If you haven’t walked through Downtown Disney in the last few months, we need to prepare you. It barely resembles the Downtown Disney we remember from a few years ago. Restaurants have closed, buildings have been bulldozed, entirely new concepts have moved in, and the transformation isn’t finished yet. We wanted to put together one clear guide to what’s actually happening, because between construction walls and shifting opening dates, it’s genuinely hard to keep track.
Here’s everything, organized by what you can actually eat right now versus what’s still on the way.
Open Now
Earl of Sandwich celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, exactly as scheduled. After years of bouncing between temporary locations in Downtown Disney (first near the old AMC Theatres, then near La Brea Bakery, most recently in a pop-up near the Star Wars Trading Post), it’s finally settled into a permanent, two-story building near the Downtown Disney LIVE! stage. The grand opening ceremony was attended by the 12th Earl of Sandwich himself, Luke Montagu, along with Mickey Mouse. The ground floor is the sandwich shop you already know, now featuring newer signature items like Earl’s Pastrami (fresh-carved pastrami, Swiss, sauerkraut, and Dijonnaise on marbled rye). It’s still one of the most budget-friendly sit-down options in the whole district.
Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby is open too, and it actually opened first, on Monday, July 13, 2026, two days ahead of Earl of Sandwich’s downstairs grand opening. It’s the first Gordon Ramsay restaurant at Disneyland Resort, a full 1960s-themed British gastropub on the second floor of the same building, and demand has been intense: initial reservations through September sold out within minutes of going live, prompting Disney to expand nightly dining capacity, extend dinner hours, and release new reservations through December 30, 2026. Dinner is served nightly starting at 4:30 PM, with beef Wellington, fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding, and a full craft cocktail menu. Reservations are bookable through OpenTable or the restaurant’s own website, and walk-ins are accepted based on same-day availability, though given the demand, we’d book ahead rather than count on a walk-up table. One detail worth knowing if you’re hoping for a view: the back patio, while a cozy spot next to the outdoor bar, does not look out over the park or catch fireworks, that view is from a different part of the restaurant.
Happy Ice landed a permanent spot in Downtown Disney on Juneteenth, just in time for summer. If you haven’t had Philadelphia-style Italian water ice before, think somewhere between a snow cone and a sorbet, refreshing without being heavy, which makes it a genuinely great option for a hot Anaheim afternoon between rides.
Coming Soon, and Worth Watching
Porto’s Bakery & Café has been promised to Southern California Disney fans since 2022, and it’s finally under construction on the former site of La Brea Bakery. If you’ve never been to a Porto’s outside the parks, it’s a beloved SoCal chain known for Cuban-inspired pastries, cakes, and savory bites like their famous cheese rolls and potato balls. This location will offer full table service and a full bar, a step up from most Porto’s locations you’d find in a strip mall. No opening date confirmed yet, but construction has been steadily progressing throughout 2026.
Arthur & Sons Steak and Bourbon and Pearl’s Roadside BBQ are both coming from Chef Joe Isidori, and they’ll sit next to each other in Downtown Disney. Arthur & Sons is a classic steakhouse concept with prime cuts, fresh seafood, and an extensive bourbon list. Pearl’s Roadside BBQ leans into North Carolina-style barbecue: pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked heritage turkey, plus an outdoor bar with craft beer and moonshine cocktails. Both are still under construction with no confirmed dates.
Bopo Go! is bringing boba tea (bubble tea) to Downtown Disney from the founders of Bopomofo Café, with a promise of no artificial ingredients. It’s taking over the space formerly occupied by Jamba, which closed July 6, 2026 to make way for the build-out.
Big Boi Lumpia Co. is a newer addition to the list. Chef Barb Batiste’s Filipino comfort food cart (savory and sweet lumpia with signature dipping sauces) announced on TikTok that it’s moving into Downtown Disney, though the exact location and opening date haven’t been confirmed yet.
What Closed to Make Room
The biggest casualty of this transformation is Tortilla Jo’s, the fan-favorite Mexican restaurant that closed in 2024 after 20 years in Downtown Disney. The building itself was completely demolished in summer 2025. As of the Fourth of July weekend 2026, the site is still mostly foundation work with nothing built vertically yet, a noticeably slower pace than some of the other projects nearby. Two new restaurants are planned for the site, though details on what they’ll be haven’t been fully revealed.
If you’re a Tortilla Jo’s fan feeling that loss, take some comfort in this: the same restaurant group (Patina Group) opened three other Mexican-inspired concepts elsewhere in Downtown Disney not long after Tortilla Jo’s closed. Tiendita, Paseo, and Céntrico Bar & Restaurant are all still open and worth checking out if you’re craving something similar.
Why This Matters for Your Trip Planning
A few practical takeaways if you’re planning a visit:
You don’t need a park ticket to eat here. This is worth repeating because a lot of first-time visitors don’t realize it. Downtown Disney is open to the public with no admission required, which makes it a genuinely easy option for a date night, a relaxed first evening before your park days start, or a final meal before you head home.
Reservations still matter, even with walk-up availability. Menus, hours, and prices change often enough in this district that we always recommend checking the Disneyland app right before you go, and making an advance reservation for anything sit-down if you can.
Construction walls are part of the current experience. If you’re picturing a fully finished, polished district, temper expectations a little for the next several months. Parts of Downtown Disney are genuinely still an active job site, especially around the old Tortilla Jo’s footprint.
This is a multi-year project, not a single event. Downtown Disney has been in a slow, rolling transformation for a couple of years now, and based on the pace of these announcements, that’s not stopping anytime soon. We’ll keep this post updated as more opening dates get confirmed.
A Little Context: Why Downtown Disney Keeps Changing
If this all feels like a lot of turnover, it kind of is, and there’s a reason for it. Downtown Disney has spent the last few years in a deliberate, ongoing transformation, part of a broader push to make the district feel like more of a genuine dining and entertainment destination rather than just a walkway between the parking structures and the parks. We’ve watched this play out in phases: the Parkside Market building opened in January 2025 with its two-story mix of quick-service spots, a coffee shop, and a full bar overlooking the Downtown Disney LIVE! stage. Din Tai Fung has become one of the most consistently in-demand reservations in the entire resort. And now this latest wave, Earl of Sandwich’s permanent home, Gordon Ramsay’s first Disneyland restaurant, Porto’s long-awaited arrival, feels like the next major phase of that same push.
If you’ve visited Downtown Disney once and assumed you’d “seen it,” we’d genuinely encourage you to look again on your next trip. It’s a different district than it was even eighteen months ago.
What This Means If You’re Staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel
One detail worth flagging for hotel guests specifically: Disneyland Resort Hotels guests can order Downtown Disney food for delivery to the hotel lobby, using QR codes posted around the hotel. If you’re worn out after a long park day and don’t want to fight through Downtown Disney crowds for dinner, this is a genuinely useful option we don’t think enough guests know about. It’s also a nice way to try some of these newer restaurants without needing to carve out a full sit-down meal in your itinerary.
A Quick FAQ
Do I need a park ticket to eat in Downtown Disney? No. Downtown Disney District is open to the public with no park admission required. You can park, walk in, eat, shop, and leave without ever touching a park turnstile.
Is Earl of Sandwich’s new location the same menu as before? Mostly, yes, with some newer signature additions like Earl’s Pastrami. The bigger change is the format and setting: a permanent, two-story building rather than the smaller pop-up locations Earl of Sandwich has occupied over the past few years while waiting for this space to be finished.
When will Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby actually open? It’s already open, it opened July 13, 2026, two days ahead of Earl of Sandwich’s grand opening downstairs. Demand has been intense enough that Disney expanded capacity and extended reservations through December 30, 2026 after the original booking window sold out within minutes. Book through OpenTable or the restaurant’s website if you want a guaranteed table; walk-ins are possible but not something we’d count on.
Is Porto’s Bakery the same as the Porto’s locations around Southern California? It’s the same beloved brand and many of the same signature items (cheese rolls, potato balls, and their well-known pastries and cakes), but this Downtown Disney location will offer full table service and a full bar, which sets it apart from most standalone Porto’s bakery locations you’d find in a typical strip mall.
Our Take
We’ve watched Downtown Disney evolve from “the place you walk through to get from the parking structure to the parks” into a legitimate dining destination in its own right, and this latest wave might be the most ambitious yet. Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant selling out its first months of reservations within minutes says a lot about how much appetite there was for something like this at Disneyland, and Porto’s finally showing up after four years of waiting still feels like the end of a very long tease.
If you’re planning a trip in the next few months, we’d budget an extra hour or two to just wander Downtown Disney, even if you weren’t originally planning to. Between the two new openings and everything still on the way, there’s more reason to linger here than there’s been in years.
We’ll keep updating this post as Porto’s, Arthur & Sons, and Pearl’s Roadside BBQ get their official opening dates. Bookmark it, or check back with us closer to your trip.