Au Bon Pain

This has traditionally been a great standby for lunch. Unfortunately the meals have been getting more and more skimpy. One example being the fruit and cheese trays. What happened? Please don’t try to blame inflation. This is a management problem.

i usually love au bon. this location though is lacking. i had an avocado blt and the veggie chili. sounds simple. but not.
my blt had bread/​toast that was so hard it crumbled. the bacon was black and shattered. and i would expect the normal mealy toms this time of year, and i got what i expected. the lettuce was actually very nice though.
the veggie chili had a great depth and flavor built in. very nice, thick chili. problem though. the beans were not cooked all the way, and crunched in my mouth.
ugh.

I have never really considered ABP as a legitimate lunchtime destination because I thought it was too pricey. In the spirit of the French theme: «au contraire.» I stopped in this afternoon after circling around Downtown looking for parking for City Market. When there was a 20-​minute loading zone right by the Circle, I snapped it up and ran in.
Their soup bar was very clean and well-​stocked. They had at least 6 different varieties of soup, including vegetarian options. The gentleman at the counter took my sandwich order quickly and it was promptly ready. I was in and out well before my 20-​minute window was up!
Once I wound my way through traffic and got to my office I fully expected my soup to be cold and my sandwich soggy. But again… au contraire! My soup was still very warm and the sandwich was toasty, crisp, and delicious. I will definitely be back soon, especially to try their Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. Why people would ever waste an oatmeal cookie on raisins is still a mystery to me…

This is a good place to grab a quick lunch (and go). I’ve never eaten inside, but it is very tiny. In warmer months, eating outside wouldn’t be bad (right on the Circle!). The staff is all very friendly. I’ve had really good sandwiches and salads from there. The coffee is good too. Unfortunately, it is pricey. Overall, it is a good Au Bön Pain location. Nothing to get super excited about, but a good quick lunch spot.

Good location with decent (but relatively standard) food. Nothing to complain about for a quick no-​frills lunch. I’m giving this location a 5-​star for the very friendly and helpful staff. They go out of their way to make you feel welcome, at least during our lunch visit on 8÷12÷14.

Have been a fan of Au Ban since pre-​Starbucks days. Found myself loyal to this chain bc of fond memories, and certain superb service people that remember your name /​order and made a global chain personable. This was the driver that motivated me to walk pass a local coffee shop, a Panera, a Starbucks to get breakfast and coffee at Au Ban by the Monument in Indy.
Plus:
* friendly lady (i should really learn her name) behind the sandwich counter that remembers my breakfast order without fail each time; she’s typically the only one at the station before 830 am. Big thumbs up!
* taste of the soups and sandwiches. Thumbs up.
Minus:
* store manager (wavy brunette in his middle age) — as many visits as I’ve had since my move to Indy 2.5 years ago, I’ve yet to see a smile on his face regardless if he was speaking to employees or customers. I would think this to be a basic attribute in the service industry… He would also makes mistakes at checkout by charging for ingredients that you clearly state you do not have and be unapologetic about it. Thumbs down.
* random silly events:
— stack of wet coffee cup sleeve; when this was pointed out to staff, aside from blaming the problem on storage issue, there was no initiative to find a dry replacement.
— sticky honey jar and messy coffee area
— use of bold, wet marker to mark sandwiches; careful with your clothing in general and especially with white or light color shirts, suits, etc.
In any case, a frustrating store with some plus but more minus.

I was fully expecting to be disappointed and find Au Bön Pain a waste of a lunch. But it wasn’t.
The food was reasonably priced I thought and the food was of thoroughly mediocre quality. The soup could have really used more flavor and my thai chicken wrap was decent but could have been oh so much better with a bit more peanut sauce.
The store was well orgnaized, the cookies looked delicious, staff were helpful.
Overall, I’d rather go elsewhere for lunch, but it wasn’t bad.

Good coffee. But overpriced food and awful service.
I work early mornings and have stopped by this Au Bön Pain several times shortly after it opens. Service has been so bad that I’ve started waiting to show up, coming 20 minutes after doors open in the hopes they’ll finally be ready for customers. But the same story, there’s no cashier on hand, coffee has yet to be brought to the front, and no one seems to be too worried.

With a good location, fresh bread, and a stupidly-​pretentious name, Au Bön Pain on the Circle ought to be considerably better than it is. But the deafening hum of the refrigerator was enough to drive me batty, and that was before I sat at the wobbly table to eat my overpriced sandwich.
They don’t have a restroom … and trust me, that’s annoying enough. But after the guy there told me that I could use the one across the street, I found that my arms were actually stuck to the table with the residue of the previous person’s pop. I managed, eventually, to pry my arms off the table and leave — but not after regretting my mistake to go there in the first place.

This is a well organized store. Everything was bright and the staff was helpful.
Things to point out is that everything isn’t very well labeled/​priced. I looked all over the shelves to see how much a big cup of fruit cost, but I couldn’t find it.
Also, the sandwiches are tiny! They didn’t have the bread for my sandwich available, so I had to substitute for something else. Okay, fine, but all the slices of bread were all tiny! I could finish it in 4 bites.

I usually come here to have a quick soup for lunch and even then it gets a little costly when you figure that a large bowl of soup (which really isn’t all that large) comes close to 6 dollars after tax. The soup is definitely decent, but the portion/​price ratio isn’t. Everything else seems a bit costly as well.

A good option to grab quick bite of something other than fast food. Good soups, breads, sandwiches, and a great location on monument circle. The city of Indianapolis in general lacks from having a lot of decent grab and go affordable/​decent quality street food so Au Bön Pain was a welcome addition. The place is always clean and friendly. What probably sets this spot apart the most is its great location. On the downside the interior (and baked offerings at times) seems a little small in comparrison with other Au Bön Pain locations.

I went to Au Bön Pain today when I came out from the Farmers market empty handed and stomach due to not having cash with me. I came to this place and got a small bowl of chicken noodle for $ 3.80, it’s okay but I think it’s pricier than it should be. However I’ve tried their roasted eggplant soup before from an Au Bön Pain chain store in Staten Island Harbor and I think its way better!

The wireless network kept dumping me off the entire time I was there. When it did work it was really slow. I wrote this review there and I had to open a different browser because the «post» button was loading too slowly. Why didn’t I go to Starbucks?

Sorry, but I’m a big fan of Au Bön Pain. We don’t have one on the West coast, so I like coming here.
I know a lot of people from the East Coast tend to give this place low or average stars because it’s a chain, but I like them.
This café is conveniently located behind the hotel where I’m staying at and across the street from the Soldier and Sailors Monument.
I love their soup bar and it’s so convenient.
They usually have 1 or 2 vegetarian items in the soup menu which is perfect on a cold, rainy day. Sometimes they have vegan on some days which I love.
They have the Tomato Basil Bisque today, so I got one and a couple of Jalapeño and Asiago Cheese bread sticks. I noticed that they were also offering Torsades for a limited time offer, so I grabbed the Golden Raisin and Chocolate. They were drizzled with honey and really quite delicious.
Talk about carb overload.
They also have free Wi-​Fi which automatically gets an extra star from me.
Although I had to wait few minutes from someone to ring me up, the cashier working the register was very apologetic. She even comp’d one of my bread sticks. Now that’s customer service.

I really like the mac & cheese and the sandwiches come out pretty good sometimes too. Cookies and pastries never seem worth it to me and they never go on sale so I don’t try them.

You really can do tons better for the same sort of food and coffee. The place is just kinda of, blah. The food isn’t very good and the staff is of little help. I’ve waited by the registers for more than 5 minutes to get someone to ring me up.
The location is great and they have a cool patio, but thats the best they have going on there.

Little café tucked away off of Monument Circle in downtown Indy. Stopped by for lunch during a hectic day of running around getting ready for an event –the hustling and bustling of my busy day did not stop once I got into this restaurant. If you are not used to the café it is easy to feel like you are going in circles. There are shelves of goodies all around the store stacked with bagels, breads, cookies and muffins; a bar in the middle to store stocked with soups, a freezer/​fridge section stocked with yogurts, salads and more, then there is the register, then there is the kitchen where they make your sandwiches –not to mention the waitress hanging around the store trying to take your order. Very confusing. I ended up leaving the store without a fork or dressing with my salad. Had to come back and get it. Seemed a little expensive for the portion size –but all was very good! But if you are already in a rush –this may not be the place to breeze in if you are expecting to quickly breeze out. Definitely a place to sit and relax and take it all in.