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Au Bon Pain is a fast-casual bakery/cafe chain headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Louis Rapuano founded Au Bon Pain in 1976. The principals included Rapuano, Pavailler Machinery, and two minor investors. Pavailler contributed baking machinery to the venture.

Attorney Dick Bernstein, who had studied in Paris, suggested the name "Au Bon Pain", which literally means "at good bread" and is officially translated as "the place of good bread." Corporate colors red, white, and blue mirrored the French tricolor. The concept of Au Bon Pain, to place baking equipment in full public view so customers could see and smell the baking, was revolutionary at that time.

The first Au Bon Pain bakery, established in Chicago's Sears Tower in 1976, became an instant success. Within a short time two additional outlets opened, in Hackensack, New Jersey and in New York’s CitiCorp Building.

Within a few months investors Louis Kane and Arthur Blasberg, who were impressed by the shop in the Sears Tower, approached Au Bon Pain with an offer of financing to expand operations. Kane and Blasberg were politely rejected. Some time later Pavailler began agitating for dividends to cover an unrelated financial obligation. Au Bon Pain management believed it unwise to disburse profits while the company was still in expansion mode. Mr. Rapuano then approached Mr. Kane to see if he was still interested in purchasing Pavailler’s interest, which he was. The deal was consummated in Paris. Up to this time Au Bon Pain's corporate parent company was named Pavco; after the buyout its name was changed to Au Bon Pain Corporation.

At the point when Au Bon Pain operated 12 stores, Rapuano owned approximately 40% of the company.

In 1991, the company went public as Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. In 1999 Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. (later renamed Panera Bread Company) sold its Au Bon Pain division to Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. Inc., which then sold it to Compass Group in 2000.

According to Hoovers.com, in 2005, Au Bon Pain management purchased 75 percent of the company while the Compass Group retained the remaining 25 percent. The current President and CEO of Au Bon Pain is Sue Morelli. Outside an Au Bon Pain (Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts), August 2005

Outside an Au Bon Pain (Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts), August 2005

Currently there are around 230 cafes in the United States and abroad. Most of the stores in the northeast United States are company-owned, while more isolated locations are generally franchised. Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Chicago are all home to numerous Au Bon Pain locations in their respective urban centers. The stores have been particularly successful in transportation facilities such as airports and train stations, as well as shopping centers and business districts in cities. For example, Au Bon Pain has three locations in New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal alone. The chain is also very successful on college campuses; University of Pennsylvania has four locations on its campus. While it has focused on urban locations, the chain has begun expanding into suburban areas such as Woburn, Massachusetts which opened in July 2004 as well as Pembroke, Massachusetts which opened the following year.

Au Bon Pain has attempted to differentiate itself from similar fast casual chains by emphasizing both hospitality and the diversity, quality, and freshness of its menu and ingredients. The chain focuses on serving coffee drinks, baked goods (with a focus on croissants and bagels), and lunch items such as soup, salads, and sandwiches. In recent years the chain has undergone a brand identity upgrade which has incorporated colors, design, and imagery from traditional French motifs. In 2004, Au Bon Pain hired Chef Thomas John, executive chef from Boston's Mantra restaurant, which was named one of Esquire's Best restaurants of 2001 and Conde Nast Traveler's Top Restaurants of 2003. John was named one of "America's Best New Chefs" in 2002 by Food & Wine. As a continuation of the new strategy, many cafes are being built or renovated into "Marketplace" stores, in which the product is made available in a self-serve fashion to customers.