Home of the Famous Cuban Sandwich

Taquerias pop up along Airport Boulevard fairly frequently, so when I first noticed that a new tenant had filled the little red drive-up shack around 53rd Street that's seen burgers and burritos served from its window, I didn't make much of it. It was only when I found myself inching along the street with no option to pass the elderly driver holding me up that I noticed the new place on the block promised something new for Austin. "Home of the Famous Cuban Sandwich" read the handmade billboard out front, so I flipped on my blinker and screeched up to the window to check one out.

"Famous" is a bold claim, but the friendly Cuban owner swore by the sandwich, saying if it wasn't really famous yet, it would be soon enough. As I waited for the celebrated creation, I listened to the sing-song voices of at least five Cuban expats at work inside. One suggested I sample a Vu Pastel ($1.00) while I waited and in doing so I discovered the Cuban version of a fried fruit pie. The pastry was more delicate than I expected (a sign out front called them French pastries), and the golden pocket was filled with jam-slathered cream cheese. Back with the sandwich, the congenial owner began singing the praises of his daily special, Ropa Vieja ($5.50), a platter of shredded beef stewed in tomato, olives, onion, and perhaps a dash of tropical fruit juice. The platter, which I ordered as well, came with a heap of rice, a Styrofoam cup of soupy black beans, and several dense rounds of fried plantain. What it had to do with old clothes, I don't know, but it was indeed a new and different taste for fast food in Austin.

As for the Cuban Sandwich ($4.99), it turned out to be a stack of ham, beef, and cheese garnished with pickles and yellow mustard and layered between slices of French loaf buttered and grilled until crisp. Not bad on the palate, if horrendous for the arteries.

The restaurant (the permanent sign out front still reads Tacqueria El Veloz), also features robust Cuban coffee ($.50), and gets an A for animation in addition to its top marks for a new take on fast (or kind of fast) food. Look for the little red shack opposite Cash America Pawn.

-- Rebecca Chastenet de Géry