Disneyland Demolishing Now Closed Sit-Down Restaurant That Was Past Its Prime. New Replacement Moving Quickly.

A major new addition to Downtown Disney is currently in the works and making huge strides in its progress! The shopping and dining district has undergone some significant changes, introducing several new restaurants and experiences as part of its ongoing transformation.

One closure that visitors had particularly strong feelings about was Tortilla Jo’s, which closed its doors last April after 20 years. Some believed this restaurant was past its prime, while others lamented the loss of a favorite. The former Tortilla Jo’s sat empty (and honestly a little sad-looking) for several months after its closure until construction recently began on its replacement, and since then, work has been moving along quickly! Keep reading for a photo update of the construction progress for this restaurant…

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Tortilla Jo’s Replacement Construction Progress

When Tortilla Jo’s closed last year, we were not very sad to see this go and felt it was not a huge loss, as we’d been saying for a while that this restaurant was past its prime. There were always lots of reservations available on the Disneyland app, and demand was not as high as it was for some of the other restaurants. We already had a feeling that the restaurant was on its way out when we heard the announcement of the new Mexican restaurant concepts by Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán coming to Downtown Disney.

Since then, one of these new additions has actually become one of our top Mickey Visit best Disneyland restaurants in our ranking and really stands out compared to the quality of food at the former Tortilla Jo’s.

However, the closing of this restaurant brought up some strong feelings from many who were disappointed to see it go. On our Facebook post that we shared about the restaurant’s closing, many commenters shared their thoughts, expressing that they loved the food at this location (especially the guacamole) and how affordable it was. What do you think?

Others commented more broadly on the restaurant scene at Disneyland and what they wish was different. Funny enough, one comment from Scott VanS-Music actually said, “Bring Steakhouse 55 BACK! And with breakfast again too.”

This was before the announcement that a new steakhouse and barbecue eatery by Michelin-starred Chef Joe Isidori would be built on the former footprint of Tortilla Jo’s. We have high hopes for this Tortilla Jo’s replacement, and we’re crossing our fingers that the full-service steakhouse may live up to the reputation of our favorite Steakhouse 55 which never reopened after the pandemic.

Right now, there are some pretty major changes taking place to the overall structure of the building. This project has made pretty amazing progress in the last month alone. Parts of the second floor have been demolished, and the structure of the building is exposed.

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You can see the concept art for the new steakhouse below. It still has a long way to go, but construction is moving along quickly.

Progress has been moving along rapidly on this project, so it looks like they’re really kicking it into high gear to make up for lost time. We have been surprised at how quickly the last few Downtown Disney projects have been completed. For reference, this is what the building looked like a few weeks ago, so there’s been a lot of demolition happening.

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