Think of it as Xando Plus. Combining the best of the coffeehouse Xando with the best of the sandwich bar Cosi, the new hangout next to the University bookstore -- simply dubbed "Cosi" -- hopes to delight its customers morning, noon and night.
The two New York-based companies merged in 1999 to allow them to leverage their complementary strengths in coffee and bread. Although the familiar sun and moon logo at the Xando site remains the same, the Philadelphia location is one of the first to offer both product lines.
"There's still the Xando coffee, there's still the Xando liquor bar... but now all of a sudden there's this 8,000 pound oven in the stores that we use to leverage our success in bread," Cosi marketing director Rammy Harwood said.
Before the merger, Cosi mainly served up its crispy crust bread for lunchtime patrons. But now, this Pizza Romano bread can be found in such foods as omelette sandwiches and "squagels" -- square bagels -- for breakfast, and flatbreads topped with a variety of toppings for dinner, in addition to the trademark stuffed sandwiches.
"The grilled chicken is good, the Tuscan salsa is delicious, but what makes the sandwich is the bread," Harwood said of this month's featured sandwich. "What we are hanging our hats on, if you will, is this bread."
Customers can either choose from a range of eleven sandwiches, from tomato, basil, and mozzerella to tandoori chicken, with an average price of around eight dollars. Or, with all of the sandwiches ingredients laid out in front of them, they can have their own custom sandwich built.
Seven salads which are "perfect for grazing alone or with the herd," are made fresh every morning and packaged for a quick pick-up, according to Harwood.
However, unlike the sandwiches, the salads -- which cost between $7.50 and $10.50 -- are take them or leave them.
"We are not experts in lettuce," Harwood said. "We are experts in bread and coffee." ÿÿÿÿÿ Cosi has about 60 stores extending as far as Michigan, but is presently mostly focused on the mid-Atlantic region. Nine of the stores are in Philadelphia.
The successful results of the transformation can be seen during lunch on a recent summer afternoon, with the restaurant overflowing. Harwood expects good things in the future from the store that is "by far one of the best stores in our chain."
"You may consider this to be relatively busy, but I think in a month when the students are back it's going to be unbelievable," Harwood said, adding that the retrofitted store is already doing twice as much business as it was last year.
And even thought the store has been open for less than a week, it has already developed its own following, possibly because of the bread, which Harwood described as "cultish."
"It's delicious. We were just saying it's a really great sandwich," said Office of Student Conduct Director Michelle Goldfarb, who was dining with her daughter. "I never ate at Xando's. They had those wraps that all looked kind of premade to me, and you can get expensive coffee practically anywhere."
Linda Schleifer, executive director of external affairs for the School of Arts and Sciences, also welcomed the new dining option.
"We're constantly saying that we need more places to get a nice salad," she said. "I mean, you have La Terrasse and the White Dog [Cafe] and Pod, but that's an expensive meal for lunch."
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