If you want a cafecito and a pressed Cuban sandwich downtown, 1928 Cuban Bistro serves both from 122 South 8th Street in Fernandina Beach. It's one of eight 1928 locations across Northeast Florida, most of them in the Jacksonville area. Owner Rebecca Gonzalez, a Cuban-American mother of three, named the bistro for the year her grandfather was born. He left Cuba in 1961, and the restaurant is dedicated to her grandparents, Mario and Pura Alvarado.
The cooking is traditional Cuban with a modern edge. The owner's own description of the menu points to roasted pork and fried tostones alongside the Cuban sandwich, while espresso drinks and pastries carry the morning trade. That makes it work equally well as a quick coffee-and-pastry stop or a sit-down lunch.
Hours at the Fernandina shop are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday and Monday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, so think breakfast and lunch rather than dinner. The company also caters, with a mobile espresso cart for events, and it asks groups of 50 or more to send an inquiry instead of ordering online.
The bistro sits on the 8th Street edge of the historic district, a few blocks up from the Centre Street shops. Marlin & Barrel Distillery is about a block south on the same street, and Beach Diner is the other early-morning option, much farther down South 8th. The breakfast roundup has more morning picks.
If you're hosting family at a rental or second home, concierge help can place a catering order and time it to when your guests arrive.