$10 Lunch: Paraiso Cuban Sandwiches

The deal: This roadside lunch counter has served home-style Cuban food on the cheap to Downtown day workers for years. A few months ago the original owners took over the stand, cleaning it up and revamping the menu...

By John Linn

June 28, 2010

Audio By Carbonatix

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The deal: This roadside lunch counter has served home-style Cuban food on the cheap to Downtown day workers for years. A few months ago the original owners took over the stand, cleaning it up and revamping the menu.

What you get: Daily lunch specials cost under $6 and include

rice, beans, and hearty roasted pork or thin-cut chicken breast. Meaty

sandwiches are all around the same price, including the traditional

Cuban sandwich, which is $7.

We tried: The Cuban has thick hunks of fresh roasted pork along

with sweet pink ham and melted cheese. It's pressed on a griddle until

crisp and warm and topped with mustard, mayo, and dill pickles. For

around six bucks, you can get a grilled steak sandwich with

griddled onions and hot, pressed Cuban bread, topped with lettuce,

tomato, and crispy fried potato sticks (for an authentic crunch).

Paraiso also makes a great bean- and meat-laden chili each day that you

can wash down with a frosty mango batido or steamy cortadito.

Bonus points: The quirky art that dresses up the small parking lot in back of the stand has always been an interesting draw for the place.

Paraiso Cuban Sandwiches
925. N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954-467-1830

John Linn

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