About our Publix Cuban grab and go sandwich

The Cuban is a beloved sandwich with a long history in Florida. For years, Tampa, Miami and Cuba have feuded over which is the Cuban’s birthplace, but we’re not here to settle this debate. We are here for the taste.

Our customers love our Cuban, making it one of our most popular sandwiches. To help support deli associates, Publix fresh kitchen facilities produce the grab and go sandwich for many of our stores.

How we make it

The 1st step in making the sandwich is baking the bread, which is then sent to the automatic slicer to cut to the appropriate length. After being sliced, the bread goes into the assembly room.

Grab and go assembly starts in the production room each night when all the components arrive. Associates stage the bread, layering the ham slices, Swiss cheese, pork roast slices, mustard, mayonnaise and pickles.

Associates then gently place the sandwiches in bags. A conveyor then takes each sandwich through the metal detector and into the refrigerated warehouse.

The sandwich bags are then sealed, labeled and marked with a use-by date. After the final checks for quality and food safety, the sandwiches are selected and sent to stores.

About fresh kitchen

Currently, we have 2 Publix fresh kitchen facilities located in Lakeland, Florida, and Deerfield Beach, Florida. Our Lakeland fresh kitchen opened in 2017. It’s just over 30,000 square feet with about 470 associates. Our Deerfield Beach fresh kitchen opened in 2021. The facility is about 60,000 square feet with around 500 associates. Both facilities service over 450 stores each with grab and go items like platters, entrees, sub kits and more. A 3rd fresh kitchen location will open in the Atlanta area this fall.