Sandella's Flatbread Café

Sandella's Flatbread Café is an international "fast-casual" restaurant chain, founded by Michael J. Stimola, known for its proprietary flatbread. Sandella's is headquartered in West Redding, Connecticut and has restaurants in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, India and Saudi Arabia. History: Michael J. Stimola of Redding, Connecticut opened the first Sandella's as a small coffee and sandwich shop in 1994 in the Crystal Mall, Waterford, CT. This original Sandella's, named for his wife, Sandy, and mother, Ellajane, offered signature and traditional sandwiches on baguettes and artisan breads. Flatbread was introduced in 1996, a novel concept in the United States at that time. After developing new ways to use the flatbread (for paninis, quesadillas, pizzas, salads, and rice/noodle bowls), Stimola eventually dropped the other artisan breads and began to offer all of his menu items on this new proprietary flatbread. The flatbread is round and thin, yet differs from traditional tortillas which use vegetable shortening to keep the tortillas soft. Sandella's flatbread is all-natural, fat free, whole grain traditional lavash, soft when fresh but dries to a crispy cracker-like texture when exposed to air over time. Stimola says, "Today, many of the products being sold as flatbread contain preservatives and fat to make them flexible; not ours." In 1997, the company expanded and opened additional restaurants in New York City. Following the events of September 11, 2001, Mr. Stimola took the company in a new direction, focusing on non-traditional locations, and opened its first college location in 2002 at Louisiana State University. Today, Sandella's can be found on more than 90 college campuses, corporate offices, healthcare facilities and transportation hubs in the United States. In 2009, Sandella's opened its first overseas location at the American University in Dubai, UAE and now has stores located in the Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Malta). In 2010, Sandella’s branched into airport locations with its first being Newark Liberty International Airport, and in 2014, opened in its first train terminal at Union Station, Chicago. After 20 years in business, Sandella’s continued to expand the brand with a select number of franchise systems for a co-branding program offering complimentary products to existing large chains beginning with McDonalds in CT and NY (2005), Jamba Juice in NY (2013) and Rita’s Italian Ice (2015) in NY. As of 2015, over 120 locations were listed on the company's web site. Expansion and acquisition: In early 2009, Sandella's started the first international expansion into the Middle East and as of March 2015 has over 25 international locations. The first worldwide Sandella’s store opened at American University in Dubai, the most populated city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Shortly thereafter, additional stores opened in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi (UAE). In May 2010, Sandella’s expanded into Saudi Arabia and now has stores in Khobar, Dhahran (Saudi Aramco), and Dammam. In April 2013, an additional Sandella’s opened in the Malta International Airport. The company branched into India with its first location opening in Gujarat, India in January 2015.