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Longworth Cafeteria
Rating Details »
Category: American (Traditional) [Edit]
Longworth House Office BulidingIndependence Ave & New Jersey Ave
Washington, DC 20515
- Nearest Transit:
-
Capitol South (Blue, Orange)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- None
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10 reviews for Longworth Cafeteria
Such an interesting place!
Horrible wait, almost no space to eat, long lines.
Good take out grub, not too expensive.
Always some great conversations to eavesdrop on!
Quality of food is 2, touristy factor bumps it up another star.
The place gets crowded and isn't the cheapest option for lunch but the variety and location is hard to beat when you're on the Hill for the day. The best meal you can get is the pulled pork and mac & cheese. Try it and you'll never stray! It's a steal considering what you'd pay somewhere else for it. Be sure to stand in the right line to pay.
Really a 2.5 in context (drab basement office cafeteria), not in the grand scheme of things. One day yelp will give indecisive people like me the .5, and I will quietly rejoice.
Back when I worked on the Hill, I consumed maybe a couple thousand meals from here. It has always been mediocre to varying degrees. Before it changed vendors, they used to have killer buffalo chicken wraps, turkey day wednesdays, and though the food wasn't spectacular, at least it was cheap. The House switched vendors in '07, wraps now pretty terrible, turkey wednesday still around, but not quite the same and everything is pricey, especially for that side of town. They treat it like it's a Smithsonian food court or something, and though there are quite a few tourists that eat there, there are a ton of poor Hill staff that are forced to pick up potentially crappy food there and pay through the nose for it.
The layout and traffic flow is piss poor, tourists never know where the hell to go b/c there are different lanes for staff or people that have quickpay cards. All that said, for a food court/cafeteria setting, it's not horrific food if you know the right thing to order (BBQ, turkey, pizza, taco salad). Avoid the 'region of the day' international bar at all costs. As Joye mentioned, Doris is awesome, I would wait in a longer line just to say hey to her. Also, shout out to Ms. Dot, she's cool, always gave me extra gravy. Mmm, gravy-
Doris Cherry works the checkout lines. She is, by far, the best thing about the cafeteria.
http://www.tmz.com/200...
http://wonkette.com/40...
What has happened to my once-beloved Longworth?
Don't get me wrong, I am still absolutely convinced that Longworth is the best of the cafeterias on the House side (I can't speak for the Senate as I've never been). But... man.
When the Longworth caf was first re-vamped and greenified, it was absolutely amazing. Despite the fact that the food was put out on a steam table, it all looked amazing, and delicious. I always seemed to have to choose between options that all sounded and looked delicious - just like when I went to an amazing restaurant.
Times, they are a-changing.
Now, I walk into Longworth and more often than not I am stuck with my absolute baseline backup: a chicken sandwich from the 'grill' station. The 'main course' often looks inedible (though the sides have managed to remain acceptable at least), and more and more often the international looks less than savory as well.
When the 'greening' first came through, I was ecstatic to see that the mantra seemed to be 'take amazing produce & meat, cook it simply, and serve'. Roast salmon with a simple sauce (to keep things from drying out) could be found at least once every week or so. Now... it's gone.
There was a recent price raise. If the quality of the food now was as it had been, I'd have happily paid the increase. But with the quality as it is now, I'm not nearly so willing to fork over my cash for the slim and sad pickings...
HOWEVER. The staff is amazing. Friendly, smiling, and they know their regulars. That is something that hasn't changed.
Longworth is definitely the best cafeteria experience I've had on the Hill. They renovated the whole place in the last few months, making way for a fresher looking set-up, and as Victoria T. mentioned, all the products (cups, silverware, straws, etc.) are totally biodegradable and made from corn starch!
I dig on the salad bar - always a wonderful selection of fresh greens, veggies, and specialty side salads. They have an "international" bar, which rotates different cuisines. The Thai bar was incredible - however the Russian and Spanish bars looked far from appealing.
Not as great of a selection as running over to Union Station, but a pleasant experience on the whole, along with random sightings of representatives and general people-watching.
Affectionately known as The Trough and occupying the bulk of the basement in the Longworth House Office Building, this "best of the bad" carry-out offers the widest array of some of the worst food available in the city. As if the long hours and difficult work environment Hill staffers contend with each day weren't enough, they aren't even properly nourished.
The food establishments on the House side of campus are all operated by Guest Services (GSI). At GSI, there is only one way to prepare vegetables: boil them for three hours, then put them on a steam table. Baby food isn't this soft.
There are a few shining redemptions in the slop-house known as the Longworth Food Court - the two cashiers named Doris. I go there for breakfast each morning for my Daily Dose of Doris (doesn't matter which one - I love them both!). They are both beaming rays of sunshine breaking through the stormy clouds that are lost/bedazzled visitors and fiery Congresspersons. But...you gotta be a member of the club to see them at lunch. Their lanes are staff only.
It's a cafeteria, but definately better than Rayburn. Truthfully, I don't know what all the hype about Rayburn is about. To me, it looks and feels like a school cafeteria with long lines and hard to find a place to sit down and eat when you finally do make it through the food stands.
Extremely nice staff- if something's not there they're more than happy to go get it for you. Say you want a certain food but you're not sure if you'd like it or not, they'll let you try it first!!
As for Longworth, you're in and out in a jiffy. There are roughly 10 cashiers and they'er all nice and friendly as well.
I've had the salads, Middle Eastern Cuisine (cauliflower & rice), Mexican (salsa verde fish & almond rice & lemon asaparagus), Breakfast (either a sausage &cheese&egg biscuit or the breakfast buffet) and the chicken tenders. All good and relatively affordable.
SAY NO to the soups. They're either super sweet (Tomatoe & Basil) or super salty (Clam Chowder).
The desserts look yummy but I haven't had the chance to experience one yet.
To all you enviormentalists out there, everything is biodegradeable including the cups, plates, forks, spoons, & knives!
Their vegetarian pizza-by-the-slice is actually better than you'd expect for a cafeteria, especially if you're lucky enough get it hot out of the oven. The thick crust is light and slightly salty, the tomato sauce tastes fresh, and the cheese is rich and plentiful. Greasy, in a good way.
The Malibu Wraps' eggplant is usually fine, but occasionally it's tasted a little burnt.
Very nice cashiers (Hi Doris!).
If you're working on the House side of Cap Hill this is probably one of the best places to grab a quick bite to eat. The food is pretty good, relatively inexpensive, they have a lot of options, and it doesn't have the dungeon like feel of most of the other cafeterias that are confined to the basements of the House buildings. While this is also in a basement, it actually has a long window letting in light, so staffers don't feel like they're in a cave when they dine here.
