This week, on Tax Day, Munch was hit with a double whammy of having spent much of the previous night putting together tax returns and spending the day with an energetic 3-year-old Munchkin. Munch knew that the one thing that had to be on any potential menu was caffeine -- lots of caffeine.

And so it was that Munch headed to the office in search of someone who wouldn't mind hanging out with Munch and the 'kin while ingesting copious quantities of coffee. Insomniac Friend of Munch (IFOM), someone who has spent weeks not sleeping and been the worse for it, was soon in the car on the way to Brighton Heights for the perfect picker-upper.

Munch had heard of The Vault, an antidote to the usual greasy spoons. It's in a former bank that is bright with an entire wall of windows facing the street. It serves vegetarian open-faced sandwiches (Munch will get to that concept) and has really good coffee.

Munch started by ordering the triple latte, or three shots of espresso in a latte ($3), while IFOM went for the straight espresso, sparing himself the milk that could possibly absorb any of the caffeine effects.

We headed up the stairs onto a platform of seating behind the barista bar. This gave us a view of the entire restaurant and out the front windows, even though we were seated in the back. The first thing we noticed was the clicking that filled the room. The Vault has free wireless Internet access, which brought in people who were perhaps e-filing their returns but didn't look nearly stressed enough to be doing so. Munch figured they were probably ardent e-mailers who were Jonesing for a cup of Joe.

On the menu, The Vault has a variety of what would normally be sandwiches but are served open-faced. Munch got the concept of that with the tomato basil bruschetta and even with the hummus. But when Munch saw the open-faced peanut butter and jelly, that was taking the whole idea a step too far. Luckily, the Munchkin was adamant that he wanted the hummus, saving his face from a total PB&J mask.

The hummus ($3.25) was the size of an ice cream scoop served in the middle of the plate with a slice of bread that had been grilled, quartered and drizzled with olive oil arranged around it. The Munchkin saw Munch spread the hummus on one of the quarters of bread and began the "I do it myself" portion of the meal, reinforcing the value of the sandwich for ease of eating.

Munch decided to go with the tomato basil bruschetta ($3.25) on wheat bread. The bread was, again, grilled and drizzled with olive oil, the bruschetta was made with tomatoes and basil (hence the name) with onions, garlic and a nice oil and vinegar combination. Munch had the same problem with bruschetta that Munch always has with it: How the heck is someone supposed to eat this stuff? Chopped tomatoes are not something that sits well on top of bread. At least this mess was a delicious one, as was the hummus that Munch actually had to sneak a taste of because the Munchkin was proclaiming it to be "mine."

IFOM went for the chickpea mojo with feta ($3.25), which was chickpeas and feta cheese mixed in a garlic citrus vinaigrette (they called that the mojo) dressing that was so good Munch wanted to go right back for a full course.

The group also enjoyed a half-dozen stuffed grape leaves ($2), or at least Munch and IFOM did. The review from the Munchkin was "yucky," and he immediately wanted a napkin to catch the contents of his mouth.

The food at The Vault, a place built for serving coffee and tea, is a draw in and of itself. But the real kicker was the bill: $17.12 for nice lunch-sized portions for three. If this place were in Shadyside, we would have been thanking our lucky stars to get out of there for $35.

The Vault is the type of place Munch and friends of Munch can bank on for a good meal at a reasonable price.

The Vault Coffee and Tea Bar, 3619 California Ave., Brighton Heights, 412-734-1935. Open 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays.