Au Bon Pain, 19th & M, Washington, DC

Oh man, does it pain me to write this one. I really love Au Bon Pain especially now that they have such a wonderful variety of soups. The one I reviewed is across the street from my hair salon, and I often run in there after an appointment to grab some soup before I head home. I have never entered the restroom facilities and now that I have, my afternoon soup runs (at least to this location) may be a thing of the past. I don't know where to begin, because honestly there was not one redeeming quality. OK maybe one; there weren't any living organisms visible to the naked eye. EVERYTHING was dirty!! The walls were dirty and appeared to never have had a wipe down, the caulk around the commode was dirty as was the commode itself. Additionally, the tank cover was missing pieces. The floor was wet and there was paper strewn about the room. There was unidentifiable black gunk on the walls by the auto paper towel dispenser. They almost got a point for having the automated towel dispenser, but it was NOT working! The blue soap dispenser was dripping and would not dispense additional soap. The lighting was very dim, which is probably a good thing because additional light would only show more grime . The trashcan by the door was also dirty and needs to be replaced. It did appear someone tried to wipe down the mirror, but I'm certain they used a filthy rag to do it. This was a huge disappointment and I expected much better from one of favorite places. Get it together people!!

Casey's Coffee House, 23rd St., Washington, DC

This bathroom was relatively clean, but there was some dirt between the tank and the seat. The soap was the icky pink variety. The water pressure was good and warmed up nicely.
The automatic paper towl dispenser is a plus and scores bonus points. Negatives: the bathroom opens directly into the restaurant. In that case I think there should be more than one locking mechanism, least someone is “exposed” to waiting customers and/or the people making sandwiches behind the counter.

Also, apparently something large and round was removed from the wall and the paint job was not adequate enough to hide wall damage.

Overall, it did not give me a bad impression of the restaurant and I will continue to eat there. My favorite is the mozarella veggie sandwich!