Au Bon Pain

Union Station can of course be hectic, so service here can vary with crowd demands. However, the prices are excellent for what they serve. The quality of the food is in keeping with the chain’s standards. That means there can be some variance from time to time, depending on your expectations and preferences, but it’s far better than fast food, and reliably tasty for a quick serve spot inside of a train station.
I can be disappointed most of all over the inconsistencies in food supply. The soups pots are frequently emptied of the most popular flavors fairly quickly. The popular pastries have their low periods as well. Compliments can also run low and be hard to come by during busy periods, which is frustrating when traffic is heavy and employees are busy. Hence, I’ve deducted a star for this stock problem.
All in all though, I recommend stopping by when at Union. There aren’t many choices in this area, and it’s virtually impossible to come by other ready made healthy options. I know I’m thankful to have this stop!

Untrained staff, incredibly slow, ignorant. Approached the sandwich counter at 11am on ¹⁰⁄₃₁ and I was the only person there. The 2 people serving continued to chat for a full minute before acknowledging my presence. I placed an order and after taking forever to write it down she proceeded to make it incorrectly. I pointed out that she was making the wrong sandwich and so she started over but she had to keep turning around to read the menu to see what was supposed to be on it. I had to cancel after 15 minutes of this because I had to head to a train. Grabbed a chicken wrap and the cashier asked me if I wanted a bag. I told her I did and she rang me up then failed to provide a bag. I asked again. Got to the train and the chicken wrap had obviously been sitting on the shelf for s long time because the cucumbers and avocado were rotting and soggy. Terrible terrible experience. Shame on you Au Bön Pain.

Food looks fresh. I had to grab something quick to catch a train. girl behind the counter seemed annoyed I wanted to order lunch at 10am. But she wasn’t rude about it. Just annoyed. Sandwich was good a lot of bread and the cookies tasted great. OK prices nothing outrageous. Lots to choose from bagels to pastries to cookies to sandwiches to bfast to hot fresh made sandwiches

really affordable place. good coffee, I tried iced mocha latte and found it very close to starbucks, at less than half the price.
food items were reasonably priced and staff was cooperative too.

Terrible service, out of bread (note they have bread in the name!), terrible employee’s who can’t even decipher between ham and cheese. Would give — stars if possible.

2 croissants for $ 5. Yes, please. After a long Amtrak ride, this was the perfect spot to grab and go.
Their new pumpkin croisbun was delicious; the cream cheese goes all the way through the pastry! Mmmmm.
The raspberry cheese croissant on the other hand, was bitter and flat. Don’t get this!

The food is ok – what do you expect, it’s a chain located in a train station – but sometimes the wait to pay can be agonizingly slow, whether it is their point of sale system crashing or the supremely indifferent staff ignoring a growing line. Allow extra time.

I always stop here when taking Amtrak to grab some food for the trip. The prices are reasonable. I had the chipotle chicken and avocado sandwich, and it was really fresh. I hate when you get a sandwich and the lettuce is wilted and slimy. I haven’t had this issue here. Also, the egg and cheese on ciabatta is another favorite.

Wow, won’t ever come here again! Totally slow and somewhat inept workers took beyond long to prepare breakfast sandwich and caused me to miss train at Union Station. You’d think a franchise in a transportation hub would require more efficient workers. Husband went to Pret a Manger across the hall and was finished five minutes ahead. The real rub is that when I sat down to eat said sandwich, it was lackluster at best. Next time it’s McDonald’s for me for similar quality and much faster service.

The marble pound cake is amazing!!! The baked goods in general are very good. If you come to the union station location at lunch be prepared to wait it’s like a zoo.

The great thing about this location is it never closes which is great for late travelers. The bad thing about this location is the personnel seem to have better places to be and it’s difficult to get anyone’s attention. An even worse thing is I had the unfortunate experience of them late at night while waiting for my train. I have never in my life seen an employee wear earbuds the entire time they had customers. When asked a question she made the grand gesture of taking them out and saying «What?» And then replacing them back into her ears. Seriously? Yet you took them out for the police man you were flirting with. Oh I see now. She just doesn’t *want* to talk to customers

Solid place for lunch on the go when catching a train out of the city. Attentive staff and a sincere desire to prepare a good lunch sandwich for busy travelers.

I like the Au Bön Pain franchise. I’ve been to one in Boston, Manhattan, and Atlanta, but this one was so disappointing in comparison. The customer service was subpar in comparison to all the other locations I’ve been to; two were very helpful and kind, but others were quite rude. Considering I was there at 5.30 in the morning before the morning rush, I would’ve expected a little better customer service. The bagel was a bagel, and the water was overpriced.
I wish I had gone to the Prets across the way.

I always enjoy my visits to Au Bön Pain. They make a great quick breakfast spot with a huge selection of pastries and savory items. This is a good location greeting you right as you come up from the Union Station Metro shop. They’re quick and efficient with a fair amount of seating.

I can’t give this 5 stars, because the premade food is just OK. It’s good, but not great. You can get something made fresh at the counter, but boy they always seem to take forever.
No, what I love about this place is the pastries. They are sweet, crispy, chewy, fruity, fresh… you name it. I love the cherry danish, and it is my weakness. What I love is their pastry dough is not overly sweet, which allows you to enjoy a pastry without feeling like your teeth are about to rot away on the spot. Their muffins are the same.
I also really like the location. It is right when you hop off the metro, so you can grab a bit before getting on, or when you get off to either get on a train or head out into the city. I love it.

If pret a manger hadn’t been renovating, I would have never stopped at au bon pain to grab a quick sandwich on the go. I’m not sure why but I really like eating while I’m walking and I only had 10 minutes before class. What I got was called the ‘Napa Chicken Avocado Wrap’- literally the most disgusting wrap I’ve ever bitten into and a waste of $ 7!!! I took about four bites before throwing it away (and that’s saying something because I hate wasting food and push expiration dates to their limit). The supposed ‘chicken’ was mealy and dry and one bite I even experienced a peculiar crunch. The tomatoes were watery, flavorless and had that smooshy texture that tomatoes get when they’ve been refrigerated. The avocado had that spoiled flavor. Ugh.
Anyways au bon pain still warrants three stars because the pastries are great. The blueberry muffins are soft inside, packed with berries and has crisp edges. The ‘elephant ears’ and croissants are flaky and buttery. So the lesson learned here is to avoid their awful pre packaged lunch goods and grab a carb filled pastry. I’d rather regret the calories than have to ungracefully spit out wrap chunks in a trash can on Massachusetts Ave.

The place really gets two thumbs up for friendly staff. Great location within Union Station and has a good selection of salads, soups, sandwiches, and wraps. You have to get lucky at times to get veggie soup tho.
Most of the service is quick — but for some hot sandwiches which can take longer. This particular day, I went for the Black Bean veggie burger with freshly sliced Avocados. Average of average I would say. I wish they would focus a bit more on good quality bread as the regular fare they use is bland and not particularly healthy. The Black Bean Patty is above average. Of course, fresh avocs makes the biggest difference.
On the whole a good selection, reasonably quick service (not as quick as Pret — right across from them), and can pass as decent food if you are reasonably hungry. And yes, during busy hours you may have trouble finding a place to sit. Of course, you can always go to the food court to find a place to sit, but you have to lug your baggage downstairs.

Definitely one of the best places for bread in the neighborhood. Being French, I’m very difficult about my bread. I recommend their sourdough or their walnut bread. Both of them sour and amazing. Careful, this is not a place for your usual slightly sweet American bread!
They have great pastries as well (they vary seasonally, which is nice). If you go seat in the back while waiting for your train, I recommend the chocolate banana bread. Really delicious!

A great stop if you are at Union Station.
Au Bön Pain has a wide variety of coffee, espresso, soups, salads, sandwiches and pastries.
Their coffee and pastries are excellent!
You can also go to the Grab ‘n Go section for a quick sandwich if you are in a rush.
I always find the staff there courteous and friendly. Service is relatively quick and prices are great. Much better option that any other pastry places inside Union Station.

4 stars for an ABP?! It may look absurd, but this location totally deserves praise.
The school I go to has a few ABPs on campus, and I constantly encounter them at airports and such, due to my frequent travel. Of course, as a vegetarian, I am always pleased at ABP for always labelling its vegetarian/​vegan items.
However, this location is especially awesome because it is the most efficiently run and has the most variety of all the ABPs I’ve ever been to. For example, they pretty much always have all the pastries on their menu available, despite the hundreds of people dining here every day. Same goes with their awesome – albeit sodium dense – soups. I’m a huge fan of ABP soups, and I’m always so happy that this location usually has 4 or 5 vegetarian/​vegan soups on hand at once, as opposed to the 1 or 2 that most locations have.
The seating area is decent, and what you’d expect, for a Union Station location. The staff is constantly restocking the food, cleaning, and efficiently getting the tons of customers through the registers quickly.
Though you’d have to be a fan of ABP to appreciate how great this location is, I’d recommend checking it out, if you’re looking for a quick bite in Union Station. Also, it’s one of the more affordable places to eat in Union Station, which is definitely a plus.