08/31/2026
More than a decade ago, one of the main reasons we opened Caribbean Joe’s Cafe in Baton Rouge was simple: we loved Cuban sandwiches and espresso.
With most sandwiches, everyone talks about what goes inside. But if you’re from South Louisiana, you already know better.
The bread is king.
That’s why we don’t use just any roll for our Cuban.
Our bread comes from La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor City, where they’ve been making Cuban bread since 1915. Before each loaf goes into the hearth, a fresh palmetto leaf is laid across the top of the dough.
It isn’t decoration.
It’s part of a century-old bread-making tradition that helps create the signature split down the loaf, with that crisp exterior and soft, airy center that real Cuban bread is known for.
More than 100 years later, they’re still doing it by hand.
And that’s the bread we chose for our Cuban.
Then we press it hot with Chisesi New Orleans-style ham, 12-hour slow-roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and whole seed mustard, and butter until the bread is crisp, the cheese is melted, and everything inside becomes one ridiculously good sandwich.
Some things just aren’t worth taking shortcuts on.
