MIAGuide
8 Tremendous Beach Sandwiches
photo credit: Ryan Pfeffer
Look, you can go to the beach. Or you can go to the beach with a sandwich. One is a good idea and the other is a great one. So we made a guide to help you prepare for your next beach sandwich day, with options from South Beach to North Beach. Just remember to bring napkins. Or don't. You can always wash your hands in the ocean.
THE SANDWICHES
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
The Beach: South Beach, between 15th Street and Lincoln Road.
La Tiendita II is a South Beach Peruvian market a couple blocks from the sand. Sandwiches make up the entire menu here, and your options are usually chicken, pork, and tuna. The chicken comes with shredded chicken, tomato, lettuce, a creamy sauce, and we’re pretty sure we saw potato chips in there too. The pork—their version of a Peruvian butifarra—uses a thick slab of tender pork. They’re both wrapped neatly, easy enough to eat with one hand, and since this is also a market, you can grab bags of chips, drinks, and a little container of suspiro. You should probably eat that quickly though, because it’s going to melt.
The Beach: Anywhere in Key Biscayne.
There’s something about a baguette sandwich that feels particularly appropriate for the beach. It’s easy to handle and you can eat it in stages, stuffing it back into its little paper sleeping bag while you go Baywatch run into the surf. Thankfully all the very good sandwiches at this Key Biscayne bakery are available on baguette. We like their ham and cheese for our beach days—but everything here is good.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
The Beach: Mid-beach, between 50th and 53rd Street.
The window of opportunity to grab a delicious sandwich from Louie’s is small. On paper, which is to say Instagram, they’re open Fridays from 6-11pm, and Saturday to Sunday starting at 12pm. But they also close a lot for private events. So double-check their Instagram before you decide to come. If they are open, this place makes the best pan con bistecs to ever spawn from a tiki hut. Everything that touches the grill at Louie’s—the smashburger, cuban sandwich—is excellent. It's also so close to the beach, if it was any closer, Louie's palapa would be in the ocean (come to think of it, a floating tiki bar sounds like a great idea).
photo credit: Tasty Planet
The Beach: South Beach, between 13th Street and Española Way.
La Sandwicherie needs no introduction to Miami sandwich obsessives and people who have stumbled over to this outdoor spot after three to seven beers at Mac's. But the original Sandwicherie in South Beach isn't just a late-night option. It's still an essential beach sandwich—especially if you want a sandwich that can double as a floatation device. If you do, order yours on baguette (croissant is your other bread option). These are huge, stuffed generously with meat and vegetables, and you should just go ahead and buy an entire bottle of their vinaigrette to bring to the beach. You'll need it.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
The Beach: North Beach, between 69th and 72nd Street.
We’re going to loosen our definition of a sandwich for one paragraph to allow The Wrapper on this guide. This Lebanese spot is too good, and technically they do make very tasty things between a doughy form of carbohydrates. They also have a burger if you’re one of those people who count that as a sandwich. But for a beach meal, stick to the wraps. Each is pressed until it’s crispy outside and you can get them in eight or 11 inches. Our favorite is the kafta wrap: ground beef and minced onions between two grilled pitas wrapped around pickles and tomato. Pair it with the housemade rose water that feels especially designed for a sunny day.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
The Beach: Any beach you want.
This is the only place on this guide that’s not actually located on Miami Beach (or Key Biscayne) but it's worth the detour. And it’s a small detour too. This Buena Vista bakery is only six minutes from the Julia Tuttle. Just know that these aren’t early beach sandwiches. The sandwiches usually come out around noon, so timing matters. But if it all works out, you’ll be rewarded with mortadella, ham, or something else delicious stuffed into crisp schiacciata. These are designed to sit on the counter at room temperature, so they’ll make the commute to the beach beautifully and instantaneously make seagulls jealous when you whip it out of your bag.
photo credit: Ryan Pfeffer
The Beach: North Beach, between 73th and 75nd Street.
If you’re looking for a sandwich big enough to induce a beach nap, this isn’t it. This Roman-style pizza spot keeps it simple with a few thin slices of meat (we like the mortadella or prosciutto) and cheese between their very good pizza bianca. But if you do want a lighter sandwich (and maybe a few rectangles of pizza) then this place does the trick. And the walk over to the beach is about two medium-speed renditions of "Happy Birthday."
The Beach: South Beach, between 5th and 7th Street.
There are multiple sandwiches available at this South Becah ventanita. But we always go with the cuban sandwich here. They cut their sandwich thinner than any cuban sandwich we’ve seen around Miami. It makes every bite taste like the first corner bite, and also results in a skinny sandwich that's easy to eat while fending off local seagulls that have developed a taste for pork. You should also grab a juice or cafecito, both of which are excellent things to drink while staring at large bodies of water.
