Mezzanine By D’Amico

As regular visitors to the MIA, we’ve eaten at Mezzanine a number of times. It’s fine for what it is – a lazy lunch option for visitors who don’t want the perceived nuisance of venturing over to Eat Street. The quality of the food ranges from bland to good. Nothing quite breaks the threshold to great.
The only dish I can completely recommend is the mozzarella and tomato flatbread. The chicken flatbread is pretty bland – I’d recommend avoiding it. The veggie burger sliders are a mixed bag: the burgers themselves are good, but they’re paired with awful hockey-​puck buns you’ll want to toss aside. Again, though, this is museum food; you’re here for the convenience, not great eats.
There are a number of kid-​friendly items on the menu. Our five-​year-​old noodle addict heartily endorses the mac and cheese.
Regarding the convenience of not having to leave the MIA, Mezzanine has one big drawback in the form of excessive wait times. 25 – 30 minute post-​order waits are the norm, especially when the place is busy. If you want a quick 10-​minute snack break, go to the D’Amico café on the first floor.

I was hanging out at the MIA today between meetings and headed upstairs for some lunch and laptopping at D’Amico & Sons, only to find that this is now Mezzanine By D’Amico — a whole different restaurant. Well, sort of.
First thing’s first. I’m so glad they kept the leather half-​moon chairs. They aren’t very pretty, but they are SO comfortable that I’m planning a heist to capture one for my very own… kidding… maybe.
It’s also similar to the old place in that it has a café menu that includes flatbreads, sandwiches, salads and soups. A lot like the typical D’Amico formula. The menu is more limited than it was before and not as Italian-​focused, but I didn’t have any trouble finding something that sounded delicious. I went for the $ 9 soup and half-​sandwich combo (or salad): squash soup and the breakfast club.
I have to admit that I don’t think my lunch was the best in the land. The soup was generously portioned, creamy and rich. I liked it, but it could’ve used a bit more flavor (I added pepper and Parmesan hoping to punch it up a bit). The breakfast club sounded like my perfect sandwich (turkey, bacon, fried egg, tomato, lettuce), but the bacon wasn’t crispy and the egg was cooked over-​hard… which is just strange. If I see a fried egg on a sandwich, I think runny yolk soaking into the bread and introducing all kinds of awesome. It wasn’t a terrible sandwich or a terrible bowl of soup, but both could’ve easily been better so that’s why I went with the three stars.
Just to be clear, everything else was ship-​shape — I like the atmosphere and the highlight of the visit was definitely the service. Every single employee I encountered was totally on their game and very friendly. A little girl near me ended up breaking a bowl filled with mac and cheese and the manager (I think) came right over, knelt down to her eye level and first asked her if she was OK and then asked her if she wanted some more mac and cheese. The man’s got his priorities straight.