New Earl of Sandwich Location
The history of Earl of Sandwich actually has some nearby roots. The first Earl of Sandwich restaurant opened in 2004, in Disney Springs. They were known to be the most budget friendly family restaurant in the Downtown Disney area. They have since expanded to Tampa, St. Pete and will soon be in Oldsmar, Downtown Tampa and rumor has it- Carrollwood. They are also known worldwide with shops everywhere from Paris to Dubai.
Kelly's Review: Earl of Sandwich District Manager, John Dozier is as informative as is is passionate about good, healthy food. He was our tour guide as we explored several offerings at the new location inside International Mall's food court.
Our Sampling began with their signature tea which is Earl Grey lemonade, a unique blend of lemonade and tea.. International Mall is one of the few locations which serves breakfast but we skipped that in favor of jumping right to their signature sandwiches.
Our mouths watered as John brought us several sandwiches to try such as The Original 1762, Holiday Turkey, Brie and Cranberry and the Spicy Tuna. All have their own unique taste that sets each meal apart. This isn’t your typical sandwich shop that just serves ham and cheese, but they can if you want them to.
Earl of Sandwich strives to create combinations of ingredients that you won't normally find in a “fast food” style restaurant. The turkey with cranberry and stuffing, tuna with black olives and chipotle sauce to spice it up were placed in front of us to try. Everything was very well made and filling. Each sandwich I tried became my new favorite. I am typically a very picky eater but felt that almost everything I tried from the menu was something I could eat and enjoy. The real taste test was seeing how my two boys would like everything. Typically my youngest will eat anything but gives you an honest opinion of the meal and my oldest is incredible picky. They went to town on their sandwiches and before I could explain what each sandwich was, they were halfway finished. The mac & cheese was of course one of their favorites and they said “it was defiantly better than that boxed stuff, “ (My kids LOVE boxed mac & cheese so take this as an excellent review.)
Finally, we sampled a few desserts. The cookies we good (and personally I'd like the chocolate chip to have a a little more chocolate). The highlight though was the brownie. It was absolutely amazing. It had Ghirardelli chocolate and with each bite, the chocolate melted in my mouth. I would love to give you my children’s opinion but I ate it all before they had a chance. Yep, mean mom but you would have done the same! The brownie was perfectly made.
Kathryn's review: I had a very similar experience when I took my two middle kids to dinner that evening. They are my picky eaters so they were perfect to try out a new place. We tried The Original 1762, The Holiday and the Chicken Chipotle Avocado. My 19 year old daughter wasn't a fan of the cranberries in The Holiday but enjoyed the rest of it. That's the one I didn't think my son would touch but he loved it! The Original had just the right amount of cheese and the roast beef was tender and juicy. We aren't big on spicy so I was a little nervous about the Chicken Chipotle Avocado. John assured us that it wasn't too spicy and he was right! My daughter ordered the Chicken Caesar Wrap and was so excited to find there were croutons in it. She loved it and I was glad to hear that they were made fresh, daily. My 12 year old son tried the kids Pizza Sandwich. I barely got a picture of it before it was gone! I chose the Hawaiian BBQ and switched the Swiss for Mozzarella. It could have used a bit more pineapples but other than that it was amazing.
I dropped some of the slices off at Centerstage for my youngest to eat for dinner. She really enjoyed the cookies and brownies and nibbled at the Chicken Chipotle Avocado. My non-carb-eating friend, Juliet, saw The Holiday and had to try it. She was still craving it two days later! Kelly's real test was her kids and mine was my husband. He isn't usually big on leftovers but was hungry that night and we had a LOT of sandwiches left over. He loved the Original 1762 and The Holiday. He even ate some the next day for lunch!
I already knew my oldest daughter loved Earl of Sandwich from when we ate at the Disney Springs location for her birthday a couple of years ago. The new location at International Mall now has six new customers for life! We will definitely be back and I can't wait to try some of their other options.
