Place of Good Lunch: Au Bon Pain

In a recent post, I complained of the lack of good deli-style lunch places in downtown Providence. I said that I miss Mark's Deli, which used to be at the corner of Washington Street and Union. News travels fast in the blogosphere — ask and you shall receive. And so in short order I have this update to offer: Try Au Bon Pain in the Bank of America building on lower Westminster, across from the old Arcade. I had completely forgotten about it.

In French, Au Bon Pain means something like "place of good bread," but there is much more than bread at this high-quality Parisian-inspired cafeteria chain that was started by Bostonian Louis Kane in 1978. There's a great sandwich selection, and they build them behind the glass case while you watch. There's also a salad bar full of fresh and good-looking selections, several soups, and of course, good French and other types of bread, as well as pastries.
When I was there the other day, they were passing around samples of fruit smoothies and sandwich bites of chicken, pesto and roasted red peppers on ciabatta bread. Everyone was helpful and friendly, and the place was immaculate and bright with its big windows facing south across Westminster. You can eat in the cafe or just outside it in the atrium, where many downtown types were picnicking at green garden tables under towering palm fronds.

More on Mark's: A reader left a Comment on the Missing Mark's post of Mar. 4, reminding me that some of the deli's specialty sandwiches were named for celebrities and locals, like the Suzy Cute (for Susan Farmer, who then ran Channel 36), the Larry Bird (turkey), and her favorite and mine, Jaws (tuna with bacon and cheese). Of course, since the deli is gone, it's all just nostalgia, but you can find Mark's complete menu still on the Web at MenuPix.

Missing Mark's Deli

For such an up-and-coming "Renaissance City," Providence has remarkably few places to just get a quick sandwich downtown. Lately, I've been missing Mark's Deli, which used to be at the corner of Union and Washington Streets, behind the Biltmore, and was a convenient place to pop in for an egg sandwich (around 99 cents) up till 11 a.m., or any kind of deli sandwich you wanted till around 3:30. Mark's was nothing fancy, but you knew you could get a good egg salad there, or corned beef, or whatever you wanted for $4 or $5. It wasn't going to have some kind of grain-fed roast beef or locally made cheese or whatever, but it was going to be fast and good. The skinny guy behind the deli case would make you a sandwich almost before you had the words out of your mouth. You could eat it at the table there, in a basket with a sprinkle of potato chips, or you could take it back to the office.
Now there's a Dunkin' Donuts where Mark's was, and that's fine. Starbucks was
starting to take over downtown, and we'd lost a Dunkin' on Fountain Street some years back when the company started putting in latte machines and there just wasn't room for a barista at that particular hole-in-the-wall. But now, where do I go for a plain sandwich? I went around today and looked, and here's what I found: Local 121, Bravo, Tazza, Cuban Revolution. I had a Best Cuban Sandwich half and a cup of black bean soup at Cuban for around $8. With tip, $10. It was okay, but I miss Mark's.