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Hugo's Cuban among Playboy's favorite sandwiches

Tribune photo by KATHY MOORE

Hugo's has been dishing out Spanish fare since the early 1970s, when Hugo Sanchez, who came here from Cuba in 1963, first opened the doors.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2009

TAMPA - Playboy, better known for cheesecake than beefsteak, has announced its list of best sandwiches in the nation, and a South Tampa eatery received a mention.

The Cuban sandwich at Hugo's Spanish Restaurant on South Howard Avenue pulled down the honors in this month's online issue, sharing space with lobster rolls from Nantucket and cheese steaks from Philadelphia.

The most expensive sandwich on the list, the lobster roll, is available at the Straight Wharf Fish Store on Massachusetts' Nantucket Island. The sandwich tips the scales at $17.95.

The cheapest offering is the St. Paul's sandwich at Wong's Inn in Maplewood, Mo. The egg foo yong, bean sprout and minced white onion concoction costs a mere $2.40.

The brief description of the $5.87 Hugo's Cuban talks about how the sandwich is assembled and mentions that it was first made by Tampa immigrants in the early 1900s.

The unnamed writer mentions the Mons Venus adult club (after all, this is Playboy), and calls Tampa "our favorite Gulf Coast stripper haven."

But back to Hugo's, which is not entirely unknown in town, Last year, the restaurant was picked as the runner-up among family-style eateries in a Tampa Tribune readers' survey.

Hugo's always seems to be mentioned as being among the best in Cuban sandwich contests but often isn't the winner.

Creative Loafing, an alternative newspaper serving the Tampa Bay area, last year named La Ideal in West Tampa as having the best Cuban and listed Hugo's as honorable mention.

Hugo's has been dishing out Spanish fare since the early 1970s, when Hugo Sanchez, who came here from Cuba in 1963, first opened the doors.

For years the family-owned restaurant has been selling Cubans, black beans and rice, and other Spanish fare, but in 1997, the eatery was briefly shut down after a couple of waiters were arrested on marijuana dealing charges.

The license was restored, all returned to normal and chefs got back to layering ham, pork salami, pickles, mayonnaise, mustard and cheese on fresh Cuban bread and sticking the whole thing under a press.

The mention on Playboy's Web site - it won't appear in the printed magazine - came as a surprise at Hugo's.

"We just found out about it yesterday," kitchen manager Jeff Lebron said this morning. "Yeah, it was a surprise."

He said the eatery typically sells hundreds of Cubans a day.

Building the proper Cuban sandwich is no secret, so, what sets Hugo's apart?

Lebron said he thinks he knows: "We add TLC."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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