April 1 Alert: Boston Pizza boots buns from its menu

Guests get all doughy-eyed over restaurant chain's new "pizza-fied" dishes

MISSISSAUGA, ON, April 1, 2013 /CNW/ - Boston Pizza, Canada's largest casual dining chain, today announced it is banning all buns from its menu and replacing them with pizza dough options. The bold move effectively eliminates all traditional sandwiches and burgers from Boston Pizza's 345 Canadian locations in favour of new, delicious "pizza-fied" versions.

"Let's face it. Canadians love our hand-pressed, freshly-made pizza dough and we're really proud of its high quality and versatility," said Michael Gray, Director of Culinary and Executive Chef at Boston Pizza International. "We couldn't be prouder to make this long-awaited move away from buns and finally embrace what this restaurant chain is all about. Canadians come to Boston Pizza to get great pizza, and now - no matter what you order— great pizza is what you will get!"

Boston Pizza expects the move to bun-less burgers and sandwiches to further cement the restaurant chain as the place to go for all-things-pizza in Canada.

Anchoring Boston Pizza's new bun-less menu is The Pizzaburger, a half-pound prime rib burger wrapped in hand-pressed pizza dough and baked to order. The Pizzaburger is available in two varieties - Pepperoni & Bacon and Five-Cheese.  Other new items on Boston Pizza's new bun-less menu include:

• PizzaSalad - Crisp romaine lettuce, red onion, tomato, shredded cheddar cheese encased in Boston Pizza's famous pizza dough and baked perfectly and served a choice of dressings.
• ChocoPizza - For the pizza and dessert lover, the ChocoPizza is the perfect combination. A slice of Chocolate Explosion cake surrounded by pizza dough, baked, and topped with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
• Pizza Beef Dip - Thinly sliced roast beef piled high inside sesame-seeded pizza dough. Served with au jus on the side.
• Pizza Apple Crisp - Slices of sweet Granny Smith apples in a butter sauce, baked to a crisp with a delicious brown sugar and hand-pressed pizza crust. Topped with caramel sauce and served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
• Pizza Toast - Fresh hand-pressed dough dipped in delicious pizza sauce, sprinkled with bacon, cooked until tender and served with olive oil for dipping.
• Pizza Bread Pudding - Tender pizza dough mixed with Italian seasonings and sauce, and baked to perfection.

If the new menu items become as popular as the restaurant chain anticipates, Boston Pizza also expects to replace more menu items with "pizza-fied" options in the near future.

About Boston Pizza
Boston Pizza International Inc. is Canada's No. 1 casual dining brand with more than 345 restaurants in Canada. Annually, Boston Pizza serves more than 40 million guests. The company has been recognized as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and was named one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures by Waterstone Human Capital for 2007 and 2008. Boston Pizza International Inc. is located in Richmond, B.C., and has regional offices in Mississauga, Ont., and Laval, Que. For more information, visit www.bostonpizza.com.

SOURCE: Boston Pizza International Inc.

For further information:

Perry Schwartz
Director of Communications, Boston Pizza International
905-361-3616
[e-mail]

Joe Cariati
High Road Communications
416-644-1378
[e-mail]