Cubano a la Williamsburg

A little Spanish bakery on the corner of Grand and Bedford Avenue is my new favorite breakfast place. For over a year since I moved in to this neighborhood, the artificially colored birthday cake samples in the showcase, completely discolored by the sun and a plastic naked-boy mascot sadly draining in the sea of cream, didn't seem to have much to offer. "Who would eat that crap?" was my thought everytime I passed.

A few months ago, my boyfriend, who is a bit of an Epicurenan, suggested grabbing a sandwich from them. We've seen many construction workers getting a morning sandwich and local Spanish people picking up some coffee in the morning. The place seemed to be popular for sure and we needed to at least give a chance to this bakery as we do to all other neighborhood restaurants.

Once you go inside, there's always a long line in front of the counter and a showcase shelf full of Spanish treats. Next thing you notice is the ladies who are working behind the counter, some of whom are shorter than the glass case. They swiftly serve each customer. But the biggest offer here is the price. An egg & ham sandwich on big hero bread is only $2.25. Hot coffee is only 60 cents. Even an iced coffee, which they charge $1.25 mainly for the ice, is still the cheapest in this hipster neighborhood.

For our first time, I had a sandwich with egg, ham and cheese. My boyfriend ordered a Cubano sandwich with extras of pickled jalapeno, pickles, lettuce and tomato, mayo and mustard. The lady wrote down our order on a piece of paper of 2 inches. Traditionally, a Cubano is comprised of roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese and pickles with mustard (and sometimes mayo). I never enjoyed eating too much meat. But this version was pretty good. The iceberg lettuce and unripe American tomato are not nutritionally advantageous, but they add some crunch and refreshment together with pickles. The key extra is the pickled jalapeno. I believe all Cubano should have pickled jalapeno as a standard.

The place being so busy and our Cubano has extra toppings, we normally wait for 5 to 7 minutes. Worth waiting? For a huge sandwitch for $3.50, of course. If you are in this hood, please try, or at least see the cakes by the window. They recently made them all new, saving the plastic mascot on the cake.