Next time you cruise down El Camino Real, keep an eye out for Cuban Kitchen, authentic inspired Cuban cuisine that crafts new traditions through its vibrant food.
Lynna Martinez and Lilah Arrazcaeta in front of their restaurant, Cuban Kitchen, in San Mateo.
Arianna Cunha/Daily Journal
From their start in 2015, Lynna Martinez’s personal mission has been to serve up authentic flavored Cuban Cuisine to as many people as possible, fast and fresh. With the help of her daughter, Lilah Arrazcaeta, this female, and family-owned restaurant has started a Cuban food evolution by transforming the traditional spices (sazon) with today’s Bay Area health and lifestyle.
If you are a first-timer at Cuban Kitchen, try going for one of its classics. As classic as the cars in Cuba, so is its meaty staple, the “Cubano” or Cuban sandwich. Ham, lechon (pork), pickles, mustard, mojo (pickled onions) and Swiss cheese “sandwiched” between two triangular cut slices of bread. One regular customer even said, “I usually come twice a week for one of these Cubanos.”
The Surf ’n Turf, a Philly cheesesteak gone Cuban is packed with shrimp, top sirloin steak, grilled veggies, melted Swiss cheese, topped with Mambo and Guantanamo sauces, sweet and spicy pickles, and grilled onions.
There is also talk of a secret menu and a couple new dishes that will be featured soon. The word on El Camino is they will have a new type of Cuban bread, as well as a barbecue pork quesawrap. Drip, splash or pour any of their 14 homemade sauces to spice up any one of their menu items. Ask for the most popular, Guava-Habanero BBQ, to really spice it up.
In addition to serving food, the restaurant has a passion for serving the community. Throughout the pandemic, it remained open as an essential business and partnered with other local restaurants to donate meals to schools, hospitals and the Samaritan House. This gave Cuban Kitchen, what Martinez called “the pivot they needed,” as now it can focus more on serving at the individual and community level. Recently, it celebrated the Lunar New Year with Arroz Chino-Cubano and pledged 30% of their profits to support AAPI (Asian American & Pacific Islanders) communities.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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