Very exciting to have an Au Bon Pain on campus. I got the free coffee cup, and it's a nice cup. They had promotions to entice repeat customers, if you buy something you can often get a discount on certain things the next day if you bring back your receipt, and have "deals" if you buy a large reusable cup - refills will be greatly discounted. The seating area gets crowded during the lunchtime, and not all tables can access outlets. Some of the outlets are inexplicably blocked. The seating along the far wall as well as the closest table have glass pieces that you can write on with dry erase markers which is cute, but I study alone and so I just doodle on them sometimes instead of doing my work. Since a lot of people eat here, the tables can sometimes be not clean enough for people to feel comfortable to place books, laptops, and papers on around peak eating times.
I have had a few pastries here since I like to study in the Skibo eating area sometimes, and the pastry case is very bright and inviting and the stuff inside looks really good. I've had a cheese asiago bagel which is the first time I've branched away from a plain or sesame bagel since I wanted some cheese, it was ok but the cheese felt weird. The texture of the bagel was fine though (I often eat bagels with nothing on them and untoasted). I had the palmier which was kinda flaky, but it was covered in huge sugar crystals and was too sweet and not as flaky as a palmier should be. I also had a blueberry muffin which was covered in sugar crystals and very sweet. Same with the chocolate chip muffin. This is a common theme with places in Pittsburgh, the pastries are overly sweet. I also had a bit of baguette, toasted, and as far as baguettes go it was very average, probably a bit below average honestly. Maybe I'll have something good someday but other than the chicken and mac and cheese at the exchange, this is the first time I have spent my own money on campus food since I was a freshman with a meal plan, so I guess there is some kind of magic going on here.