Cuban food in Fresno? This new food truck is bringing mom’s Havana recipes to town
There’s not a heck of a lot of Cuban food options in Fresno.
Sure, you can find the occasional Cubano or Cuban sandwich around town, but that’s about it.
The owners of a new food truck hope to change that.
A Fresno couple recently launched Havana Café, bringing Cuban family recipes to Fresno.
Husband and wife team Lazaro and Niermin Santana are behind the brightly colored food truck, which is named after the capital of Cuba. They created a menu that features sandwiches, rice bowls, Cuban coffee – even what they’re calling a Cuban sloppy Joe.
The Cuban sandwich is the No. 1 seller. Here, it’s made with slow-roasted pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles on a soft French roll that’s pressed like a panini.
If you saw the movie “Chef,” this is the sandwich Jon Favreau featured on his food truck.
“The Cuban sandwich is one of the most well known things that we make and has been the biggest seller for us,” said Lazaro Santana.
Another popular seller is the Cubanita, a garlic chicken sandwich with tomatoes, arugula and Swiss cheese.
Food is available in bowls too, with either pork, garlic chicken or picadillo (ground beef cooked with tomatoes and green olives) over rice.
Sides include maduros (deep-fried sweet plantains), yucca fries (made from a root vegetable) and Cuban black beans.
Also on the menu: Arroz con pollo, a yellow chicken and rice dish served on weekends.
And that Cuban sloppy Joe? It’s the savory piccadillo served on a toasted bun with cheese.
Mom’s Cuban recipes
So how did Fresno – a long way from Cuba – end up being home to a Cuban food truck?
It’s Lazaro Santana and his upbringing.
He grew up in Los Angeles, his parents and older siblings born in Cuba.
He grew up eating up eating all kinds of Cuban food. Some of his family eventually moved to Fresno and, after getting out of the Marine Corps, Santana did too.
He married Niermin along the way and the pair went to work in the medical field. She’s a nurse. He’s a paramedic with American Ambulance.
His parents passed away and Santana found himself missing the Cuban food he had eaten as a child.
“It was one of those things where you were missing mom’s food and wanted to try and get that back,” he said.
So they duplicated her recipes.
He started feeding friends and co-workers, who encouraged him to start selling his food. Now the food truck is up and running.
Both Santanas are still working their day jobs, though he has scaled back.
Where to find the food truck
In addition to food truck events, Havana Café is also available for private events, including birthdays, quinceañeras and large weddings.
For events, they can roast a whole pig up to 100 pounds and provide a variety of side dishes.
For people just looking to buy a meal off the food truck, its newness means it doesn’t have a regular schedule yet.
It’s working with Fresno Street Eats and Gazebo Gardens, so it may show up at some of their events soon.
The best way to find out where Havana Café will be is to follow it on Instagram or Facebook.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 9:53 AM.
