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Think a stylish Pittsburgher is an oxymoron? I won't put myself up as an example, but as it turns out, Pittsburgh is a great place to fool myself into thinking I live a stylish life on a paltry budget. How do I manage so well to pretend to a life of style? As evidence, I offer up the following narrative reviews of literature, film, music, television and everything else. VOTE in our Best of Pittsburgh survey. Please feel free to this blog or subscribe via RSS. Comments, questions and feedback are always welcome by email. Drop me a note at ![]() |
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In Search of Wireless Internet: Au Bon Pain
Au Bon Pain may seem to be an unlikely place for me to end up, but that constant search for wireless internet makes a gal do strange things. Well, not so strange. Despite the name ("bon pain" means "good bread" in French, and I'm still sticking to a roughly low-carb diet), Au Bon Pain is a bakery and coffee shop chain of the same ilk as Brueggers and Panera, which means they have more than just bread and they offer wireless internet.
And so, I sat down with my coffee and soup, ready to warm up and surf the Internet. The café was pretty empty at that time of day, so I easily managed to get a table near an electrical outlet. This is a problem with most internet coffee shop sorts of places—very few have more than one or two outlets. Otherwise the soup was tasty and the French roast decaf was satisfyingly robust (just because I'm drinking decaf doesn't mean I don't want strong-tasting coffee—the more it tastes like biting right into the bean, the better). I didn't end up longer than two hours at the Au Bon Pain because I had dinner plans, but I noticed on the way out that the decal on the glass door reported their regular weekday hours to be until 7:00 pm. Early closings are a persistent problem with downtown coffee shops, and a 7:00 closing is a welcome change from the 6:00 closings of most downtown establishments that offer wireless internet. All in all, Au Bon Pain turns out to be a great find as a downtown internet spot. The moral of this story is... well, you pick: 1) downtown coffee shops should be open later; 2) people need more reasons to be downtown past 6:00; 3) downtown bars need to start offering wireless internet; or 4) fancy flavored decaf is an excellent daily source of anti-oxidants. 2007-10-22 22:18:35 GMT
Comments (2 total)
Author:Anonymous
I'm curious to know if decaf coffee has the same positive long-term effects on mental health that regular coffee has been shown to have. Whereas I enjoy waking up to a hearty, caffeinated brew in the mornings, I just can't take coffee after about 5:00 p.m. -- it leaves me jittery and keeps me up. I'm just wondering if decaf also prevents Alzheimer's. Who knows.
2007-10-28 00:06:57 GMT
As to Downtown, the bars really should have Internet. I think this mostly because I think ALL bars should have Internet. Because, frankly, I sort of hate coffee shops anymore. --Sabrina <https://www.sabrinaspiher.com>
Author:Anonymous
One thing I like about Panera are their "computer chairs" - and there's an outlet beside each one. Whoohoo!
2007-10-29 18:17:48 GMT
--Mari <mailto:[email protected]> |
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