• the217
• Food + Drink
• Sandella's Flatbread Café to debut early February

Related Media

• See Slideshow (2 images)

A new franchise is coming to the CU community that prides itself on the freshness of ingredients, nutritional values, and satisfying meals that revolve around the idea of using flatbread. Sandella’s Flatbread Café will open in early February at 700 South Gregory Street in Urbana. Owners Dan and Lisa Hunt along with Christopher and Sue Fetters bought the franchise in 2007 and have been waiting for the right location to open the first of the six Sandella’s they are hoping to start-up. Dan Hunt says, “We bought the franchise and it took us a while to find the right location for the first store. We have six stores to build in central Illinois: Springfield, Peoria, Normal, Champaign, and Decatur, but this is store number one.” Speaking further about the decision to open in Urbana first, Hunt says, “We’ve looked in all the areas, but this was the best location that came up first. This is a nice little nest; our demographic is here and with all the foot traffic that’s really what brought us here.”

Christopher Fetter comments on the location being a college campus, “On the East Coast, at colleges, it has done very, very well. It is a new experience for franchises.” Not only are the owners excited about their location choice, but they also can’t wait to share the food with the community. A Sandella’s calorie chart alone can attest to the healthiness of the foods. Hunt says, “The maximum caloric content of any of our meals is like seven hundred calories, and that is the rice bowls.” Speaking on the popular sandwiches he said, “When you start getting into the paninis and the grilled flatbreads, you are looking at five/four hundred.”

The owners all rave about the bread and they are very excited when comparing it to a more typical thick bread sandwich. Hunt describes the flatbread, “The bread is all 100% whole wheat, no preservatives, no fat, and it is brick oven baked.” He goes further to say what he finds valuable about the flatbread, “There are actually three layers in there, so you can buy one of these, a cold wrap, and it could sit for two or three hours and not get soggy.” Fetter chimes in, “Maybe more than two or three hours.”

Fetter comments on the satisfaction of the food, “It’s a full, but not a heavy full.” Hunt agrees with this statement and after finishing his afternoon panini, he says, “You are not buying a great big piece of bread, you’re getting a third of the calories, but this is still filling. I won’t have to eat till tomorrow.” About the overall menu of Sandella’s, Hunt says, “This is just as quick, but a lot better for you.” To the owners, this comes down to the fresh ingredients that they use, and of course the flatbread; Hunt says, “You saw the nutritional information. We tasted it then we looked at that, tasted it, and looked at that, but it is the freshness that does it, and the bread.” Hunt explains that all of their products are commercially available, but they have certain manufacturers that produce just for Sandella’s. He says, “We can get daily deliveries from the produce companies. Everything is fresh.” Hunt says that the grand opening will take place sometime in early February. He attests for all of the owners, when he says they are really looking forward to the opening, “We are looking forward to serving the community. I’m proud to be doing this, we all are.”