiggles of fried potatoes. There’s fontina cheese in there, too. At 11 bucks, it’s more than you’d pay at most of the other places on Calle Ocho, but that’s the price for taking a good idea and making it better.