"panera" news and stories

For three months, AOL polled its readers for their favorite coffee, and last week, they did their final tally, coming up with THE definitive answer in America's favorite coffee. Starbucks? Seattle's Best? Dunkin Donuts? Are you ready to find out who the ultimate javalicious winners is?!?!

Everyone!

Just like Time magazine calling 2006's Person of the Year, "You," AOL says that "after reading through every comment, one thing is clear, all the nominees are winners. Each is someone's favorite." How anticlimactic.

Actually, they do name an all-around winner, and I was pretty surprised by it myself -- Dunkin' Donuts, which also won the Fast Food category. AOL's slideshow also names the winners in other categories. The no. 1 choice in convenience store coffee is Wawa, from bakeries it's Panera.

In an attempt to draw in evening customers, Panera is launching a line of flat bread pizzas called Crispanis, according to Barron's. The pizzas, announced in May, will be sold only after 4 p.m. and should be available at most stores by the end of the year. This may be old news to those of you who frequent Panera locations that already serve these flatbreads, but I've yet to see them here in Florida or on Panera's website (aside from in this press release). Anyone in a test market care to share their experiences?

[Via Restaurant News Resource]

If you step into a Panera in southern California in the next few years, there's a decent chance that the franchise might be owned by NFL star Keyshawn Johnson.

Panera recently announced the plan for the development of 12 new franchise locations in a partnership with Johnson's First Picks Bread Company, LLC.

Currently a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, Johnson has owned restaurants in Beverly Hills and Tampa in addition to a chain of Coldstone Creamery locations in Dallas.

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