After five years in business, Ike’s Love and Sandwiches abruptly closed its downtown San Luis Obispo doors over the weekend.
“This location is now closed,” a sign on the door of the Chorro Street business read Monday. “It’s been wonderful being a part of the community and we will miss you. Thanks for all the years of love. We hope you felt it as strong as we did.”
On Monday afternoon, workers could be seen emptying out the business and loading up a moving van with supplies.
It is unclear why the store closed so quickly. When reached for comment on the closure, company representatives told The Tribune only, “I don’t have an update for you.”
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Founded in San Francisco in 2007, the sandwich chain operates more than 70 locations around California.
The quirky brand — which jokingly on its website declares itself as “voted best sandwich in the world (by my mom)” — is known for its eclectic mix of sandwich offerings, including options for meat lovers, vegetarian, vegan, halal and gluten-free diners.
Each shop also features specific menu options unique to the chain.
In San Luis Obispo, that translated into sandwiches titled “Bubblegum Alley” and “Thank You For Not Smoking.” Bubblegum Alley featured fried chicken, Asian zest sauce and pepper jack; “Thank You For Not Smoking” was a vegetarian option with vegan chicken, Asian zest sauce and pepper jack.
The chain opened its San Luis Obispo location in 2019, followed by a second SLO County spot in Templeton in 2021. The Templeton location also has since closed.
With the San Luis Obispo shop’s closure, the next closest Ike’s locations to San Luis Obispo County were in Santa Barbara and Bakersfield.
