This popular Cuban sandwich shop in Little Havana is coming to a neighborhood near you
When he opened his sandwich shop inside a shipping container in Little Havana in 2017, Daniel Figueredo just wanted to make and serve a really good Cuban sandwich.
Now, five years later, Sanguich de Miami is a hit with loyal customers, with more than one kind of sandwich luring the hungry (pan con bistec and croqueta preparada demand their moments in the sun, too).
The 25-seat restaurant, which also serves cafecito and shakes, was recognized earlier this year by the 2022 Michelin Guide as a Bib Gourmand, a designation awarded to restaurants that serve good food at moderate prices. (About Sanguich, the guide writes that “Everyone comes for the same thing: a superb Cuban sandwich featuring pork butt that’s been marinated for a week in garlic and spices“).
Figueredo isn’t sure if the Bib Gourmand award has brought more business — the original restaurant still serves around 500-600 sandwiches a day, he says. But his goals for Sanguich, which moved into its current Calle Ocho storefront in 2018, have grown bolder. He and his wife Rosa Romero are planning three new projects to expand their sandwich empire beyond Little Havana.
“There are a lot of great things happening,” he says. “It has been surreal.”
The first step of Sanguich’s expansion is building what Figueredo calls a “commissary” on land in Little Haiti. This space won’t be a restaurant: You can’t order a sandwich and eat it on the premises. But it will act as a headquarters for the brand for prepping, cooking and packaging. Figueredo expects it to be operational right before Christmas.
Sanguich will also be part of the upcoming development Pier 5 at Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami from Breakwater Hospitality Group, the masterminds behind The Wharf Miami and the new, updated JohnMartin’s in Coral Gables.
Named for a famous fishing pier from the 1930s and ’40s that once stood at Bayside’s location, Pier 5 will be an open-air concept like The Wharf, with restaurants, shaded lounge areas and bars and space for games and entertainment. With more than 20 million visitors every year, Bayside could bring even more visibility to Sanguich.
Figueredo confesses that like most Miamians, he hasn’t spent a lot of time at Bayside lately. But hearing about the plans for Pier 5 inspired him, as has seeing chefs like Michelle Bernstein enter the ring at the downtown outdoor mall with her Cuban concept La Cañita, which opened there in 2021.
“I haven’t been to Bayside since around 1996,” Figueredo says. “It became a tourist trap. It didn’t represent Miami. It was just this community of daiquiri companies and pizza stations and Bubba Gump Shrimp. But when I heard what The Wharf guys were opening, I wanted to be part of that curation. It’s going to revamp Bayside and change the ecosystem of what it was.”
Figueredo also plans to open a flagship restaurant in Coral Gables sometime in 2023, a 2,100-square-foot space at 111 Palmero Ave. The menu will be the same: tribute after tribute to the glories of marinated pork.
This does not mean the Calle Ocho location is going away. It will still be there, serving that Cuban sandwich that absolutely will not change.
“We pay attention to consistency,” Figueredo says. “The same Cuban sandwich you had five years ago is the Cuban sandwich you have today. We’ve been able to master the mechanics. You walk into our space, and you know what you’re getting.”
Sanguich de Miami
Where: 2057 SW Eighth St., Miami
Hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday; closed Wednesdays
More information: sanguich.com or 305-539-0969