This bakery has "estudiante" lunch deals that include salad, drink and pastry. You don't have to be a student to get the deal, just ask for the sandwich a la menu. There is a little menu on the counter explaining your choices.
Even without the deal, you can get a hot panini for 5 to 8 euros, which is not as low priced as the streetside vendors, but still inexpensive for a hearty, hot lunch at a sit down cafe.
The bread and pastries that I tried were also excellent. I brought some macarons home to friends in the US, and even the next day, after a dry, ten hour flight, the cookies were magnifique.
There are a few cute tables outside, made extra pretty with artificial orchids and bright green chairs. I watched one of the bakery staff wipe the tables down and arrange each chair just so, creating a welcoming vignette.
Unfortunately, there wasn't that much of a welcome from the humans at the shop. Normally, I would not have returned and possibly would walk out without buying anything from a place where I felt so unwanted. Because my French is almost nonexistent, and because everyone has bad days, I persevered. The day that I stopped by for lunch, the salesgirl was totally wonderful, and worked very hard to help me get my lunch. She was really sweet and wasn't angry at my pidgin French. On another day, buying the macarons turned into an ordeal of epic proportions, where I thought the salesperson might throw the cookies at me. Whoever got the ones she put back in the case got a taste of hate, I'm afraid. One other salesperson at the shop, though not actively hostile, seemed to be utterly disdainful, and to prefer not having me as a customer. Perhaps I disturbed his contemplation of the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, or some other lofty intellectual pursuit. The others turned to him for help translating, and he was quite capable when he spoke a few words to me, but he was the coldest to me of all the staff.
The cafe is right down the street from where I was staying, on a street lined with interesting shops, and there is no other combination bakery + lunch cafe in the vicinity. The quality of the baked goods was undeniable. They are an award winning bakery (imagine the competition!), with multiple locations (just ask Google and YouTube). The low star rating is due to the general unpleasantness of being a customer. read more