Panera Bread will overhaul its menu on April 4, an announcement that comes at a time when the St. Louis company is in the news for different reasons.
Changes include nine new items that will bring the chain into a “new era,” according to a news release.
Among them are four new sandwiches: Toasted Italiano with Black Forest ham; Chicken Bacon Rancher; Ciabatta Cheesesteak; and Tomato Basil BLT.
RELATED: How Panera Bread ducked California’s new $20 minimum wage law
Salad-wise, the chain is adding New Mediterranean Chicken Greens with Grains; Southwest Chicken Ranch; Balsamic Chicken Greens with Grains; and Ranch Cobb Salad.
There is also a Bacon Mac & Cheese.
Twelve existing items will receive “menu enhancements,” including the Bravo Club Sandwich, Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt and the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad.
The new menu will add items priced at less than $10 at participating restaurants, the news release said, including the Tomato Basil BLT, a Ranch Cobb Salad and the Mediterranean Greens with Grains. It also states that there will be “more chicken and steak on many salads and sandwiches.”
Panera Bread is exempt from a law hiking wages for fast food workers from $16 to $20 an hour in California, a fact that has been widely reported this week. The law contains an exemption for chains that bake bread and sell it as a stand-alone item. Critics have said Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for the exemption and note that Newsom’s donor Greg Flynn owns a number of Panera franchises.
In addition Panera Bread settled a class action lawsuit over delivery fees for $2 million this week and in recent months has been subject to wrongful death lawsuits over the caffeine content in its lemonades.
