I have to admit, when I go to Disney for a vacation, the last thing on my list to eat is a sandwich. Heck, I can eat one of those anytime. But the Earl of Sandwich restaurant in Downtown Disney does not serve ordinary sandwiches; oh, no. In fact, as a sandwich connoisseur, I was pleasantly surprised!
My family owned deli’s and sub shops my whole life so really, sandwiches aren’t a big deal for us – except if they are bad sandwiches. That is clearly not the case with Earl of Sandwich. Their menu has a wide variety of combinations to choose from that should satisfy every palate in your family and at an affordable price.
The sandwiches are made on freshly baked artesian bread and served hot (toasted). That right there tells you that this is no pre-packaged fare. With a dozen different sandwiches to choose from you also have the opportunity to customize them to meet all of your needs. For example, I had ordered the Italian sandwich which comes with ham, salami, capicola, mortadella, mozzarella, roma tomatoes and Italian dressing. Personally, I do not care for mortadella (which is like an Italian sausage in cold cut form) and so I asked them to take that off of my order, and they did. Great customer service in my opinion!
On our last visit, the other members of my family ordered the Best BLT (and it was!) and the Earl’s Club (turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce & tomatoes) and we each ate in silence because we were enjoying our meals so much! Other items on the menu include soups, chips, salads and desserts that all were freshly made and were a nice change from the burgers and fries of other counter service restaurants.
Lunch for the four of us came to around $35.00 and that was with each of us having a sub and bottled drink. You have the option of a fountain drink or bottled drink but while in the line, we just all grabbed bottled ones which cost a bit more. Actually, one of the great things about the Earl of Sandwich is that their menu is very “user friendly” in that ALL of the subs are $5.99 each and ALL of the salads are $5.99 each. That makes ordering and watching your dining budget a lot easier.
If you’ve ever eaten in Walt Disney World, you know that the cost of food takes a large chunk of your traveling money. If you are not on the Free Dining plan and are looking for a good place to eat that will not cost you a fortune and you happen to be in the Downtown Disney area, then the Earl of Sandwich is a great choice for you.
Just to put it in a little perspective for you, on this particular trip we ate lunch here at the Earl of Sandwich and then had dinner in the Magic Kingdom at Cosmic Ray’s. Now at lunch time there were four of us eating on that bill, for dinner there was only three of us and it still cost us $35.00 and that was for one less person! Plus, at Cosmic Ray’s (which I do actually enjoy) we all had basic bacon-cheeseburgers, fries and fountain drinks. Nothing out of the ordinary and quite honestly, it tasted like fast-food as opposed to the freshly made sandwiches we had eaten earlier in the day.
Atmosphere and theming are at a minimum at the Earl of Sandwich but it is still nicely done in dark paneling with lots of bookcases to make you feel as if you are sitting in an English den. The line moves quickly (when there is a line) and there is usually a cast member walking through the line ready to answer any questions you may have regarding the menu so that you don’t hold up the line when you get up to order.
So next time you are in strolling around Downtown Disney around mealtime, don’t dismiss the Earl of Sandwich as just another sandwich place. They take their sandwiches seriously and it is money well spent!
We were in WDW in December 2010 and we ate at Earl of Sandwich several times. We had the free dining and this was one of the better tasting places on the plan. During the holidays they had a Holiday Turkey sandwich which was like eating a full turkey dinner on fresh bread. The sandwich was outstanding and the day we left we got sandwiches for the plane ride home which were much better than anything offered on the plane that day! Unless you are a large eater, one sandwich and a side would feed two. We would each eat half our sandwich and have another half for later on in the day. Not your typical sandwich place and while the line may be long and intimidating they move quickly and you won’t wait longer than about 20 minutes, even if the line is out the door. Definite thumbs up!
We only ate there once, but we were impressed. The prices are very good by theme park standards, and the food was really well prepared and tasty. The place was busy, but the employees were very efficient. We luckily found a place to sit when a group got up and left, but we would have been more than happy to find a place to sit somewhere outside around Downtown Disney. This will be one of our favorites at Downtown Disney from now on.