Au Bon Pain is a well run coffee house and eatery chain. It is also no stranger to University settings. One of my fondest graduate student memories was walking into MIT's domed classroom building to get a chocolate croissant and French roast coffee to begin my day.
The grand opening of the Au Bon Pain on CMU's campus ushers in a new era of morning coffee here. While CMU already boasts several fine coffee shops (Tasa Dora, La Prima) this will undoubtedly be very popular because of its location in the student center with seating with views of Forbes Avenue, the student center and student center extension.
The store boasts all of the Au Bon Pain amenities we have come to expect including premium coffee, fresh breads and pastries, juices, sandwiches and soups. The staff was particularly attentive for their first day and I was privileged to be their first customer, for which I received free breakfast and a plastic coffee carry cup to add to my collection.
The spacious seating areas are well apportioned. There are functional tables and chairs, high chair benches and cushy arm chairs. The seating in the Skibo (named after Andrew Carnegie's castle in Scotland) is marked by high cathedral ceilings with Windows that allow ambient light to pour into the room. Even on a typical Pittsburgh gray day, the lighting makes it appear sunny.
As this is CMU, the shop and associated spaces are well wired. They are tapped into CMU wireless and have plenty of outlets for plugging in laptops. Of course you can use ApplePay to pay at the registers. The Skibo seating area has several big screen TVs to watch news and events.
This is a magnificent facility which I'm certain CMU will embrace. It's siting with view of Forbes Avenue will undoubtedly invite the non-CMU community to make a stop and enjoy. The fact that the construction was completed on time for graduation is an added attention to detail that will allow traveling families to enjoy coffee in this brand new facility. I'm very impressed and think you will be too. Stop by for coffee and a croissant?