Sculpture Garden Pavilion Cafe

We often stop at the Sculpture Garden Café for a glass of wine, or a spiked coffee during the winter if we are walking around the mall area. If you must have food, theirs will do to get you through to your next meal. It’s standard cafeteria style fare that beats a fast food burger, but not much else. The staff has always pleasant and personable.

2.5 stars
Came during the winter, for ice skating. It was definitely busy with families, but there was still a ton of seating.
I would recommend only getting drinks like hot chocolate or apple cider. We got one of the pastries to go with our warm beverages and it was super stale. We ate around 3p and it was clear it had been left out all day.
On the other hand, the beverages were good. My friend got the peppermint patty, which is hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. It was really yummy and sweet!

It was beautiful even on a rainy day and quite good. Everyone is right about the prices, being affordable even on a prime location. One misleading thing was that there were three leek cakes on the display but the order for the same price only came with one…
We came right before rush hour at lunch. So I would suggest going odd hours or earlier to not have to wait as long.

Just know what you’re getting into here. It’s part of the Smithsonian so you’re paying museum café prices. $ 6.50 for an average sized yogurt parfait for example. $ 1.50 for an apple.
Food was as expected. We were hungry and waiting out the rain. Overpriced for what it is but definitely a solid «hold me over» until dinner type places.

A nice place worth the stop. Had a wonderful Montréal Beef Sandwich with greens. Service was a little slow and it was not busy. The outdoor setting is really nice. A little pricey for a sandwich but about the best you can get right on the mall.

My friends and I were wandering through the National Mall desperately looking for something other than street food or expensive to enjoy. Thankfully, we luckily stumbled into the Sculpture Garden Pavilion Café, a wonderfully air conditioned treat!
The restaurant has ample indoor/​outdoor seating and is very clean. You go up to the counter, see the food options in the glass containers, and order with a cashier. You will get a buzzer and then go to a separate counter to redeem your meal.
The options are simple but delicious and reasonably priced. There’s a variety of sandwiches, salads, soups of the day, and even mac and cheese!
I tried the mac and cheese which comes with a side garden salad for $ 8.50. The mac and cheese was baked and delicious.
My friends tried different sandwiches and were very happy with both the quality and the price. My friend loved the eggplant sandwich she had!
We split a pitcher of sangria while we dined which cost $ 17.95.
If you’re ever wandering through the National Mall and want good food at a good price, stop by here and enjoy!

What a great find. Stumbled upon this gem. It’s hidden is a beautiful sculpture park and garden. Amazing food, decent prices, well worth a visit. Outstanding sangria.

From what I have heard, the line can be astronomically long, however, when I visited here on a Sunday afternoon, I did not find that to be the case at all. Located in the Sculpture Garden (just keep walking past the fountain and you will run into it), you could not ask for a more picturesque location in the summer to enjoy a full meal, dessert, coffee, or an afternoon cocktail! There is ample outdoor seating both in front of the café and around the side of the building. The tables around the side have umbrellas to shield you from the midday heat. My boyfriend and I split a slice of tiramisu accompanied by coffee (him) and goose island IPA (me). Our friend a cinnamon bun which was HUGE. Our tiramisu was quite tasty, especially coming from a café environment. I loved the creaminess of the inner layers. The beer was reasonably priced $ 5.25 for a pint. I did notice their wine prices were not as generous though. On Fridays they have free jazz in the sculpture garden and a pitcher of sangria is $ 17.25– this makes for a romantic yet inexpensive date night too!

Good food, especially considering the convenience. There is definitely a wait, but worth it for the flavor. (Not sure it was worth the price though) Factoring in the convenience and the food, id recommend it as a pleasant stop on a busy day sightseeing.

We were advised by our bike tour guide, Jessica, from bike and roll to stop here and listen to jazz music (it is free of charge). She said it’s the place to see and be seen and that people get dressed up to do this every friday night.
We were totally dressed down from a day of bike riding, but did not feel underdressed (everyone was dressed smart casual with a few going all out).
Jazz starts at 5pm but it’s best to arrive around 4pm to get a good seat/​setup. We got there at around 4:10 and after the security guards searched our bags for booze, we got one of the last few seats on the actual benches. However, there were lots of folks situated around the water or picnicing on the grass near the sculptures.
I was getting hungry so I tried to go to the café, but it was closed at 3pm and wasn’t reopening until 4:30 so I did the outdoor café and snagged a delicious meal of jerk chicken (no buns). The server was very sweet and gave me one extra cole slaw and a bit of veggies from the sausages. The total was $ 9 (tax included) and my food was really delicious and filling.
I did go back to the café once it opened but was underwhelmed by the sparse options and did not end up getting anything.
As for the jazz… it was great. The band was speaker of the house and they did covers as well as their own original songs. Although I have to admit, a lot of the songs didn’t sound like actual jazz (or what I was expecting).
One woman got up and started dancing, which sparked everyone else off and so there was a nice little crowd dancing up until we left (around 7pm when it started to rain heavily).
The only weird thing was we thought the band would play to all of us around the water /​on the benches but instead they set up facing the café and was playing to a few people standing infront of them. Still, there are speakers all around so the sound was good.
Just be sure to check out the actual sculptures before you leave!

The line was long, but our food was fresh and hot! We got the roast beef sandwich which was toasted and the cheese was nice and melty. A nice casual lunch place in the sculpture garden I would recommend.

After walking around for hours, my boyfriend and I stumbled into the Sculpture Garden Café. The line was ridiculously long, however, we were starving and the food was well worth the wait.
The atmosphere is pretty. I loved being able to look out the window and see families posing for pictures and enjoying their day. It’s a great location, right in the center of the mall.
The menu had a wide variety to choose from. Sandwiches, salads, quiche and more. After our order was rung up, it wasn’t terribly long till our food arrived. Maybe 10 mins? I ended up ordering a chicken sandwich that came with a salad. Everything was yummy! My boyfriend and I enjoyed our lunch and dessert. We’ll be back again when we’re in town.

Had a working lunch here with a colleague and I enjoyed our experience here. The food isn’t anything super special, but it was pretty tasty. I got the roast beef sandwich and thought it had some great flavor. It’s also in a great location and they have a lovely patio that you can sit in.

Can’t beat the convenient location.
Can’t beat the friendly staff.
Can’t beat the view of the fountain.
You could easily beat the wait time though. Easily.
Imagine the wait time being the last kid picked for your cross country team during recess (What? Is that not a common recess activity?). It’s that slow. Not only do you have to wait for the kid to even make it to the starting line, but you just know that’s about the fastest movement he’s going to make the whole race. Analogy: you gotta wait to order and gotta wait for that order.
I would recommend this café because it’s convenient, the staff is nice, the food is decent, and the view is great. BUT if the line is anywhere near where the door is, I’d move right along somewhere else.

A nice place to slow down and get a bite to eat. The line was long for the café, but it wasn’t terrible. The food was average. I had their carved turkey sandwich, that sounded good, but was somewhat bland. I had a taste of their Cherry Sangria since it was cherry season, and it was yummy sweet. I didn’t order a whole glass though, as I’m not really a drinker. Just thought it sounded good. It would have been too sweet for many. I sat on a bench and enjoyed watching all the tourists playing around the water, dipping their feet in. There were a lot of tables inside, but it was nice to go out into the beautiful day. There were some very fun sculptures to see and it doesn’t take a lot of time to walk through. I had an employee at one of the museums suggest the café for a nicer lunch spot. I’m glad I went.

Staff and manager are very friendly. Location is great.
That’s about all that was good about going to the Pavilion Café, however. The café is run poorly and inefficiently. Wait times were absurd — I saw one man waiting before me who waited 35 mins for an espresso shot and a cold muffin from the pastry case (these should be served at the register!!!). My own food order took over 45 minutes, eating up valuable limited time. Unless time is of no importance, I’d skip getting anything to eat/​drink here.

This place is lovely. It’s the perfect place to warm up after ice skating. Wonderfully comfy seats, a nice view of the rink, and also fair prices considering its a tourist location. I went with the barbecue salmon and it was served on croissant like bread which I indeed enjoyed .
They serve mostly salads, sandwiches, and sweets along with your typical café drinks.

Pretty decent café, especially if you just went ice skating in the Sculpture Garden ice rink right across this place and still want to enjoy a beautiful view of snow falling outside but want to warm your frozen hands and feet.
The café is located in the Sculpture Garden (right across from the Archives) and has plenty of seating and big lovely windows that let in a lot of light and let you see everything in the sculpture garden.
My boyfriend got a coffee and enjoyed it. They have other warm drinks and pastries too.
It’s definitely a nice place to visit after ice skating or if you just want to have a snack while you’re in the sculpture garden.

Cute little café in the sculpture garden. Ive only ever ordered drinks from here but they are always good.
The thing i love about this place is the atmosphere. When its warm you can sit outside and marvel at the different sculptures. The sculpture garden also has free jazz concerts on thursdays which adds to the ambiance.
I personally love the sangria. When its summer in DC, there is nothing better than listening to jazz and sipping on sangria.
Having looked at the food menu, the options are somewhat pricey, but hey you pay for location right? The last time I was there it was snowing and the ice rink was open. I loved being able to sit inside sipping my cappuccino (which was great by the way) and watching all the ice skaters.
My advice — don’t go to pavilion café for the food. If you’re touring around dc and happen to be in the sculpture garden around lunch time, its not a bad option. There are tons of salads, sandwiches, and soups to choose from, and the view isn’t anything to complain about.

We had a lovely picnic lunch here. Ordered at the counter and then brought our trays outside to dine by the fountains. The turkey and Brie sandwich was simple and tasty, as was the accompanying side salad. The Asian salad was very good too — fresh ingredients. It’s a little pricey, especially for counter service, but worth it for the view.