Pepin’s, "Home of the Cuban Sandwich"
601 Ridge Road
Lafayette, LA
Thursday, October 11, 2012
José Sanchez is a man who’s never forgotten his Cuban heritage. You can hear it in the Spanish accent that still flavors his speech. Pepin’s, his little roadside stand on the outskirts of Lafayette, might be the only place in Louisiana where you can wrap your hands around a “Cubano” sandwich. “This is a taste of Cuba I can offer right here in Lafayette,” he says with pride.
That’s exactly what he told me when Lee Allen Zeno, bass player for Lil' Buck Sinigal, introduced me to him at the Festival International de Louisiane in 2011 and when I met him and his wife Donna at the same festival this year. It was time for a taste of Cuba. By the time I drive several miles to the outskirts of Lafayette, I was ready for a treat.
José bought the store in 2002. It had all the inside architecture he needed - a kitchen, deli counter with warming ovens, a small kitchen, big coolers to hold soft drinks and beer, a couple of aisles to display snack foods, and enough space for a few tables. Even though I’m there at 2 PM, a steady trickle of customers enters to order cold beverages, hot boudain, fried chicken, sandwiches and lottery tickets.
“Hey, you made it!” he exclaims. “Let’s make you a Cubano.”
It’s the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever put my teeth into. Inside two pieces of firm pressed bread are layers of thinly sliced ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, thin sliced dill pickles, and sauce of mayonnaise, butter, mustard and a few secret ingredients that Jose learned from his father.
“The bread is the key,” he says. “That was the missing link. I had tried other breads from other bakeries but they couldn’t stand up to the press and hold all the ingredients together. Now I have the frozen dough flown here from Florida and finish baking it here.”
It took him a while to settle on the food that he’s now known for. “I gave up making meatballs and pasta and other items that didn’t sell. Now I sell fried chicken, boudain, hamburgers and sandwiches. I buy local and don’t have to order in bulk any more. My best sellers are shrimp, catfish po’boys and of course the Cubano.” One minute later, a local restaurateur comes in and orders half dozen of them for his staff.
José inherited his love of food and music from his dad. “My father, whose nickname is Pepin, owned restaurants and music clubs in Cuba,” he says. He inherited his father's love of music. By 1994, he was a regular on the dance floor and became a popular zydeco dance instructor. In 2010, he was featured playing percussion on a few tracks of "Zydeco Junkie," recorded by Chubby Carrier and His Bayou Swamp Band.
Jose’s odyssey to Lafayette began when his father managed to flee Cuba with his family in 1964. By the time José enrolled in LSU in Baton Rouge, he’d spent years in Spain and Puerto Rico. In 1974, he hitchhiked from LSU to Lafayette on a whim. One weekend here was all it took for him to decide this was where he wanted to live. I’ve met dozens of transplants from all over the USA, even from other parts of Louisiana, who’ve made Lafayette home.
There are now three generations of the Sanchez family living in Lafayette and southwest Louisiana has one small outpost of Cuba in its midst.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Absolutely love both of these places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think I am drooling thinking about an oyster poboy and one of Jose's pressed Cuban sandwiches.
Posted by: May Louise White | November 09, 2012 at 09:03 PM
You surely do have a good memory, Paul. You got my dates exactly right. Before Jose bought his convenience shop, he worked at Conn's Appliance Store in Lafayette. And, before that for a while he taught dance lessons almost full time. His business came close to failing when the new bridge by his place was being constructed, along with more road construction (where the round about is) and no through traffic could go by his place. They had a really tough time for a while.
Posted by: May Louise White | February 25, 2016 at 03:57 PM