Panera Bread is adding new items to its recently revamped menu: This time, a line of avocado toast, a spicy grilled chicken sandwich and a new grilled cheese sandwich are joining the St. Louis-based fast-food chain’s evolving menu.
Panera is also bringing back sesame seed and blueberry bagels “by popular demand,” after the bagel flavors were dropped during the brand’s initial menu overhaul this spring.
New menu items include:
- The Spicy Fiesta Chicken Sandwich – Panera’s grilled take on the spicy chicken sandwich trend, this menu item features grilled chicken, white cheddar, sweet peppers, cilantro, grilled corn and a new creamy salsa verde spread on ciabatta bread (starting at $11.59)
- Kickin’ Grilled Cheese – an LTO item that pairs Panera’s classic grilled cheese (with American and white cheddar cheeses on white bread) with the new creamy salsa verde spread (starting at $7.49)
- Classic Avocado Toast – Classic avocado toast features a thick layer of avocado on rustic country sourdough bread with bagel seasoning, sea salt and pepper (starting at $3.49)
- Garden Oats – This remix of avocado toast features sliced tomatoes and drizzled garlic aioli, plus bagel seasoning, sea salt, and pepper on rustic country sourdough bread
This spring, when Panera introduced its new food line, the brand also removed several items from its menu, including flatbreads, Mediterranean bowls, turkey chili, Asian sesame chicken salad and more. While blueberry sesame seed bagels were previously on the discontinued list, Panera said they were making their return “in response to customer feedback.”
When these items were removed from the menu, Panera fans took to social media to criticize:
It’s not uncommon for restaurant chains to revive discontinued dishes in the age of social media, when customers who miss their old favorites can rally support for companies to reconsider removing them from their menus. Whether they’re brought back years later, like Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza, or just months later, like Panera’s blueberry sesame bagels, restaurants can use menu returns as a marketing tactic to lure back customers who no longer want to eat, or even brand superfans.
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