Old Panera On Westnege In Portage Becoming McAlister's Deli

There's a franchise deli that already has footprints in Michigan that is making its way to the Kalamazoo area, taking over the old Panera location on Westnedge St. McAlister's Deli is a chain of fast casual restaurants that was founded in 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by a retired dentist, Dr. Don Newcomb and already has locations throughout Michigan in Adrian, Flint, Lansing, Owasso & Wyoming, and soon their new location in Portage will be open. A passer-by noticed signage going up on the building, and people seemed to be excited about the new addition:

It is amazing! There is one in East Lansing and one in Grand Rapids. They are a franchise deli that has an amazing roast beef and cheddar with horseradish mayo on a soft ciabatta. I'm very excited that they are coming to town. -Molly

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What Do They Serve?

From the look of their website it seems like a pretty basic menu with sandwiches, salads, giant potatoes and desserts. While many were excited for the new addition, one person brought down the "buy local" hammer hard on them:

I don't go to chain restaurants. Buy local keep your money local. Why send profits to a corporate headquarters and shareholders who put profits ahead of people? Chain restaurants are ALL bad.

Regardless if it is a chain or not, it IS still adding local jobs to the area, so we'll see how the community embraces it once it finally does open, which was originally projected to be sometime in October.