Half Price Books (Robinson)

219 Summit Park Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15275

Grade: A-

I've got some catching up to do on Pittsburgh spots, so I'll start here...

A book store (and a used book store, at that) has no right to have such an excellent restroom. I pushed open the nondescript white door to find my absolute favorite sort of bathroom - what I have referred to several times already as the "pleasant surprise." I was expecting a typically rundown sloppily-painted white cave in the rear of the building, and instead there were decorative tiles, clean modern facilities and friendly stickers reminding the occupant to conserve paper towels and electricity. The door locks for privacy, which is important because this is (if I remember correctly) a unisex bathroom.

If you're anything like me, your trips to used book stores can last up to two hours at the very least. With such an excursion, a clean and functional restroom is a necessity, and I laud Half Price Books for recognizing this and making an effort when they could have easily ignored it. I would not, however, recommend bringing books into the store's restroom for reading material. Though they are used, so who knows where they've been.

I found out later from the cashier that the restroom had been recently renovated, and she added the disclaimer that it wouldn't stay that way for long. If that's the case, then this is worth checking out while it lasts.