Cafes with the "fast food meets soup/salad/sandwiches/bakery" theme have become a bit of a dime a dozen after the Panera/Corner Bakery boom, but Labriola Baking Company's new restaurant in the Oak Brook Promenade manages to perfect the style and up the ante. Already strikingly clean, the cafe's wood and stone-covered walls, comfy fireplace and flat-screen television (showing CNBC) help the restaurant revel in pure suburban class.

Like Panera, sandwiches and salads dominate the menu, but Labriola (opened by renowned baker Rich Labriola) offers variety in fresh-baked artisan bread – like a hand-pattied Richie burger on an artisan pretzel bun or the roast beef on sliced sesame semolina ($6.99-$8.99 for sandwiches, certainly not absurd prices, especially for the extra effort). Neapolitan pizzas offer a little variety – classic margarita for $9.95, sweet fennel sausage for $11.95 – all cooked over a wood-fire stone oven for pie just as flavorful as a slice from a "sit-down" joint. Even if it's pizza you're craving, no point in resisting a cup of coffee – it's Intelligentsia brewed, and they've even supplied the teas; intriguing aromas like "ginger plum oolong" stir the senses and complement salads better than a soda.

But amidst all of this classy, artisan vibe it worked so hard to produce, Labriola's ace up its sleeve: Rice Krispies treats. The gooey, sugary childhood dessert, along with all the cakes on display (including sinfully-tempting carrot and coconut), pushes the café over the edge. And I haven't even mentioned that a bread company runs the cafe, meaning there's a whole host of fresh loafs to choose from before you get back to shopping.

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Andy Seifert