The temporary Earl of Sandwich restaurant located in the Downtown Disney District of Disneyland Resort has announced it will be permanently closing, resulting in the layoff of 167 employees.
Earl of Sandwich Closing, Employee Layoffs
The Earl of Sandwich has been the subject of several news stories in the past several months, as the restaurant has swapped locations in the Downtown Disney District several times. First, Earl of Sandwich was relocated from its original building when it was torn down in 2022. It was then announced that a new permanent location was being built, with the quick-service sandwich spot on the ground level and a new table-service restaurant on the second floor. Construction on that new building has already begun, but is only comprised of basic structural elements so far. In the meantime, Earl of Sandwich is operating both a temporary east side location and a pop-up pod near the Star Wars Trading Post on the west end.
The location on the east side is housed in the former spot of La Brea Bakery. Earl of Sandwich took over the empty building after La Brea closed in 2023. This move was likely not part of original plans. Porto’s Bakery, a replacement for La Brea, was announced back in 2022. However, construction on the replacement was slow to begin, so Earl of Sandwich chose to utilize the empty building in the meantime.
However, the La Brea space is about to be repurposed as the new home of Porto’s Bakery. We reported earlier this year that Disney finally filed the first demolition permits for the La Brea Bakery building, as Porto’s will not be using the existing structure. Of course, the demolition of this old building means that Earl of Sandwich must relocate again.
The Orange County Register has now confirmed that with demolition set to begin, the Earl of Sandwich location currently using the La Brea building is set to permanently close. As a part of this closure, all of the 167 employees working in this location will be laid off. This number was pulled from a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter sent to state employment officials last month. According to the article, the layoffs are set to begin on July 28 and be completed by August 10.
According to the Earl of Sandwich website, there are currently no plans to close the pop-up location on the west end. However, the layoff of all employees implies that there might not be another temporary Earl of Sandwich location added back to the Downtown Disney District until the new building officially opens.
The article from The Orange County Register does not have an official closing date listed yet, though the layoff dates imply it will be sometime in late July or early August 2025. The current Disneyland Resort website calendar has the location operating with normal hours through July 16, which is the last day visible.
What do you think of the Earl of Sandwich closing its doors? Let us know in the comments.
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