News Snippets

This week in restaurant news: Panda Express begins to operate in Mexico, while German-and-American brewery Gordon Biersch offers a new light menu.

 

Panda Express Enters Mexican Market

 

Panda Express recently announced that is it teaming up with Mexican franchiser Grupo Gigante to open up Panda Express restaurants in Mexico. The first restaurant was slated to be opened in Mexico City in early September. The company plans to open more restaurants in 2012, with the second location to be a free-standing restaurant.

 

Grupo Gigante, which will operate and develop the Panda restaurants, is a major player in Mexico’s economy. It has acquired several commercial chains in the company. Both companies cite a shared focus on community support and “people development” as reasons for teaming up together.

 

Begun in 1973 as the Panda Inn, the company opened its first fast-food location in 1983 as the Panda Express. The private company now has over 1,300 locations in the United States.

 

“No Clear Leader” in Mexico for Chinese Fast-Casual

 

Senior Vice President of Panda Express International Bob Lustig cited Mexico’s lack of any clear leader in the Chinese fast-casual category as one reason for moving into the Mexican market. “We have spent the last year developing deep relationships with the Grupo Gigante team, which has set a solid foundation for the success of this venture,” Lustig said.

 

Gordon Biersch Brewery Offers New Light Menu

 

Gordon Biersch, an upscale-casual brewery restaurant that specializes in hand-crafted German lagers, recently announced they will be offering a “Lighter Side” menu in all 29 of its locations. The ten “Lighter Side” menu items reflect a range of different food types. Most of them clock in at under 575 calories.

 

The Gordon Biersch chain offers German beer and American food. It recently added two other new items: The Veggie Burger (a favorite of many health-conscious individuals) and the Lobster Burger (not quite as health-conscious…but it still sounds like a great sandwich!).

 

Sporting 29 restaurants in 18 states, Gordon Biersch hand-crafts its beer according to the Reinheitsgebot purity law of 1516. It launched the new menu items on August 30, 2011.