El Floridano

Turkey meatloaf in a banh mi sounds pretty unappealing, but fortunately I was really hungry and didn’t think about that until after the fact. The baguette was fresh and the meatloaf was tasty, and although I think I still might prefer a more conventional banh mi I give them points for innovating.

This truck really hit the spot for me.
I had the classic Cuban sandwich and it was delicious. The bread was toasted perfectly, the roast beef, ham and Swiss cheese were all moist and delicious. The pickles in the middle were the perfect surprise and even the mustard was perfect and I hate mustard.
The sandwich was just all around well put together. The size was excellent too, for 8 dollars it was very filling and was more than enough to leave me satisfied.
Will definitely return to this truck for future visits and to try some of their other sandwiches.

Hella legit.
I’ve been to this bad boy twice, having gotten the Lechon pork sandwich both times. Crazy good, and crazy huge portions. The large is comically huge, considering the small is more than enough for any person if not too large for most. Awesome pork, yummy fresh bread, great flavor, all that good stuff. What a food truck sandwich should be. Go there. Get one.

Maybe it had something to do with this meal coinciding with a cleanse exception, but the Pan con Lechon is easily one of the most flavorful sandwiches I have had from a food truck. The pork almost melts in your mouth and each morsel is chock full of flavor from their perfect seasonings. I didn’t really get too much of the guava kick from the sauce, but it was immaterial. We were picking pieces of delicious pork off the sandwich and thoroughly impressed with how tantalizing each piece was for our taste buds.
Out of the approximately 25 food trucks I have tried in DC, this is easily the best one. It’s not even close.

After walking around surveying the lineup of Truckeroo food trucks, I opted to go with El Floridano and their version of the traditional Pan con Lechón sandwich ($ 8) based on two major criteria, I was hungry and it had a short line; and the thought of roasted pork on Cuban bread with a spicy guava sauce sounded like just what the doctor ordered. I placed my order and very soon a basket with my sandwich was in my hands.
In my mind, the bread is the most important part of the sandwich. Crappy bread can ruin or at least detract greatly from the best ingredients. Plus, the bread holds everything together which is especially important when you’re eating with your hands while standing up. The sliced Cuban bread seemed fresh, airy, with a nice exterior crust. A generous amount of roasted pork was heaped in between slices and topped with the spicy guava sauce. I didn’t really pick any spiciness in the sauce nor did it seem to have much guava-​infused sweetness. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t stand out. Unfortunately, the Pan con Lechón was over sauced. As a result of the pure volume of sauce, it began to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the roasted pork and the bread began breaking down allowing the pork to fall into the basket making it impossible to eat like a sandwich. This made for a very messy proposition, since I didn’t have any utensils. Oh well. I did have plenty of napkins.
El Floridano’s Pan con Lechón is a nice sammie in concept, offers decent value in terms of cost and the amount of food received, but it could use a bit more refinement in its execution.

Pan con Lechon Sandwich $ 4 (⁵⁄₅ NOMs).
We went to Baltimore vs DC Food Trucks event, which city has best trucks? mhhhh this was a great puerto rican chopped pork sandwich. You can really taste very nomnom spicy guava sauce. This is pretty big for a half taster size option. I love that I can order half a sandwich and just get two different ones for price of one.

I am kicking myself right now for not taking a picture of the most up to date menu offered at El Floridano. I hate that I can’t more accurately describe the delicious Banh Mi I tried last Friday but I will do my best.
I have to say, I am so happy about DC’s burgeoning food truck scene, especially since I am moving back to the District in a couple months. I was visiting last weekend from California and was so pleased by the innovative selections I saw lined up around Farragut Square. The lunch time food truck crews far surpass any festival I have been to on the West Coast.
El Floridano caught my attention because I love Vietnamese food and thought the South Floridan/​Cuban/​Caribbean influence sounded promising. I love when fusion is done well and chefs pass traditional boundaries in tasteful ways… and El Floridano is the perfect example of why taking risks is so important.
I am disappointed I don’t remember the name or exact ingredients of this delicious sandwich but I highly recommend finding out where this truck is on twitter and checking for yourself. It was vegetarian. Had tofu. Arugula. An incredible guava sauce. Peppers. Bliss in every bite.

El Floridano’s PAN CON LECHON is a MUST-​HAVE!!!
The pulled pork is gloriously moist and packed with flavor. It doesn’t hurt to add the customizable sauces either, in fact, it gives the pan con lechon that extra kick!
This was definitely my favorite truck at the Truckeroo 4 event.

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about the turkey meatloaf banh mi. I grew up not knowing was meatloaf was, so mixing a very non-​asian food with the viet-​sandwich thing? ehhhhhh…
What a surprise! the banh mi was great – the meatloaf was tasty, well seasoned, and the… OMG IS THAT MANGO!!! this was ooooooooone tasty sandwich. So tasty, that I practically cried when they said they weren’t coming to metro center on Friday (due to 116 degree weather)
i’ll be back!

Day old bread. If you are a sandwich place… you should know that is a no no. Chicken sandwich wasn’t memorable … flavorless (under spiced) and luke warm chicken. $ 7 is laughable since it came out of a truck and turned out to be so forgettable.
If you are going to be selling from a truck… make it good and reasonably priced otherwise I’m coming to write you a bad review.

Chicken Chang Mai… an obsession I feed when El Floridano is in SE DC.

El Floridano might be one of the new food trucks on the block, but it doesn’t mean that you should count them out just yet.
Their selection is minimal like most food trucks, and they seem to be banking on the popularity of their one sandwich — the Pan con Lechon. The sauce is really good. It’s spicy sweet, and compliments the pork nicely. What really stood out to me was the choice of pork they put there. If you like really fatty pork, you know, the kind of fatty that sucks in all the juices around it, and makes you want to have a heart attack while it melts in your mouth, then you’ll love this sandwich. It reminded me of eating really fatty spare ribs at an old and dingy Chinese food restaurant.
My only complaint was the choice of bread. It just didn’t seem as fresh as it could’ve been. Otherwise, it would’ve been a GREAT sandwich.

A friend told me that I had been selling them overly short, so I finally agreed to give them another try. The sanitation situation is improved (they had a staff of three when I was there). The pan con lechon I had was quite good – much tastier and more interesting than the Banh Mi, even though it had fewer ingredients. The bread is still not very good, but I’ve given up hope on that front.
I also had a side of ginger slaw which was just awful. But awful in an interesting way.
All in all, I’m cautiously upping this to four stars– the first food truck since the Lobster Truck and Takorean that I’m affirmatively excited to go back to.

Awesome lechón sandwich. My third place at this mobile eatery and the third time I’ve been impressed.
El Floridano has developed sort of a schedule which makes it easier for customer expectations, besides their large Facebook audience. Tuesdays and Thursdays they are in the L’Enfant area, the first near the Federal Center South West Metro, and the second somewhere between L’Enfant Metro stops. Then there’s Farragut Square and Metro Center on other days.
Their selections continue to be wildly popular with a steady crowd. That includes me. But I would recommend… Don’t have breakfast on the day you intend to eat their sandwiches… unless your name is Baby Huey…
A most welcome addition in the Washington scene.

This was a tough one to grade. Their food CAN be good, but I don’t like their inconsistency in presentation.
The bread on the bahn mi makes it too large to fit in an average person’s mouth without spilling half of the cilantro or pickled mango out. The turkey meatloaf was moist and surprisingly good (both for meatloaf and for turkey), and I liked the arugula inside. My cilantro had seen better days though.
I’m not usually a fan of cuban sandwiches, but this one was rather good. Think pressed ham sandwich with mustard and pickles. The second time I got this is was a bit lukewarm in the middle. Boo.
All for $ 7? Yeah, I can handle that. What bumps them to 3.5ish stars? They usually don’t have as long a line as other food trucks (because they sell sandwiches, which are a staple in the L’enfant wasteland) and they also carry a selection of Boylan sodas (mmm, cane sugar sweetened root beer!)
3.5 stars

el floridano plays the game, and plays it well.
we have that relationship (or lack thereof rather) where all i want is attention from the truck. i tweet at flmeetsdc, i try to find him, but he never responds. instead of thinking «screw you, i’ll find another truck», i find myself hopelessly devoted, dreaming of the day i’ll finally get a response. or a chance to try the pan con lechon.
when the opportunity finally presented itself, all those fruitless tweets were cancelled out and replaced with love. well, amazingly delicious food and love.
the soup of the day was roasted eggplant and cumin. it was really just okay, but i considered it my veggie of the day, and that made me feel a little better about the amount of meat i was about to stuff my face with (that’s what she said). the fidel (cuban sandwich) was good and the bread was great, but instead of the pork fat issues previous Unilocalers had, my issue was with the fact that it was lukewarm. at best. there was hardly any fat to be found on my jamón and the thinly sliced pickles and sauce were tasty.
the real star of the truck is the pan con lechon. being filipino, we have a full lechon (roasted pig) at family gatherings, so i knew what i deserved. not only did el floridano deliver, but it’s been about 24 hours since the experience and i can’t stop thinking about it. the bread is warm and filled to excess with tender, juicy, and slightly greasy lechon with a hint of onion. phenomenal AND filling for $ 7.
next time i’ll try the banh mi. i think it’s a little strange to serve cuban and vietnamese in the same truck, but i’m betting it’s because he does that well, too.
el floridano gets my dc foodtruck of 2o1o award.

Sorry El Floridano, I have to knock one star off based on my second «visit». Let me start with one positive though since my first visit, which is that they had a second person in the truck to handle orders while the cook prepared the sandwiches, which improved ordering/​paying. That said, I’m almost certain I paid by debt card the first time and now they’re cash only, and I rarely carry cash so I had to run to an ATM. When I got back inside and to my desk with my Cuban sandwich, I found the paper soaked in grease and my sandwich burnt to a char which really detracted from the taste of the sandwich.
Still like the idea of a roving Cuban sandwich truck, but going cash only really cuts into the convenience for me. Hopefully the grease and the burned sandwich was just an off day.

Upgraded to 5 stars because it is clearly the most underrated food truck in DC.
First may I point out that HELLO: THIS GUY IS A PROFESSIONAL CHEF. He used to be a chef at Dino’s, which is pretty impressive. More importantly, you can TASTE it in the ingredients he uses and combines to make his sandwiches.
Since my earlier review, I’ve now tried every sandwich they offer, and they have all brought me great lunchtime joy. Unlike other food trucks, this one doesn’t need kitschy marketing or products to sell: they’re just damn tasty and you can tell this guy knows how to skillfully combine flavors.
Moreover, it’s ONLY $ 7 for a MASSIVE sandwich stuffed with quality, fresh ingredients. We’re talking things like avocado, cilantro, turkey meatloaf, arugula, mango, etc. I’ve uploaded a sexy photo of it.
In sum, 5 stars because it ticks all my boxes: affordable, fresh, creative, and delicious.
Oh, and the chef/​owner gets so much love for coming to Tenley. I may or may not be crushing on him for this. However, that also might just be the repercussions of my turkey-​meatloaf-​banh-​mi-​induced-​foodgasm.

Had the Ho Chi Banh Mi — turkey meatloaf, mago salsa, on a fresh cracked vietnamese style french baquette, topped with a heavy dose of fresh cilantro.
Kudos for getting legit vietnamese style bread. Definitely crunch without flaking too much.
The turkey meatloaf was interesting to say the least. Flavorful yet not dense enough, I felt like i was eating more of a mashed turkey meatball than anything else. Still, kudos for giving enough meatloaf to give me the flavor.
Where it shined for me, was the fresh heap of cilantro, and vietnamese sandwich appropriate veggies (carrot pickled radish etc), and the mango salsa. I kept being amazed everytime I bit into a sweet mango sliced nestled in between my sandwich bread and meat, and really looked forward to that.
Does it break the mold? No. Is it super unique and memorable? Not really. But for the price, and freshness, and the somewhat unique combinations of fruit and meats (such as the cuban with a fruit sauce as well), its pretty good.

Oh yes! It was least expected but the Ho Chi Bahn Mi with Turkey meatloaf and mango salsa rocked! It was so zesty and refreshing. The baguette was soft and toasty stuffed with a piece of well marinated turkey meatloaf — total surprise for me, I stuffed it all down my little tummie! hehe It was so delicious. It was only $ 5! Highly recommended!
The only funny thing was choose: hands after handling money then your bahn mi or hands after squirting hand sanitizer! Extra flavors either way, oh soooo tasty? Or not?

3.5 stars
I had the Fidel sandwich (cuban sandwich) literally like 10 minutes ago.
Wait time: I arrived at the truck at 11:47am and the truck started taking orders by 11:50am. There were 15 people ahead of me and I was able to place my order at 12:05pm. I got my sandwich at 12:06pm. So all in all, I waited about 20 minutes. From the time he opened, he averaged out about 1 person per minute. I felt like I waited longer, but the wait time always feels longer when you’re anticipating something. So I think he did a good job of keeping the line moving.
He would take orders in chunks, and serve the food out of order. So I got my sandwich before the 3 people ahead of me. They ordered the chicken sandwich and I had the cuban so he must have had a cuban already prepared.
Taste: I thought the Fidel was pretty tasty. I don’t know what a real cuban sandwich is suppose to taste like, but I thought his take on it was good. I’m not huge on sandwiches, so I’m glad I tried it but I probably won’t go back for it. I would have given the sandwich 4 stars, but during one of my bites, i couldn’t separate the meat, so a chunk of meat came out of my sandwich. I looked at the piece of meat and it had a strip of fat along it (less then a centimeter in width and 2 inches in length). I’m not big on fat so I nibbled the meat off of it. Not a terrible thing — some people like eating it.
Hygiene: I did notice the whole no gloves/​handling food/​handling money thing. He had a person helping him and she wasn’t wearing gloves either (but she wasn’t handling the money). I don’t think it would hurt if he wore gloves or if she did — I don’t think that’s a huge investment.
Packaging: It was nice that he took the time to put stickers on the packaged sandwiches. Definitely unnecessary (but a nice touch). The money spent on the stickers/​time it takes to put it on the sandwiches could probably be used for something else. But it makes for a nicely presented sandwich.
Value: For $ 7, I think the sandwich was worth it. I think $ 5 would make it a great deal and $ 7 is the max I’d pay, so I think the sandwich was priced just right (especially since ½ of the sandwich filled me up). It’s probably 8 or 9 inches long?
All in all, I had a good experience. I probably won’t keep tabs on this truck only because I’m not a huge sandwich person. If I was a sandwich lover, I probably would follow the truck.
I think it’s worth a try and the guy in the truck was nice and working hard to get through the line.