Macubana
our story
In January 2014 we decided to take our passion for delicious, gourmet food to the streets of Ames, Iowa.
We began with a cart at the corner of Stanton Ave. and Chamberlain Ave. Not really knowing what the crowd was going to want, we started with three items, Belgian Fries, Empanadas, and Tempura Mac Attack (our deep-fried mac n cheese sticks). Our cart actually didn’t have a name! Co-owners, Claudio & Herb wanted to wait for the perfect name.
About a month later it was our Mac Attack that the crowd really enjoyed! Without it, we might as well not open for the night. We make the Tempura Mac Attacks from scratch and the process takes just about 10 to 12 hours.
Shortly after, Iowa State University approved us for a vending spot between Carver and Beardshear Hall. At that point, Claudio & Herb decided to introduce the Cubano sandwich. A proper Cubano sandwich consists of slow-roasted pork, hickory smoked ham, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles.
It was after this that the name macubana was born. Macubana stands for Mac and cheese and Cubano sandwiches. Today at our location you can find different variations of both items on the menu.
At our location, we now serve Mac bowls, Cubano Sandwiches, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Burgers, Gyros, Empanadas, Belgian Fries & more. Mural Art.
As we progressed from a food cart/food truck to a restaurant/bar, we decided to connect with local artist Jordan Zantow. Below you can see this awesome mural by Zantow of our 1955 International Step Van with which we still do caterings today!
Goals for 2021.
More by Zantow.
The goal here is to eventually finish the location walls with different touches by local artist Jordan Zantow. Above, you can see one of our bathrooms is completely done as well.