Fossil Cafe

A short and sweet one and you know that’s not easy for me.
The Fossil Café at the Natural History Museum is located at ground level. It is large with a lot to offer. It’s been several years since the last time I visited. So long that I did not recognize it, so possibly some remodeling had been done. It does look great!
The tables not used were pretty clean, an almost impossible job. But what I liked is the people that were working to clean and clear, so effort was there.
There is a lot to offer, so even picky kids can find something. My picky kid loves pizza and it did look amazing and huge slices. So we got a cheese and a peperoni and hoped that would last for the rest of our touring day. The taste was better than average thus the 4^th star. PEOPLE, get the pizza you will love!
Checkout was easy and no hitch. Prices are more, face it you need to expect it. However, the pizza I felt for portion size was the bargain of the day.
A plug for the museum is easy. This is the best for kids, so check it out and grab a huge slice of Fossil Café pizza.

You know you’re going to overpay when you eat at a museum food court. This is a given. However, I have to say, that as far as museum food courts go, this one actually had decent food. Do I think my sandwich was worth $ 10? Not necessarily, however, it was definitely worth $ 6, so they just uncharged me a few dollars.
I will say that everyone there worked very hard to keep it nice and clean, and when we stood in line to get our food the employees were very attentive. Sometimes you fear spending $ 10 on crap deli turkey on white bread and a bottle of soda for $ 3. But we had decent smoked turkey with a flavorful aioli with leaf lettuce. Soda was $ 3, but refillable, so we shared.
The museum itself takes most of a day to get through properly, so having a decent place to eat helps tremendously.

When visiting the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, try to find someplace else for lunch or bring it with you. Too crowded and way too expensive.

The food here is absolutely awful and worst of all its super overpriced. Not overly surprised about the price considering it is located inside a museum but I would really expect my food to not taste awful when its marked up by like 5000%!

Uggghhhh, a horrible museum dining spot. The tables were nasty and unclean (although had cool educational items in them). The soda was $ 3.58 for a 16oz waxed cup. It was busy and packed with people. Server was marginally friendly. I will not return — visit the Atrium café (one level lower in the same museum for a much better experience)…

I enjoyed the food here, even though it was over priced. But, what do you expect at a museum?! There were so many options to choose from. They had sandwiches, BBQ, hamburgers, soup, salad, and dessert bars. I had the chicken melanese sandwich (which was delicious) and a side of macaroni. I also had a bit of the chili soup, and it was wonderful. I was so surprised at the quality of food being that it’s a café located in a museum. I recommend it if you are hungry and can’t compose yourself.

EXPENSIVE MEDIOCRE MUSEUM FOOD
My recommendation is to only plan to have a light snack or beverage if you find yourself here. I would avoid having a meal here because of the price and the blandness of the food.
Roast Beef Wrap
I ordered the roast beef in a spinach tortilla. It was served ice cold and had no flavor. I found some mustard to jazz it up but for nine dollars I expected more.

I would rate this as 3 and a half stars, but I very much appreciated that they did not skimp on the portions of the sandwiches so I am awarding them 4 stars.
It’s a great location (especially if you are STARVING) since there are not too many other options in the surrounding areas. The food here is PRICEY!!! $ 9 for a sandwich or a wrap. I was surprised that they were not stingy with the portions. The sandwiches themselves were decently made, well balanced with meats and veggies throughout.
The staff were very kind in accommodating our request for iced tap water (and didn’t insist that we pay $ 2 for the bottled water).
The tables were very cute/​interesting as they had glass covers over fossilized rocks! Very creative.
I would definitely recommend going to this café (even though there isn’t that much selection) if you are hungry and stuck in the area.

Sure, it’s expensive, but you can’t beat the location. I don’t like paying $ 2.50 for a cup of coffee, but who doesn’t like the privacy of holing yourself up in a remote corner of the museum and spying on passers-​by of the Mall?
I discovered Fossil Caf shortly after my discovery of the Castle Caf (at the Smithsonian Castle), making me lament that I hadn’t known about this place first — it is more secluded and the window seats have better lighting. I can’t describe to you how to get there, because I stumbled across it, lost… but I can tell you that it is located near the exhibit on «Seeds».
Nothing beats the feeling of reading/​writing inside the confines of a museum, and here you can have your cake and eat it, too. Your bothersome claque of literary admirers will never find you here.