The sign is gone, but the Cuban sandwich is still as good as ever.
PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED
“Oh it’s at my house,” the owner of El Sitio, the wonderful Cuban luncheonette hard by the corner of 69th St. and Roosevelt Ave. said to me about the restaurant’s old sign. That sign, with its old school lettering that evokes 1960s and 70s salsa music and Don Quixote was a true classic. The piggy in the top hat at right enthusiastically beckoned passerby to try the lechon asado. And in the smallest letters on the sign a humble plug for what is quite possibly this joint’s greatest achievement, sandwiches cubanos. It’s 2013 and that old school sign has been updated with a flashier, more modern one. Thankfully nothing has changed about the Cuban sandwiches here or the orange formica counter in the front room where they are best eaten. They are still a celebration of porky, cheesy, garlicky goodness. That little guy in the top hat would be proud.
El Sitio, 68-28 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, 718-424-2369