My spouse and I ate lunch at the Earl of Sandwich in
Newark’s Liberty Airport Terminal A on a Thursday afternoon in mid-November
2016. Earl of Sandwich is the only full-service restaurant post-security in
Terminal A2, which houses gates A20 through A28. Terminal A2 also offers a
shuttle bus between Terminals A and C, counter-service eateries (including
Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Market Fresh), a small duty-free pop-up shop,
currency exchange, and newsstand. Earl of Sandwich serves breakfast, lunch,
dinner, and drinks.
The Newark Airport location of the Earl of Sandwich offers
semi-booth (one side of a shared banquette), regular-height tables, a high-top
dining bar, and a regular bar. An open-kitchen concept and takeaway
(grab-and-go) area complete the look. Tables are located close together, and
management must stay on top of things to make sure that all available tables
are utilized rather than making patrons wait in line in the main part of the
terminal.
In 1762, John
Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, was playing cards and did not want to
leave the gaming table to eat. He requested a serving of roast beef placed
between two slices of bread so that he could eat with his hands. Thus, the sandwich
was born. Now, 250 years later, the Earl of Sandwich employees bake the bread
when you order, roast their meats every morning, and use traditional family
recipes. In 2004, Lord John Montagu (the eleventh Earl of Sandwich) and his son
collaborated with Robert Earl (founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood) to launch
the Earl of Sandwich restaurants. Based in Orlando, the Earl of Sandwich
restaurant chain opened its first location at Walt Disney World in 2004, with
outlets currently in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Texas, England, France, and Qatar. The restaurant offers a
loyalty club for frequent guests (but we are not sure whether you receive credit
for dining at airport locations).
Not surprisingly, the menu features a variety of sandwiches (such as the Earl’s club, Hawaiian BBQ, Reuben, tuna
melt, or ham and Swiss), soups, salads, wraps, vegetarian and gluten-free
options, and desserts (cookies, brownies, cupcakes). Staff makes all sandwiches
to order from scratch right at the airport using high-quality fresh ingredients,
and serves them on their own artisan baked bread. A full bar is available.
We were pleasantly
surprised with the tastiness of our food at the Earl of Sandwich. Even if it
was not the only sit-down restaurant in Terminal A2, we might still choose to
dine there.
