‘We couldn’t quite make the numbers work’: Donny’s sandwich deli announces closure

Donny’s sandwich deli in London Fields has closed after less than a year of trading.

The site first launched in May 2025 as kebab shop Dirty Donny’s but closed weeks after opening following accusations of “cultural appropriation and gentrification”.

Owner Simon Bays issued an apology last August, which stated “it’s no longer lost on me that I’m a white guy who opened a kebab shop in Hackney”, and committed to revamping the site “in a way that respects cultural influences and gives back to the community”.

The neighbourhood spot was relaunched as Donny’s in September 2025, serving Flying Horse coffee and sandwiches from Huri Rapana Neil, head chef at Marquee Moon in London’s Dalston.

However, in a post on Instagram today (24 June), the team said it had made the “difficult decision” to close Donny’s.

It read: “Over the last year, we’ve poured everything we had into it. We transformed the space, created an amazing sandwich menu, built an incredible team, served thousands of customers and met some genuinely brilliant people along the way.

“The reality is that hospitality is an incredibly challenging industry right now. Rising costs, higher wages, business rates, energy bills and tighter consumer spending are creating conditions that many independent operators are struggling with.

“But if we’re being honest, this decision is about more than that. Sometimes a business, a concept and a location simply don’t align in the way you’d hoped. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t quite make the numbers work from this particular site.”

Donny’s thanked its guests and expressed support for “anyone brave enough to start an independent hospitality business in 2026”.

It hinted at plans for future projects and stated: “We’re already thinking about what comes next.”