Longtime San Marcos sandwich shop temporarily closes amid toxic work environment allegations; announces new leadership

By Jissela Cabrera

Assistant Director of News

SAN MARCOS– A popular downtown sandwich shop, Alvin Ord’s, has temporarily closed after its entire staff resigned, following social media posts alleging an intimidating work environment involving one of the business’s owners.

A now-deleted Facebook post alleged that majority owner Bill Martin allowed his brother, minority owner Steve Martin, to verbally harass employees, creating what was described as an unsafe and threatening workplace. Within days, all employees allegedly resigned, leaving shifts unfilled and stopping all operations. Customers later encountered a printed notice on the store’s door announcing the temporary closure. Since then, the business has issued a statement on its Facebook page saying it will undergo new leadership.

Soon after the temporary closure, additional online posts and threads began circulating on multiple social media platforms. The shop’s Instagram account announced and confirmed the resignation of its entire staff, while another local online thread from an anonymous user described the situation in its entirety from a former employee’s perspective.

One Facebook user, who claimed to be Steve Martin’s stepdaughter, alleged she experienced years of abusive behavior from him. Those claims remain unverified.

According to former employee Megan Sewell, tensions escalated after a bread baker broke an arm on a trip, which put him out of work for a significant amount of time. This allegedly required Steve Martin to work additional shifts, which allegedly led to more frequent encounters with employees.

Sewell said that a confrontation on April 2 between Steve Martin and the store’s general manager prompted the manager to resign, followed by a few other employees.

A meeting was reportedly held on April 6 between staff and the owners to discuss conditions for employees to return. Workers requested that Steve Martin be removed from the workplace by April 22 due to concerns about his behavior and past incidents of violence.

Sewell, the former general manager and online comments referred to Steve Martin’s past arrests and charges, such as his arrest in 2023, where Steve Martin was charged with assault, an alleged unreported 2015 incident where he allegedly assaulted a deaf man outside the store and an alleged 1992 charge where Steve Martin allegedly physically assaulted a police officer.

According to Sewell, Bill Martin initially agreed to the proposed conditions on April 7, but later reversed course, citing operational concerns without Steve Martin. Following that decision, all remaining staff resigned indefinitely.

Sewell said that Steve Martin’s presence and actions, throughout her tenure, fostered a culture of fear, thereby normalizing a toxic work environment.

“When he would walk in, everyone immediately knew, like just to keep your head down and continue working, just because he was very prone to exploding on very minuscule stuff,” Sewell said.

“I knew about that from when I started working there. The first time that I got yelled at by him, it was to be expected because it’s happened to all my other coworkers–it’s normal.”

Sewell briefly defended Steve Martin, stating that he is an elderly man and believes he wanted to retire.

Another former employee, who worked and resigned over a decade ago and requested anonymity, said that Steve Martin initially started as a quiet part-time bread maker. However, as he gradually became a partial owner, his attitude shifted.

“He got a little comfortable, because at first he was just like the quiet baker guy that would just come in and leave,” the former employee said.

“After a while, he would start to stay and voice his frustration about whatever it may be to whoever happened to be there.”

Ultimately, both former employees said, despite the conditions, they formed close friendships with coworkers and hope others facing similar situations feel empowered to speak out.

As of April 19, Alvin Ord’s Facebook page stated the business will remain temporarily closed while it undergoes what it described as a “total deep-clean and modernization of our facilities, our standards, and our culture.”

Another recent Facebook post reassured customers that, despite undergoing deep cleaning, the store will not remove its iconic booths, and they will continue updating customers through their Facebook account.

Although the business has announced a transition to new leadership, former employees and online commenters believe management passed to Steve Martin’s daughter, while the owners actively seek to replace staff.

Bill Martin refused requests for comment.