Atrium Cafe

This place never disappoints. Don’t be thrown off by the hole-​in-​the-​wall feel to this place, once you come once, you will return. Come here for the fresh carved meat experience (fresh turkey, roast beef or ham). I find it difficult to improve upon the fresh turkey, but my coworkers have tried the roast beef and really like it. I like the choice of bread (toasted if you want) or tortilla wrap (plain, spinach, and tomato), and you can get whatever toppings you desire including banana peppers and jalapenos to spice up your smile. I crave this place during the year to make that thanksgiving classic with Turkey and Cranberry. Prices are reasonable, line is long, but moves fairly quickly. They have inside seating, or you can take away.

In my opinion the bagels are ok. The scones are terrible. Worst scones I’ve try in my life.

Great place. I love their sandwiches but my favorite is their fresh carrot and orange juices. Also very friendly staff. Strongly recommended if you come around here. Very business oriented for office people.

3 stars and not 4 because they charge to heat a sandwich, which seems ridiculous (esp. when it’s a traditionally steamed sandwich, like corned beef and rye). Read the signs carefully, as their advertised prices rarely take into account any kind of modification.
The chicken and corned beef is solid, though. Still, no comparison to Philip’s in Chinatown.

If you love freshly sliced meat (not deli meat but real turkey breast, roast beef, ham) on your sandwiches, this is a great lunch spot! The breads are fresh also and the soups change daily. It gets crowded after noon so go on the early side. The prices are a little steep for lunch and don’t expect overly friendly service but the sandwiches are large and worth it.

It was some what good. Pizza was hand made and good but Mediterranean tuna sandwich was pretty awful. Cold bread and very little tuna. The place is over priced.

I stopped by withy kids after a trip to the air and space museum. The portions were large, the service was friendly and the quality was good. Defiantly a great find.

Atrium Café shocked me. one of my coworkers recommended it and I was skeptical. Prior to eating at Atrium Café I thought it was going to be like the millions of Korean owned cafes in DC but this one put all those to shame.
During lunch time the line was out the door but it was moving at a quick and efficient pace. They specialize in sandwiches, and that is what most people were ordering. They carve their ham, turkey and roast beef right in front of you and the portions are very generous. I went ahead and got their turkey sandwich on wheat with the standard tomato, lettuce and mayo, a bottle of water and a bag of chips costing a little bit shy of $ 11. I don’t expect to get cheap food in D.C. but so far the quality and quantity they gave you at least matches the price. All the workers behind the counter were quick and took their time to make the sandwiches.
I have found my new lunch spot if I am craving a sandwich! Now let’s see if I can find other decent places so I can diversify my lunch options in the L’Enfant area.

Everytime I come to DC I eat my breakfast and lunch here. It is right behind the DC Metro Crime Lab. Great soups and hand carved meat sandwiches. No processed lunch meat here folks. Good prices and service too.

Great little café, hidden in an office building. Great inexpensive turkey, sliced rights in front of you

I come to this location quite often, however I was very disappointed today. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and stepped away from the food counter. When I returned to the counter, one of the workers was making a sandwich and it looked similar to what I ordered. The worker did not have on cloves when she placed the egg on the bagel and then positioned the egg on the bagel without wearing plastic gloves. She then put on a glove and pulled bacon from the container it was in. I asked her why would you touch the egg with your hand and then put on a glove afterwards. She stated that the sandwich was for her… another worker was in fact making my sandwich I later saw but the fact she was handling utensils and other food unprotected was wrong. I believe had I not came back to the counter she would not have put on the gloves to finish making her sandwich. I complained to a person that appeared to be acting as a manager or supervisor but she didn’t seem to concerned… don’t think I’ll be returning.

I visit the Atrium at least once to twice a week. The sandwiches are unique, the MEAT selection is awesome, and they generally can handle the lunch crowd really well. Where else can you get turkey and ham sliced off the bone right in front of you in DC?
This place is only a 3 or 4 min. walk from L’Enfant Metro, I would recommend anyone in the city to try for a great work lunch experience.

Great place — affordable compared to places in DC, food is great and always fresh! The staff are friendly and courteous, I’ve never had a bad experience.

This should actually be a 3.5 star… but not quite willing to jump up to 4 for it.
This is a very good, basic sandwich bar. The selling point is the freshly carved meats (Roast Beef, Turkey, or Ham) that they put on their sandwiches.
Serving size is fairly decent, and there is a good array of toppings that you can select from (including cranberry sauce for your turkey, if so inclined). I normally go with a Roast Beef and Honey Mustard, although the Honey Mustard is a touch spicy for my taste.
While not overly costly, to have cheese added to your sandwich is a good 75 cents to a dollar more.
Never had a problem with the service or politeness of the staff. It is an enjoyable once in a while treat at lunch.

Excellent sandwich, huge portions, fresh ingredients … Awful service! We came in at 2 PM on Monday and it felt like we were inconveniencing them. Very awkward interactions with the staff.

This place gets one star because they couldn’t even manage basic service. Whatever you do, don’t come in at 10:30 and expect something cooked. I was told ‘breakfast is over’. Fine. Annoying, but fine. So can I get a turkey sandwich? ‘No. We aren’t ready for lunch.’ Ok, so how long are talking here? She didnt seem to understand why I was so insistent on finding out when I might be able to eat something — standing in a deli talking to a short order cook who is refusing to make food for a customer. I MUST BE CRAZY
Needless to say I wasn’t in the mood to give my business to a deli without thier act together who won’t make food at 10:30.

I would give it four stars because its in DC, but this place is nothing special. They carve the meat in front of you, but that doesn’t make the meat quality, because it is not high quality. The roast beef is clearly over cooked and dry. I chose the turkey for this reason. The quality of the toppings are subpar. The bread fell apart immediately. It was 9.30 for a turkey sandwich with cheese and an iced tea. They charge extra for cheese, really? I know that is the cheapest cheese you can buy so please. I won’t be back unless my only options are fast food chains like subway or Quiznos.

Great place to grab lunch, come early to miss the lunch rush line !
They have great, healthy options, and the salads, soups, sandwiches are ALWAYS fresh. You can definitely taste that it’s healthy in a good way !
They have a good amount of choices for vegetarians, as well as for carnivores !
I’ve had the chefs salad, and the vegetarian sandwich… and chili… all delicious, nothing super fancy but good for a quick lunch that won’t weigh you down and put you into a deep food coma !

I hesitate to write this review because Atrium is one of the few really decent places in the Federal Center vicinity, and I don’t need anyone else dropping in.
However, I decided that’s not really fair. Atrium deserves public praise.
Meat is fresh. Bread and veggie options are plentiful. Other condiments abound.
Know what you want before you get to the line … because they’ll expect you to.
If sandwiches aren’t your thing, they have plenty of salads in the fridge.

One day, I will get a roast beef sandwich. ONE DAY GOSHDARNIT!
Okay, they run out of the favorite breads (baguette for me, and .50 more but worth it) and certain meats (freshly sliced roast beef, le sigh) by 12:30pm, but this Korean deli has amazing sandwiches and soups. The running out part is why they’re getting docked a half star. Plus they’re cash only. Boo that. so 4.5 stars for this baby. Considering L’enfant options, this place is the holy grail of lunch places.
I can definitely vouch for their chili (I usually hate chili, but theirs is hot, flavorful and not too beany), their chicken salad sandwich and their ham. They’re generous with their meat scoop, so you might have to do some redistribution before attempting to bite into something larger than your face.
It’s true, «lettuce, tomato, mayo?» will get you just that. ONLY that. Want cucumbers and red onions too? Speak up! Make sure to try the honey mustard… and the SPICY MUSTARD IS AMAZING. I don’t even like mustard and it’s amazing. Maybe it’s the new administration that makes me like mustard now. Who knows?
Sandwiches set you back $ 6 – 7, soup $ 3 to 4. In summary, great meats, great selection of toppings and breads, great price, great location. woot.
Directions: It’s on the backside of a building. A better, more accurate address would be on School St SW, between 4^th and 6^th St SW. They have a little red overhang on that side, and it’s much easier to find over there.