On the menu: A new type of Au Bon Pain

WOBURN -- Au Bon Pain is taking another shot at the suburban market with its latest prototype, the Bistro, which opens here this week with an expanded menu, late hours, and table service. It's a new direction for the 255-unit chain, which began as a Boston bakery selling baguettes and croissants three decades ago. Au Bon Pain has struggled to adapt to the strip malls of suburbia, but hopes its latest incarnation -- with a new name, kids' menu, free WiFi, and armchairs -- will catch on.

``We want to be a favorite local restaurant," chief executive Sue Morelli said. ``Consumers know us as a quick-bite-on-the-run location. Our new Bistro concept slows down the pace, to serve people all day long, not just at breakfast and lunch."

The push to the suburbs comes as the fast casual dining segment -- which combines the experience of a casual sit-down restaurant with the convenience of fast food -- is reporting explosive growth. A recent study by market research group Mintel estimated that total US sales of leading fast casual chains doubled over the last five years, and sales are projected to hit $11 billion by the end of the year.

Panera Bread, formerly Au Bon Pain's sister chain, substantially leads the fast casual sector, taking in about $1.6 billion at its 877 units in 2005, according to Chicago food consultant Technomic.

``The average Au Bon Pain restaurant produces 60 percent of the revenues of the average Panera Bread," said Stuart Morris , president of QSR Consulting Group Inc. in Coronado, Calif. ``Existing annual restaurant sales growth has stalled at Au Bon Pain, compared to a robust 5 to 7 percent average sales growth increase for an existing Panera Bread restaurant."

The format could also broaden the chain's appeal beyond the office breakfast and lunch crowd.

``Au Bon Pain was the earliest of the quick casuals. And now it's going through an evolution," said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president for the design-development firm WD Partners.

Au Bon Pain's Morelli, who led a management buyout of the private company last year, said she hopes to build up to 20 of these suburban prototypes over the next three years, including at so-called lifestyle shopping centers in Dedham and Foxborough.

``There's so much room in the industry for us," said Ed Frechette , Au Bon Pain's senior vice president of marketing, but ``there's only so much room downtown."

Indeed, about half of Au Bon Pain's restaurants are in office locations, with many in urban areas. These restaurants will retain the original format. The company had focused most of its attention on improving Au Bon Pain stores during the past five years, spending more than $30 million to upgrade the shops and menus.

The new design at the 5,000-square-foot Woburn location is an about-face from the first prototype opened at the same location two years ago. That version offered the same menu and service as a traditional Au Bon Pain but in a cool, modern atmosphere (think bright blue, lime green) with flat-screen televisions, a waterfall, plastic chairs, and plastic-vinyl floors.

Within six months, it was clear the model wasn't working. Au Bon Pain had hoped customers would linger, eat more meals, and come back more often. Instead, customers used it like other Au Bon Pains, coming in Mondays through Fridays but rarely on the weekends.

So after nearly a year of focus groups and debates on carpet and paint samples, and name choices, Au Bon Pain settled on the Bistro, a place that would evoke comfort with wooden tables, an open kitchen, and a bigger menu. Customers wanted better service, too, so Bistro staff bring food to the tables and clean up afterward.

To encourage customers to come back more often, the Bistro will be open until 9 p.m. on weekdays, 11 p.m. on weekends.

The menu grew to include paninis, pastas, and pizzas made on Indian flatbread designed by Au Bon Pain's executive chef, Thomas John. Even breakfast got bigger: The kitchen serves up made-to-order omelettes and pancakes.

And if the food doesn't woo new diners, maybe the Bistro's free WiFi and cozy brown armchairs will. Other restaurants, including Starbucks and Panera Bread, have offered wireless service in a comfortable setting to get customers to hang out and spend more money on food and drinks.

In some ways, the Bistro's hues and WiFi make it awfully similar to former sister chain Panera Bread. The two restaurants separated in 1999, when Au Bon Pain cofounder Ron Shaich sold off the chain to a private investment firm so he could focus on what became Panera Bread.

``It would be very hard for anybody to do what we do, especially given momentum we've built up," Panera chief executive Shaich said. ``The world doesn't need another Panera. There's been a lot of others that have tried to be and I have known none that have succeeded."

Au Bon Pain's Morelli said the company isn't trying to be Panera, but rather to raise the bar of the whole fast casual industry. ``We get calls from developers every week who want us and ask us to come into their lifestyle centers and other suburban sites," Morelli said. ``Now we can do that."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.