A Michelin-starred chef will bring his old school Italian-American New York City restaurant to Downtown Disney when he opens a new steakhouse at the Anaheim outdoor shopping mall next to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
New York City celebrity chef Joe Isidori will open the Arthur & Sons Steak and Bourbon steakhouse and Pearl’s Roadside BBQ barbecue joint on the footprint of the former Tortilla Jo’s location in Downtown Disney.
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Work will begin soon on construction of Arthur & Sons and Pearl’s Roadside at the former Tortilla Jo’s location, according to Disneyland.
Disneyland has filed building permits with the city of Anaheim to demolish the 18,900-square-foot Tortilla Jo’s building. The city permit calls for utilities to be capped and the basement level staircase and elevator shaft to remain.
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Arthur & Sons will offer prime cuts of beef, chops, seafood, sandwiches and salads along with a center bar serving bourbon-focused craft cocktails.
Concept art of Arthur & Sons in Downtown Disney shows a towering entry atrium with a cascading crystal ball chandelier and a single-story restaurant where the two-story Tortilla Jo’s once stood.
Isidori operates Arthur & Sons restaurants in Manhattan that focus more on Italian food than steaks. The restaurant is named for Isidori’s father Arthur, who butchered steaks and chops during the day and ran a restaurant in the evenings.
Concept art of the Pearl’s Roadside BBQ restaurant coming to Downtown Disney. (Courtesy of Disney)
The Pearl’s Roadside quick-service barbecue restaurant next door to Arthur & Sons will serve pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked turkey and smoked wings along with craft beers and moonshine cocktails.
Concept art of Pearl’s Roadside shows a large outdoor patio and U-shaped bar facing Splitsville Luxury Lanes in Downtown Disney. Signage promises “Quality ’Que,” “Magnificent Shine” and “Sassy Sides.”
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Michelin-starred chef Joe Isidori will bring steakhouse and barbecue concepts to Downtown Disney. (Courtesy of Disneyland)
Isidori served as Donald Trump’s former executive chef at Mar-a-Lago and earned a Michelin Star at the president elect’s DJT restaurant in Las Vegas.
Isidori oversaw dining concepts for several restaurants in the Trump empire, including the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, DJT restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas and Trump’s golf courses.
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Isidori’s family has owned and operated restaurants for three generations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx since 1954.
Isidori is probably best known to Disney fans as the co-founder of Black Tap Craft Burgers in Downtown Disney and co-creator of Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew in Florida’s Disney Springs.
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The celebrity chef has participated in “Iron Chef America,” “Beat Bobby Flay” and various Food Network culinary competition shows.
The New York native has been cooking since he was 5 years old — standing on a packing crate as he prepared salads and side dishes in his family’s restaurants. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2000.
The new Broken Spell Lounge in the Disneyland Hotel lobby. (Courtesy of Disneyland)
Arthur & Sons marks the return of steakhouse to the Disneyland resort for the first time since the pandemic closure of the parks in 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Disneyland shuttered Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel that took diners back to a bygone era of lavish decadence and old Hollywood glamor with dirty martinis, bone-in rib-eyes and a legendary 24-layer chocolate cake.
Walt Disney Imagineering created a new Broken Spell Lounge in the former Steakhouse 55 location.
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