So one day I’m sitting in the office and my boss walks in and says, “have you tried that new Cuban place in Duluth?” My eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas.  He took that as a no.  So a week later, we met for lunch at Armando’s Caribe Grill.  The name didn’t scream “Cuban”, but the menu certainly had a broad Cuban section.  The restaurant is fairly large and brightly lit, with a small patio out front. 

Atypical of Cuban restaurants were the chips and salsa brought to the table to start.  

 I decided that instead of a Cubano, I would order the ropa vieja, with rice and beans.    

Ropa vieja is roast beef, with onions and peppers in a tomato Creole sauce.  This was a massive plate full of food.  The beef was tasty, although it contained alot of peppers, and the rice and beans were good.  The food is a little better and considerably cheaper at Papi’s, but this is considerably closer to the office than their Lawrenceville location.  

A couple of weeks later, we went back and I tried the  Cubano. 

It was good, but not great:

1. It wouldn’t make my top five Cubanos in town;
2. The meat looked like it had been purchased at the grocery store deli in the shopping center;  and
3. The sandwich, rice and beans were $12.00 at lunch.  

I think the key here is to go with the daily lunch specials, if you want lunch to come in under $10.00.