Community Spotlight: Paninos

Tucked behind Washington Avenue on 12th Street, Paninos waits patiently for their time to shine. Previously known as Pandoros, this sandwich shop opened under new management and a new name only four weeks ago. “Our customer base right now are ones from the old owners that keep coming back. They say they love it,” said Freddy Ng, one of the employees at Paninos.

As the name suggests, Paninos serves a wide variety of the Italian grilled sandwiches called paninis. A favorite among the employees and customers is the Din Don Panini, made with turkey, spinach, tomatoes, sautéed onions, mozzarella, and artichoke spread. For meat lovers, there is the Mambo Italiano. For vegetarians, some paninis to try include the Caprese, Quattro Formaggi, or Rhonda’s Special panini. Ng also pointed out the Shrimp panini as one to try, “People don’t think that we have seafood but this one is very good.” In addition to paninis, Paninos also makes salads and pastas, has a small kids menu, and serves a variety of eggs and croissants for breakfast.

One of the things that makes Paninos different from other sandwich shops in town is that “we use high quality meat and gourmet cheese,” said July Brouillette, owner of the shop. Next week, price changes will go into effect, in the hopes that it will be more affordable to students and the community. Also in the near future, Paninos will start offering a wrap option to their 16 different sandwiches with tortillas such as spinach and herb of sun-dried tomato.

Although business only started a few weeks ago, this little bakery and sandwich shop has big plans. They have already started with a few perks, including free Wi-Fi and a 10% student discount when ID is shown. Paninos intends to turn their small table-and-chairs seating into more of a lounge feel with a few couches. They also plan to have live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. “We want this to be a hangout for college kids. That’s why we offer board game checkouts and we hope to put in TVs soon,” said Brouillette. One little-known fact about this shop is that Brouillette bakes fresh pastries to sell in addition to the wide panini selection. They take custom orders for cupcakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and even cater. The student discount is still available on these orders as well.

Paninos will be posting advertisements in the Student Center in the coming weeks, which will include specials for the week. With their wide variety of food and plans for the future, Paninos is sure to become one of the new hot spots in town.