Is Sophie’s Cuban Slipping?

Cuban Sandwich @ Sophie's Cuban, Midtown NYC
Cuban Sandwich from Sophie’s circa 2007

Last week somebody posted about the price hike at Sophie’s Cuban in the forums, and the comments lit up with general complaints about the Peruvian owned Cuban chain.  From the sound of things, the once great Latin food mainstay might be losing a step at its remaining few locations…

From mkim1206:

funny you mentioned Sophie’s.  I went for the first time yesterday and ordered their cuban sandwich. it was pre made in the fridge. anyway, it was one of the worst thing i ate in a while.  The pork was dry as hell and there was no flavor what so ever.  I was so disappointed.

But wait… there’s more.

From tyler:

I will second that Sophie’s has gone downhill…I used to go 2-3 times a week for the ML Sandwich challenge entry, as well as oxtails, spicy chicken, pork chops, and their various stews. However, I’ve had more than a couple mediocre meals there in the last few weeks. It’s disappointing, and I hope the owners can take their eyes off of the $$$ and focus a bit more on their food quality again…

From mghu777:

You aren’t the only one. My first cuban from there was slightly above average, but the pickle was paper thin. He made it in front of me though. I just got lunch from there and the rice and beans pre mix tastes really odd. It has a slight minty taste to it that I didn’t notice from the times before. The register girl didn’t even put their famous sauce in the bag till I asked her for it. It’s only one packet. If you ask for extra sauce, it’s a quarter extra. Maybe I just woke up on the hater side of the bed. But I was looking to satisfy my pork fix, but I think it might be an off day for Sophie’s.

Isolated incidents or signs of a restaurant chain trending downwards? We always have Margon to fall back on, but it’d be sad to lose Sophie’s as an always dependable Midtown Lunch’ing option.

Related:
Sophie’s Cuban Takes Another Step Backward
Sophie’s Cuban (a full review… in pictures)

5 Comments

  • I’ll have to check out one of their downtown establishments tomorrow and let you know how it goes, to see if the downturn is isolated to the Midtown locations or not.

  • I am still going to try their meals. hopefully their meals are better than their sandwiches.

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    I used to eat Sophie’s whenever i had the opporunity- the food was always fresh, cooked really well, and reasonably priced. That being I’ve eaten Sophie’s 4 times in the last 2 years and every time the food has been DISGUSTING- incredibly greasy, the meat has always tasted like it was cooked several days before being served to me. In fact everything has tasted incredibly greasy. A huge turn-off for me, something that I use as a litmus test with restaurants in judging just what kind of place they are, is if thefrying oil tastes like it hasn’t been changed in a while. Every time I’ve eaten at Sophie’s in the last two years the oil fried foods have tasted like the oil hasn’t been changed in weeks. yuck…

  • gotta say, the last time i had the fried pork and plantain sandwich (mid-july) from the 49th and 3rd food court it was pretty awful. the pork was completely dry and no amount of mayo or hot sauce could save it… or my stomach. i chalked it up to a bad day but haven’t been back since.

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    Just got the pork with yellow rice and black beans for $9.80 w/ tax. The rice and beans wre cooked to perfection. The pork was very moist and I got a generous serving; however, it was very bland. A little adobo and some skin would have been nice…

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