Fazoli's Debuts New Menu

Quick-service Italian chain Fazoli's has introduced its "Expand Your Taste" menu at all company-owned and some franchised restaurants, featuring more than 15 new items.

Many of the new offerings contain fewer than 400 calories, a format Lexington, Ky.-based Fazoli's tested earlier this year with sales success.

The new menu offers healthful options and items that permit customization. The "Pick Your Pasta" offering lets customers choose from spaghetti, penne, bowtie pasta, ravioli or fettuccine and pair it with marinara sauce for $4.99 or Alfredo sauce for $5.49. Roasted chicken or meatballs are available for an additional $1.29.

Lower-calorie options included the Chicken Mushroom Alfredo Bake, Three Cheese Baked Ravioli and Chicken Penne & Peppers for $3.99, all of which contain 400 calories or fewer. Two 500-calorie-or-fewer flatbread pizzas, in chicken broccoli Florentine or Tuscan chicken varieties, also are $3.99.

Customers also may choose a Citrus Apple & Roasted Chicken Chopped Salad for $5.49, and Flatbread Piada sandwiches, available for $5.49, come in Chicken Pesto, Italian BLT and Vegetable Fresco varieties.

Smaller items for between-meal dayparts include Stuffed Pizza Sticks and Toasted Ravioli.

"Guests will find more options for lunch, dinner and snacking," Cathy Hull, Fazoli's chief marketing officer, said. "In keeping with Fazoli's focus on value, all the new menu items are priced to stay within the family budget."

Fazoli's opened its newest restaurant in October in suburban St. Louis. The chain's first nontraditional unit opened in that market in a Walmart supercenter last February.

Early last month, chief executive Carl Howard reported that Fazoli's had achieved 15 straight months of same-store sales growth at company-owned and franchised units for the period ending Sept. 30.

All of Fazoli's nearly 130 company-owned units have been remodeled to include its Expanded Service Program, which includes fast-casual features like real plateware and food runners. About 25 franchised locations are scheduled to include the new format by the end of the year.

Fazoli's has more than 220 restaurants. Private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners acquired Fazoli's in 2006.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
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