Constitution Cafe

Not good. Brunch buffet was cold. Breakfast sandwiches were greasy. Coffee was drinkable, at best. Meh…

Over-​priced food by the pound. They are not customer service oriented. They used to have a loyalty program card where you buy 11 sandwiches, you get the 12^th free. By greed, the owner’s discontinued this program. They are not flexible with menu items. I asked to have a breakfast burrito and they refused. I also asked to substitute chicken on their steak and reice burrito, and they refused. The cashiers act as if they are doing you a favor. I see them going out of business in the next couple years.

The place is dirty, the cashiers are not customer oriented but the food is good for the most part. The food bars are by the pound so be careful. Alot better places in the area. The best thing is the fresh baked muffins in the morning.

I used to enjoy the bento box and sushi that was prepared on-​demand at a little kiosk on the east side of the restaurant. Alas, this service has been suspended.
My sadness about the bento box’s exodus has been somewhat softened since I ordered the «Korean Tacos». I put the name in scare quotes since the dish is served in a tortilla and would more accurately be called a burrito. That said, it’s delicious. It contains rice, bulgogi, a flavorful (slightly spicy) mayo sauce, and some cabbage. The bulgogi burrito can be had for $ 5.99 ($ 6.59 once you add the tax).
I have had a couple of the other sandwiches and been pleased. None were notable or surprising, just solid.
The buffet seems to be of-​type with nothing to recommend it as notably better or worse than similar hot/​cold pay-​by-​weight options elsewhere. Admittedly, I haven’t actually eaten lunch from the bar so am reviewing solely on the basis of appearance and experience with 10 or so similar offerings at other DC restaurants.
All-​in-​all, this is a standard lunch buffet with nice values on sandwiches and one surprise dish (the misnamed «Korean Tacos»).
I work nearby and go here once in a while and typically enjoy my meal. If the sushi and bento box station were still operating, I’d give this place at least 4 stars.

This is a tough call. really probably a 3.5
Pros:
Muffins at breakfast
Healthy veggie egg white mix at breakfast
Donuts, Specifically sour cream ones (don’t knock it till you try it)
Grilled Brussell sprouts
The premixed salads and pastas are much better than usual for this kind of place
Ameroso Rolls for the cheesesteaks
Burger special
Convenience and wide selection of drinks
Cons:
The sloppiness of the bacon in the morning all blobbed together and unevenly cooked.
Afraid to eat a number of their hot lunch items at the bar.
Doesn’t order Snapple «Straight up» after repeated requests to get it back in stock. It sold out really quickly because everyone loved it and bought it, but apparently they don’t want to make money selling people things they want.

Meh, I’ve had better food at food bars before. Constitution Café is located in the Noma neighborhood (convenient if you work there, but out-​of-​the-​way and not in the best of neighborhoods if you don’t). Located right next to the Noma metro station, this place offers both a salad bar and a hot food bar. If you want to gorge during lunch, then this is the place for you. But otherwise, the food options are not super impressive. They have the standard greasy Chinese entrees, fried chicken, etc. The salad bar doesn’t have much variety. And it’s expensive by the pound. I was not impressed and ended up paying $ 11 for a flavorless, greasy lunch. Do yourself a favor and visit one of the other restaurants in the area. Au Bön Pain (across the street) has superior salads, and Moe’s Southwestern Grill just next door has some of the best Tex-​Mex offerings I’ve had outside of Southern California.

This is only for the sushi corner. I don’t like the hot bar because it looks like its very unhealthy, everything looks deep fried. YUCK. I have a wedding coming up in June so I wanted something healthy and non fattening. The sushi bar has tons of different kinds of sushi. They also started selling bibimbap (korean dish which is kind of like fried rice which isnt fried) and bento boxes which are fresh and light. So mouth watering yummy!!! Also, THEY SELL BUBBLE TEA!!! I ask for mine with less sugar because I am watching the calories. Everything is prepared daily in the morning and the couple who run it are a nice pair. Go and try the food, you won’t regret it.

Middle of the road three stars cause what they get right, they really get right, but any deviation has gone horribly wrong.
It’s a M-​F spot frequented by the NOMA area employees. Dependable, cafeteria selections; salad bar, sandwiches/​chips, hot buffet, sushi and drinks. I always order the same hot sandwich from the grill. The ladies that work the grill area are very nice. I tried the hot buffet twice, and ended up sick twice… First time shame on them, second time shame on me. I’ll stick to the grill.
Sandwich prices are fair. Buffet price seems high.

Great breakfast spread with really nice fresh fruit, every hot food you might want plus a bunch of muffins too. Fresh cut fruits included kiwi, pineapple, grapefruit, strawberry, melon, grapes etc., pretty darned good for January and not too expensive at $ 6/​pound. Same price for the omelets (4 different kinds), bacon, French toast, salmon patties, scrapple and on and on — amazing variety.
Only one minor problem — drip coffee only, no espresso drinks, so you’ll have to get your half-​caff skinny latte somewhere else LOL.
Opens 6am, tucked away on N Street without much signage. Yeah the Constitution Café is mostly cafeteria, but also will make you food to order.

Overpriced cafeteria food. Not worth it! They need to rethink the prices. Food was mediocre at best. Disappointed in the Smithsonian.

This is a cafeteria. I repeat, a CAFETERIA. I work nearby and have been stopping in for about three years now. I give it 3 stars because pretty much all cafeterias are 3 stars. It’s good for standard breakfast and lunch fare, but you typically go when you’re in a pinch (i.e., forgot to pack your lunch)– I don’t know anyone who’s like «ooooh, let’s really splurge and hit up the Constitution Café for some gourmet, expertly seasoned mac ‘n’ cheese.» It is what it is– take it or leave it.
I will point out that the cashiers are very fast and efficient– I can grab breakfast and be checked out in under two minutes! I’ve also heard the sushi is decent.

Almost 18 months later, and I still remember you, but have neglected to right a review — my bad.
I’d come here from time to time for lunch (and sometimes breakfast) while I was working as an intern right next door.
Essentially, it’s a cafeteria-​style restaurant that has a sandwich-​making station, a sushi-​making station, and a couple of buffet areas.
I tried everything and usually switched it up from time to time. None of the food that I tried was bad, but they all could have used some seasoning, zazz, something… – something that would have made OK into –WOW–
I especially liked the buffet grub and the made-​to-​order hot sandwiches. The sushi was average – nothing crazy to rave about, just raw edible fish on sushi rice with soy sauce and «wasabi.»
If you opt for the buffet option, you grab a takeout tray, pile food inside, and then are charged by the pound when checking out. So depending on what type of appetite you have, your wallet could be hurting if you choose buffet tray. People have said that the trick to eating on a budget when choosing buffet is to eat some of your chow on the way to the checkout line. I’ve never done this, but it seems pretty legit. I wouldn’t recommend it however since there are several Federal Law Enforcement HQs close by.

The food at the buffet can be good depending on which day you go. I think they have the freshest made food on Mondays and leftovers on Tuesdays, but that’s just my guess. Some of the winners at the hot buffet include the orange chicken, the roasted potatoes, the singapore mei fun, the wings, the tofu and thats pretty much it. They have more food like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, onion rings, egg rolls, and etc but I know the secret of how much those items weigh. I would skip the white rice because it is definitely reheated. The seaweed salad is tough and not very authentic. However, the sushi was excellent (tasted fresh) but a bit pricey. They have special-​order sandwiches in the back and they make a mean cheeseburger there. The corn beef sandwich looks yummy, but I never tried it. The fries are not very good in my opinion. The clerks are pretty nice and seating for 4 can be hard to find during lunch hours. Other than that, I would definitely recommend coming here for lunch if you are around the area.
They have a decent selection of hot food, good sushi, and nice staff. I will definitely come back when I need my fix of orange chicken.

1.50 stars. Hhhhmm… you would think that a restaurant would at least wait until they had some customers before pulling the bait and switch with good buffet food. But if the «food» on the hot bar could get worse, I would imagine it would be about as enjoyable as eating out of my own toilet (incidentally, according to the Food Network, there is a commendable toilet themed restaurant in East Asia, but I digress).
The beef with broccoli was a flavorless and lumpy light brown gravy drizzled mess that splintered each piece of broccoli into a soggy grave. The slivers of zucchini were fine, but the beef (quite literally) assaulted the stomach. Constitution Café used sinewy, tough cuts of meat. It was an absolute struggle to chew through the tendons; in fact, I actually couldn’t finish one piece of meat. For those who knows me well, this is damn near sacrilege.
The honey covered tofu and teriyaki chicken were nothing special. The green beans were spiced with black pepper and garlic. Nice and simple. I can live with that. The collard greens were dry and lacked any semblance of flavor. I understand that they are catering to vegetarians on those items, but at least make flavorful vegetarian items! Stay away from the collard greens here.
Constitution Café charges something like $ 6.39/lb for this crap. My total came to $ 10.27 with a $ 1.80 Arizona Iced Tea. I hadn’t felt this robbed since I matriculated into GW’s MBA Program.
If you want a good comparison to Constitution Café, check out Soho Café in Metro Center or at GW. This place is basically a poor man’s version of that concept. It will probably do well with a row of hungry government workers, but that doesn’t mean I can recommend it.

A new café has opened up around the NY Ave/​Gallaudet Univ Metro Area and I must say it’s a welcomed site. They are a part of the Cosmo Café brand which sits over at L’Enfant Metro Station. So if you are familiar with that location, they have the same type spread with a hot/​cold bar, sushi bar, and grill for sandwiches. Went there first day and they seem to have their act together. I’ve only gotten the sushi which was good, and if they’re anything like Cosmo’s I would expect the same results as here.
Again, very glad to see it open, but still waiting for Harris Teeter’s to open up.