Friendly Ice Cream Corp. is looking to shake up the Wilbraham company with a new “fast casual’’ restaurant chain it hopes will thrive along the Eastern Seaboard.
The first Friendly’s Express will open in Mansfield tomorrow. Customers will order at the counter from a limited menu, and employees will bring food to the table in less than 10 minutes.
It’s a few notches above fast food, with a more limited menu than at a traditional Friendly’s – the kind of dining a customer would find at a Panera Bread bakery cafe, for example.
The new restaurant, with just 40 seats, will also put a bigger emphasis on take-out orders for busy customers.
“This is all about speed and portability,’’ said Jim Sullivan, Friendly’s vice president of franchising and development. “Consumers today don’t have time for a sit-down experience.’’Carry on reading this post.
Photo: Barry Chin / Globe Staff.
