A sandwich from Mundo’s Cafe on Fremont Street – or from their downtown Monterey location – is a commitment. The place is known for sizeable creations that happen to be pretty good, as well.
Fernando Mundo is a manager at the family’s original spot on Fremont, and has been in that role almost since the day they opened in 2010. Before that he served as a waiter at several Peninsula restaurants, so Mundo has seen a lot over the years. Lately, however, the family-run shop has been forced to deal with their biggest obstacle since the process of opening a restaurant: months of road construction right outside.
The little cafe has remained open throughout. Mundo says they’ve been told most of the major work will wrap up next month. “Hopefully,” he adds.
Weekly: Has the road work made it tough on you?
Mundo: Oh, yeah – it’s been bad. People decide not to come this way because of the construction. We get a lot of tourists and people who Google and they get stuck. The places around here, some of them are thinking of closing. We had to lay off two people.
Are you going to celebrate when it’s all done?
[Laughs]. Well, I think it will take time to pick back up, because people won’t realize the road is open. It might take one or two months.
Is there any combination you wouldn’t put on a sandwich?
No – we’ve been trying to narrow it down. We have 10 ingredients, but nah. The ingredients are right there and they are all good sellers.
Do you have a favorite sandwich?
Shoot, I get that question a lot, but I never know how to answer. But if I had to choose one, the Mundo’s Cubano. No, the Warriors – the spicy one. That’s killer.