Lost at the Lost Cuban (2013)

 Originally published as a Facebook Note March 23, 2013. The Lost Cuban closed in 2020. They now operate a takeout only place down the street.

The Lost Cuban in 2016 (Google Earth screenshot)

The boys were on spring break, and I'm on sabbatical leave, so there was no good reason not to go out to lunch Friday. I'd been wanting to check out the Lost Cuban, which has moved into the space at 209 3rd St SE that has been a number of things in recent years. We did the downtown parking thing without too much difficulty, then wended our way through the skywalks which wasn't really necessary but I do have a thing for the skywalks. (For the record, the Lost Cuban is near the Armstrong's Building, so the nearest Skywalk entrance is by Hills Bank and the temporary library.)

There weren't too many people there, which made figuring things out easy, but I'm here to tell you the place should be packed. Eli and I went with the Cuban sandwich, which features pork and ham and cheese and pickles and probably some other stuff. Eli ordered his without the pickles, which was no problem. It's pressed flat with a food iron, and served with two sauces. The manager explained them to us, one sweet (he listed the ingredients but they went by too fast) and one spicy. Both were good, but I thought the sandwich tasted great without them. Robbie had a burger, which came with two patties and something like a pineapple sauce. He almost had to unhinge his jaw to get around it; more importantly he enthused about it for quite some time afterwards.

The Cuban sandwiches come with rice and black beans. I am a huge fan of black beans, even from a can, but these were served with roasted red peppers and very very good. Lunches also come with fountain pop, or you can check the cooler for some Cuban sodas which are made, of course, with real sugar. Eli had Mexican Coke, which somehow found its way across national lines into the cooler; Robbie had a pineapple soda; and I had Iron Beer. My can bore the curious legend "Since 1917--Over 80 Years!" and a drawing of a thickly-muscled man. I thought from the name it would taste like root beer but in fact was more like Dr. Pepper. So far it has had no discernible effect on my musculature.

For an over-the-counter lunch place the service was excellent. They gave us cups with the cans, which not only allowed us to feel extra-civilized, but to refill from the fountain if we hadn't gotten enough bubbles. When they brought out the sandwiches the also brought napkins and utensils from the self-service basket. When Eli needed an opener for his Coke bottle, the manager lent him his Swiss army knife.

All in all, great food, great people, and a real addition to downtown Cedar Rapids. May they stay long, and prosper well!

[The Lost Cuban is open MT 10-4, WT 10-7, Fri 10-9 and Sat 4-8. You should check it out soon, although judging from the number of Facebook friends who have "Liked" it you probably already have. Anyway, if you're going, call me!]