What Makes Miami Cuban-Style Pizza Different From The Rest

Everyone knows the basic styles of pizza, like Chicago deep dish and New York thin crust. However, there's another type that's very popular in certain areas, and that's Cuban pizza. Often available at underrated Miami spots that only some locals know about, it's served in a unique way. Spoiler alert: Most don't slice it.

Cuban Pizza consists of a fluffy, thick dough made with milk and seasoned with spices. This is to mimic Cuban bread and differentiates the dough from Italian varieties. Rather than America's usual favorite pizza toppings, you should expect to see ground chorizo, shrimp, and even occasionally olives. Well, you may not see these toppings, because most Cuban pizzerias put them under the cheese, which is sprinkled to the edges of the dough. Pan-cooking offers a crisp crust, while the cheese locks in the flavor of all the toppings. Mozzarella is part of the mix, but you'll also find Gouda – as well as other cheeses that chefs keep secret.

While you can order a Miami-style pizza sliced like a normal New York pie, it's more often served as a small, personal dish. It's placed in cardboard or paper, folded sort of like a taco, and eaten that way. It can be enjoyed at sit-down restaurants as well as on the go. Those who like it admit that it's odd, but deeply delicious and culturally significant. One Redditor proclaimed, "If you don't enjoy Cuban pizza/don't know where to get it from you're just not from here."

Cuban pizza isn't a new fad — it's been around since the 1940s. Some evidence indicates locals concocted it for tourists in Varadero Beach, Cuba. In the 1990s, food shortages pushed Cubans to make the best of limited ingredients, cementing pizza's place in Cuban heritage forever. It's also not clear who brought Cuban pizza to Miami, ironically known as one of the least affordable cities for dining out. Some say it occurred during a mass emigration from Cuba in 1980, when the founders of famed Rey's Pizza and Montes de Oca arrived in the United States. Rey's Pizza now boasts multiple locations across Miami.

Unlike saucier pies found in other regions, a Cuban pizza only features a thin layer of sauce, sweetened with brown sugar. This light addition allows the toppings placed under the cheese to cook into the dough during baking . The caramelized cheese edge may remind people of Detroit-style pizza, but it serves a practical purpose – keeping the toppings securely inside when locals fold it the traditional way.

Even now, Cuban pizza celebrates it's important cultural differences by featuring toppings such as bananas and picadillo, refusing to conform to pizza's Italian roots. Places like Polo Norte have also started offering elevated versions, topped with lobster. Another eatery, Finka Table & Tap in Miami, serves Cuban-inspired fusion pizzas with unusual ingredients like braised oxtail and homemade wasabi honey. Miami-style pizza may not be like New York or Chicago, but it still carries its own unique flair.