Restaurant Closings

Darwin’s announces plan to close after 30 years

The locally-owned shop will be closing all four locations.

Sandwiches at Darwin's LTD, now closing. Photo courtesy of Yoon S. Byun

By Shira Laucharoen

1 minute to read

Cambridge residents will be losing a fixture in the community: Darwin’s Ltd. is closing all four of its locations after 30 years.

According to a notice published on their social media pages on Nov. 9, owners Steven and Isabel Darwin will close the Mount Auburn Street location on Nov. 22. With regard to the Cambridge Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and Putnam Street locations, the Darwins are “awaiting a response from the Union for a pending closure date.”

“We thank the thousands of employees, customers, and the City of Cambridge for allowing and supporting the 30 year experience and success of our family-owned business,” reads the notice. “Upon further reflection, we have decided to retire from this line of work.”

Advertisement:

Darwin’s is known for its award-winning, gourmet sandwiches, baked goods, rich coffee, and selection of teas. The flagship store at Mount Auburn Street opened in 1993, and the business prides themselves on all four of its locations being unique and “independently authentic,” according to its website.

Darwin’s initially announced the Mount Auburn Street location closure in an Instagram post published on Oct. 26, sharing that their 30-year lease was ending and ownership would need to “take workload and personal health into account.” In response, Darwin’s United — the union of workers formed in 2021 — rallied on Oct. 30 at Cambridge City Hall calling on the public to help “win protections for Mt. Auburn St. workers, and win a strong contract.”

Advertisement:

Share with us: Do you have a special memory of Darwin’s? Let us know how you feel about the closing and what you will remember the most about the coffee shops. Share your thoughts in the form below or send us an e-mail at [email protected]. Your response may be used in an upcoming Boston.com article and/or social media channels.

Tell us: Do you have a special memory of Darwin's LTD?

Your name may be published.
Your neighborhood/town may be published.
What are your preferred pronouns?

Please select your preferred pronoun so we may correctly refer to your response in an article.
Please enter an email address and/or phone number that we can easily contact you with. We may reach out for more information. It will NOT be published.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile