Pavement Coffeehouse

I heard nothing but good things about this place, so I decided to check it out. The place was nice and clean and the staff was friendly. The only thing that I had a problem with was that my bagel had a long orange hair wrapped around it. It was a sad morning.

I stop here a couple times a week, mostly for convenience sake. The coffee is good, the staff is always friendly. Bagels are better than most coffee shops. Why 3 stars? They skimp on the cream cheese, so I have to feel like a pig asking them to put extra on, when all I really want is the normal amount that most places give you.
Update: adding a star for all the veggies you can add to your bagel. Who notices the lack of cream cheese when it’s piled high with savory veggie goodness?

As a born and raised New Yorker, I have a lot of opinions when it comes to food. Bagels and pizza are big items that are hardly ever matched outside of NY. That being said, the bagels here are the best I’ve had outside NY. Coffee is good too.
This shop is pretty tiny and they don’t want you to stay too long hence 1 hr of free wifi and very sparse charging outlets. Womp womp. Seems that everyone in Allston is looking for a good place to study and Starbucks is always packed.
However, if you want a good bagel, check this place out!

Their bagels are the bomb! The best bagels I’ve had outside of Brooklyn, which is automatically worth 5 stars in my books. Crispy outside, doughy inside (almost a New York/​Montréal bagel hybrid… or something). I can’t comment on the coffee or wifi, but come for the bagels and stay for the atmosphere.

Ate a breakfast sandwich and had a cold brew. I received it in a timely manner and I was full and satisfied after (that’s what she said).

Best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. The atmosphere is amazing and extra points for the Toro y Moi album playing the the background. The price was not a problem. Definitely the hot coco capital of the world. Not sure if that’s their goal but my hats off to them!

Slow wifi that is only free for the first hour? Not so great. Thanks for letting me know that AFTER I paid $ 5 for an iced coffee.
I would rather go to the Starbucks across the street and get much faster Google run wifi ALL DAY so I can work in peace. After all, the Pavement coffee is the same price and doesn’t taste any better than Starbucks.
Fear not hipsters of Allston, the white collar corporate Starbucks isn’t always trying to shorthand you :)

Coffee is fine, atmosphere is fine, but they only give you 1 hour of free wifi? Who does that? That’s the dumbest business practice I have ever seen. It’s a coffee shop, your only hope of repeated sales is to keep people in the building, duh. What, is wifi so expensive that 1 hour is all you can afford to dole out?
Made me leave after exactly one hour. Good work. Won’t be coming back.

This is a small yet cute coffee shop in Boston. I ordered the hot chocolate and it wasn’t hot enough. I have never had that happen to me before. The foam was really cute though, it was a leaf! I liked that a lot! Overall, cute place!

COFFEEEEEEEE. My favorite thing on earth. I could not function on a daily basis without it. So let’s say this is a good place to get that blood pumping caffeine. The breakfast sandwiches, pastries and coffee are all amazing. There isn’t a lot of seating but it’s worth eating there to enjoy the music and the people.

I have known this place since it was Bagel Rising. Even though it is run by Pavement Cooffeehouse now, I am still a frequent visitor, stopping by one to two times a week for late breakfast.
The bagels and coffee are absolutely above the standard. What I like more is the working atmosphere in the coffeehouse. Baristas and cooks are so enjoying their work and pleasant to serve the customers. I think that’s why I always leave with joy.
The reason why I feel it is not a good place for working is because they only provide free Wifi for the first hour. But if you work on something that is no need to access to the internet, it is perfect for you.

Went here to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch. After perusing the menu for a short bit, I decided to go with the ginger tofu sandwich. I’m not opposed to tofu, but it’s definitely not something I order typically. However, the ingredients – pickled veggies, ginger cole slaw, sriracha mayo, and whole grain bread – sounded too good to pass up.
It took about 5 minutes to put together and at $ 8.50 it was a good-​sized portion of food. As I had imagined in my head, the flavors all worked really well together and there was plenty of each ingredient to give the sandwich a tasty bite.
Overall, the service here was friendly, the food came out quickly, and I thoroughly enjoyed my delicious (and healthy) sandwich.

*There is a reason for the low rating associated with this Pavement and it is unfair.
I am an Allston resident and before pavement came to be there was a bagel shop named bagel rising that people loved and claimed as «their spot». People were upset to see it go and for that reason they have been harsh with these ratings.
I actually prefer the pavement bagels and ice coffee. I highly suggest the multigrain everything bagel and the seasonal fall spice flavoring if you’re a coffee drinker.

Unlike some of the previous reviews I had a grand experience here. I’m not particularly a fan of the neighborhood, and the things that my wife likes to do in this neighborhood (shop at urban renewal) so this shop stood out to me even more.
The word sterile was used in a previous review with a negative connotation. I’d agree that it is sterile; but the affect that clean floors, clean tables, and merchandise aligned properly place puts me at ease.
So here’s to the best cortado that I’ve had in Boston in the most unlikely of places.

Stopped by to meet some people today and immediately noticed how hot it was in here – not sure if there is air conditioning?
The interior is very hip – I love the big lion mural and how you can see it reflected in the mirror on the wall.
The service was good and it was a nice place to stay for a few hours to catch up.
I ordered a mint tea and didn’t love it, but I don’t blame them – tea is a taste I’m still acquiring. It was certainly refreshing, so if you like tea, it could be for you.
I might try again for one of their breakfast or lunch items!

After getting over the loss of BR I really have to say I’m impressed with Pavement. I’ll be honest, it took a few months for them to get into the swing of things, and it feels so much more cozy and less sterile than when it first opened. The plants and little hand written signs remind me of BR and nostalgic feelings start flooding. Then when I bite into that toasted sesame bagel with tofu spread all my worries and gripes with the change-​over have melted away. As a loyal customer I’m happy to report the food AND customer service have never been better. So impressed with the new staff, you have to see it to believe it.
Excellent all around– I’m SO happy I didn’t write off Pavement. Change is good, change is part of life, change is nice now lets all sit on a yoga mat, breathe deeply, and say «OMmmmmMm» together.

This place sucks! Their menu is pretentious and lame, and what is with the sterile atmosphere?
I have lived in the Allston/​Brighton area for 10 years now, and while I don’t go down to Bagel Rising every weekend like I used to, it was one bagel place I could count on for awesome bagels and awesome sandwiches. Well, unfortunately, that is no longer.
How could you take a business with a line out the door every weekend and ruin it? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Larry, you have made an egregious mistake!!! A Highland Park guy knows a good bagel, and should also know a good business decision!

RIP Bagel Rising, I miss your Jackson Crooks.
Tried to order something similar this morning, and it just wasn’t the same. What is this new fancy bacon you’re using? Why are you trying to be fancy in the first place? Why did you sell out Bagel Rising?
Also, the coffee here is terrible. And some of the employees need an attitude check.

During my last trip to Boston, I headed over to Comm Ave and Harvard to pick up a vegan tequila sunrise from Bagel Rising. To my surprise, it was gone and Pavement Coffeehouse was in its place. Not knowing whether this was just a re-​brand, I went inside and saw my VTS on the menu. While it was mostly the same as before, it didn’t taste quite as delicious as I remember it, and I can’t help but wonder if the re-​brand had something to do it.
The Bagel Rising I remember was a bit on the DIY side with sometimes long waits and lack of seating, but the bagels were delicious and even better when made into a sandwich. With the Pavement Coffeehouse change, it looked much more white, clean, and empty. Usually I like this aesthetic but it felt out of place here. As for the sandwich, it tasted drier and less flavorful than any I’ve had before. Maybe I just got one on an off day but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to stop here next time I’m in town.

The main problem with pavement isn’t that it’s bad, it’s that it’s insulting. It’s the bait and switch the car salesman tries to do on you. It’s being led on by that surly partner of yours, just so they can find something better in one of your best friends next week.
Bagel rising was the darling on Allston. All weekend they would have a line of the colorful Allston residents out the door, buying 1,000 calorie «Tequilla sunrise» or «Chia» bagel-​sandwiches to soak up the booze cruise they went on the night before. Pale skinned, occasionally pajama clad club-​goers from the night before would come in droves. They would come like they had earned it. It was practically an unsaid thing, that when they would wake up in the morning, hungover, unshowered, disgusting, they would drag themselves to bagel rising, and tell the war stories of the night before.
This is all gone now. The independent own daughter of Allston, our very own bagel sandwich store is now seems like some kind of corporate-​feeling starbucks clone. I don’t think this is the offensive part though, the offensive part is that this monstrosity is the same company. It’s not that Bagel Rising went down in some sort of blaze of glory, greedy landlord raised the rent, lived many years past it’s usefulness, or was closed by the heath department. There’s no easy narrative to say «oh man that’s why it closed! what a bummer». It’s that the owner «upgraded» it to be this way, on purpose.
The modern white «minimalist» store layout practically mocks you as you come in the door. It looks too neat and tidy to get comfortable in. The lighting is of that dishonest sort of school-​cafeteria-​too-​bright-​to-​be-​good-​food sort. The bare-​wood benches and tables are comfortable enough I suppose, but there is really no place to get cozy or sink in, or sit and talk to a few of your friends. It’s a place where boring 30something loners go on their way to work to get a coffee now, and nothing more.
What if also definitely isn’t now is a place to get bagel sandwiches. The core business of the previous régime has gone the way of the dodo now. READ: THE THING YOU WANTED TO BUY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? THEY DON“T EVEN HAVE THAT ANYMORE. How considerate of them. They have a half-​hearted list of four bagel sandwich options, all of which are super standard. Bagel with arugula and cheese. Bagel with bacon and cheese. That’s about it. Know the reason they had a line out the door? That’s completely dead.
I got a Bagel Bacon Egg and cheddar sandwich. The bacon and the cheese were a vast improvement from Bagel Rising, but putting the same bagel and maybe a dollars worth of toppings into the EIGHT DOLLAR+ range just isn’t forgivable. Way way too expensive. I can get dinner for that much.
When i was there at SUNDAY 10:00AM, total ALL HANDS ON DECK time for a breakfast/​coffee place, there was no epic line. The place was a ghost town. There were, at the highest point, four people waiting. The cashier rudely forgot to give me my drink, and proceeded to tell me i was wrong in asking for a bottle opener, since my bottled coke «has a screw off cap» (which it clearly doesn’t) and couldn’t even find the bottle opener. A nice lady in line lent me the one on her key-​ring.
The offensive part of this conversion of the BAGEL RISING to a PAVEMENT is the sort of arrogant corporate insistence that «hey you know that thing you like? we’re going to change it into this new thing, and you are going to go to it instead because there isn’t anything else!». That’s the offensive part.
If it weren’t for the great memories of bagel rising, It would just be a forgettable coffee place I wouldn’t ever go to again. But because of them, Pavement is a scar on allston’s landscape. It’s having Bunratty’s become a date-​rape bar for BU kids (way to go Wonderbar). It’s the phantom pains in a parapalegic’s severed arm stub.
Thanks for the memories Bagel Rising. But if I wanted the horrible starbucks type of experience, i’d just go the the starbucks across the street.