In 1987, Lonni and Ron Whitchurch arrived in Clearwater, Florida from the northern Minnesota city of Bemidji. They left behind many years of -40 degree winters and brought with them their native wild rice and well-rounded recipe folder. Once Ron secured an anesthesia position with Mease Hospitals, they sold their home and relocated within two months - they were ready for a change!
For Lonni, a former high school English Teacher, that meant a new career. She spent six months researching the food industry while perfecting her wild rice bread recipe and creating foods such as her now famous Nutty Chicken Salad with grapes and almonds. On September 2, 1987, they opened the first location on Main Street in Dunedin. Clearwater became the second site in 1989, followed by St. Petersburg in 1992 and downtown Tampa in 1995.
Although often copied, Lonni's recipes are unique. Ron and Lonni alone know their family recipe for the very popular Honey French dressing, as well as her delicate seasoning, which she created in 1986 to compliment her chilled wild rice salad. She concocted her wild apple bread pudding in 1989 and created the Northern Lights (white chocolate clusters) to make use of a new Minnesota product called "puffed wild rice." Awesome chocolate chip and raisin oatmeal cookies and double fudge walnut brownies are made-from-scratch on the premises daily.
Lonni's signature sandwiches appear on inch-thick slices of hand-sliced wild rice bread - or potato bread if you prefer. Ron's Sunny Bird runs a close second to the Nutty Chicken Salad as the best selling sandwich. Crisp salads with creative ingredients, such as the Once-In-A-Blue Moon, made with dried Minnesota blueberries and mandarin oranges are another option. Vegetarian choices abound - like the Mango Breeze sandwich, made with brie cheese, curried mango chutney and avocado slices, or the guacamole and sprouts - made fresh with REAL avocados - or the Custom Vegetarian, made YOUR way.
Lonni and Ron's travels sometimes lead them to new food discoveries, like the smokey chipotle sauce on the Albuquerque Turkey, which they ship from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The wild rice that appears in the bread, soups and salads comes in 200 pound shipments from Minnesota at the rate of about 2 tons per year.
Lonni's Sandwiches has been nominated for Small Business of the Year in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Tampa, as well as named the best gourmet sandwich shop in Tampa Bay Magazine for the past five years. Lonni's was also awarded "Best Lunch Delivery" by The Weekly Planet in 1998. In addition to the most sought-after bread in the area, you will find snow scenes - even original Arctic Cat snowmobiles turned into a planters when you visit any of Lonni's five locations!

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