Hat Creek Burger Company is offering a menu item that is a bit out of its wheelhouse starting this Sunday, when it introduces its version of a Cuban sandwich.
A traditional Cuban sandwich, or Cubano, is made with sliced ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickle chips on a soft oblong roll that’s finished in a panini press.
Hat Creek’s version, called the Classic Cubano, swaps out the roast pork for thick-cut pork belly, uses its own mustard-based Happy Sauce as one condiment, and is adding a garlicky mojo sauce as an additional component. It’s being served on the same Martin’s Potato Roll that it uses for its burgers.
The fast-casual chain of 26 locations, all in Texas, installed panini presses in each restaurant for the limited-time offer, which is available starting at $11.99 through Sept. 19.
In advance of the launch, which is on National Cuban Sandwich Day, the company invited social-media influencers including Foodgod (his legal name), Dave Hale of @davespizzaoven and MayaTakano of @texaseatsfirst, as well as this reporter on a sandwich tour on Monday, visiting restaurants known for their Cubanos, including La Viña Aragon, Breadman Bakery, Sanguich, Pronto Café, and Tinta y Café.
Although the tour took place less than a week before the product launch, CEO Drew Gressett, who was also on the tour, said it both confirmed that their sandwich was in line with the classic sandwich, and led them to make both one tweak and a major adjustment.
“We had a local bakery that’s been working on Cuban bread for us, and we’ve done things with them in the past, but Foodgod actually made a recommendation that we use our own buns,” Gressett said.
“We actually found that our bread was most similar product to the Sanguich one, which was our favorite. All the restaurants were great, but the Sanguich experience was a ten [out of ten].”
Hat Creek also reduced the number of pickle chips on the sandwich.
Gressett said the panini presses cost around $500 to $700 to install, and the chain also had to bring in several other ingredients, including the ham, cheese, pork belly, and mojo.
He said his team had only started working on the sandwich around two months ago, so the last-minute nature of the research trip happened out of necessity.
“Honestly, with summer travel and folks out of town, including myself, [Monday] was just a date that worked,” he said.
And hiring influencers to promote the new item as it launched was important, Gressett said.
“I mean, that’s big. It’s a huge piece, rounding out the story, trying to communicate to the public for National Cuban Sandwich Day. And it’s a pretty unique approach.”
He also said the trip tied into the brand’s identity.
“We pride ourselves on our patios, and the fellowship and the community aspect is such a big piece of Hat Creek. This trip so aligned with that, spending a day eating, laughing, hanging out. You feel a connection to everybody, which I thought was cool.”
Gressett said he had no concrete plans for other uses of the panini presses, but that the Cubano might be a recurring LTO.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
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