West Wing Cafe

This place is a bit confusing when it comes to ordering. It’s all over the place. You have to place your order at the cashier after you look at the menu at the food counter and then wait for your food again at the food counter. I felt so confused when I was ordering.
I ordered the California salad. It was a fresh salad but definitely not worth my money. This is a work week café. It’s close to many big office firms in dc. I wouldn’t eat here if I had more time to go somewhere else and sit down to order a real meal.
However, one big pro is that they have a wide range of food options from Mexican to Japanese to your typical café options like sandwiches, soups and salads. So if you don’t know what you are craving this is a great spot to eat.

This place is extremely overpriced and the food is very mediocre. I have yet to have a good experience with the food here. The sandwiches are not good (though they always sound good on the menu), the froyo (back when they had it) was even worse and you are much better going to McDonalds for fries. My final straw was when I purchased an overpriced (3 dollars when it is 1.25 at the grocery store) protein bar that I thought tasted very strange. After I was done eating it, I noticed it was over one month expired. If you are going to charge double the price of a grocery item, at least make sure it is fresh. It is ridiculous I was sold this item. Makes me wonder what else is expired here.
Beware of this place. If you are looking for quick food in the NOMA area, you are MUCH better off going to Café Phillips that is 2 blocks down the street. The prices are similar; however, the food is fresh, tasty, and actually worth the money. (And they do not sell expired/​stale items for double the price).

I have only been here twice, and the second time (April 2015) I got food poisoning from a turkey sausage, egg and cheese sandwich.
Haven’t been back since.

Expensive for what you get. Recently changed to no debit unless over $ 5.00. A lot of us who work downtown carry only a debit card. And although they say open until 4 — clean up (meaning sweeping up dust and food right at your table and spraying harsh chemicals to clean the table right next to you) starts right before 3:00 making a diner feel very rushed.

They have a pretty good selection of sandwiches, sushi, rice bowls but the prices are outrageous! One banana is about a dollar. Food is average.
It takes forever for them to make something.
Today I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel and I saw they grabbed my bagel without any gloves.
They also have a five dollar minimum credit card charge.

One thing I regret doing is reading the reviews before going to this café. It was beyond what I expected from the reviews. I really enjoyed eating at this place, and of course loved the ambient and the decorations. Especially with the amount of choices from sushi, to paninis to mexican grill to even a DIY salad bar. The fact that the price was pretty affordable for lunch was great since NoMa and DC itself has a reputation for being not so cheap.
Time to judge the food…
My friends and I got a typical rice and beans with steak and some vegetables on the side, number 10 panini, salmon roll and french fries (bc why not?!)l. We clearly wanted to try as many things as possible because we didn’t want to miss anything!
Rice and beans w. steak/​beef and sauteed veggies and lettuce and cheese:
I think for a café that serves Mexican food, it is just so authentic. It’s not the americanized chipotle food. It’s. Authentic. Period. It’s just that good. The steak was so tender… we basically devoured it all.
Number 10 Hot Panini:
If you love paninis, you can’t go wrong with this and 14 other panini choices on the menu. (I think it took us basically 7 minutes to decide which panini we wanted) The number 10 had fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, spinach, roast red peppers, and I think basil pesto (?). If it’s Basil pesto, then it sealed THE DEAL. I think that was my favorite part of the sandwich. Deeeelish.
Salmon Roll:
It was your typical salmon roll, nothing eye popping besides the fact that there is an actually sushi man who is making it in front of you.
French Fries:
Hmmm… Ordering french fries… You can’t really go wrong with that. (Am I right?) Also my favorites are the skinny fries, so if you prefer that then come herrrre, they give you a lot too, which is always a plus
Basically, if you’re craving something delicious and don’t exactly know what… come here and see all the choices and you will not be disappointed. Basically coming here as my go-​to.
So go explore DC, and eeeeat!

If you are looking for a diversity of lunch choices — including soups, salads, sandwiches, paninis, chips, granola bars, yogurt, soft drinks, etc — this is the place. It even has frozen yogurt (TARO flavored, among others)!
I do think it’s a little overpriced for the portion sizes. I wish the paninis were bigger, but the taste is pretty good (I’ve had the Fresh Mozzarella and the one with prosciutto). The other thing that makes it only 3 stars is that it’s not really clear how to order. I think they should have a sign or something telling customers that they’re supposed to order the sandwich, then pay, then go pick it up from the counter when your number is called, which is the last two digits of the red number on your order sheet.
Otherwise this place is «A-​OK» because there is so much to choose from and the service is nice.
IS IT CHEAP? Not really; you can get a sandwich twice as big and just as good for a few dollars less across the street at Harris Teeters. But I guess if you desire speciality sandwiches…

This was what I used to think of as a decent deli with a wide variety of breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack options. You have to order your food, then pay for it. You then have to provide a receipt showing that you paid before they give you your food. Be sure to CHECK your order before leaving. I walked out with the WRONG sandwich! Fortunately, I was only a few steps outside of the café!
Ok, so I checked to ensure that I had the right sandwich. What I didn’t check is the burned BREAD the tuna was served on!
I’m DONE! Probably won’t return!!!

To the business:
Please put the mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, etc. packets out where people can grab them! The people behind the counter are very busy and it takes forever to flag them down and interrupt them to get you your mustard.
To everyone else:
Pros: Amazing variety, friendly staff. Wide variety of sandwiches (hot and cold), salads and drinks. Good soups.
Cons: Aforementioned issue about the high security handling of the condiment packets. Long lines at lunch rush.
Pointer: Get there before noon when, like clockwork, the lines get long.

West Wing Café is a pretty decent café, conveniently located in the Noma /​Union Station neighborhood. This café offers quite a selection of food for lunch — salads, wraps, subs, sandwiches, and even sushi. But it’s a bit pricey for the quantity of food they give you.
I ordered a spa tuna salad (which came with Albacore tuna salad, lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber). Though it was healthy and of good quality, I didn’t feel like my salad was worth the $ 7+ I paid for it. I would visit again if I had a reason to, but would probably order something a bit more substantial so I could get my money’s worth.
Oh, and the line can be quite horrible at around noon on a weekday, so try and visit a little bit before or after the lunch rush.

Your average DC lunch place with made-​to-​order sandwiches, sushi, and a case with pre-​made grab-​and-​go sandwiches (a selection of the cold made-​to-​order menu, but $ 1 off). Also soup, breakfast, and a yogurt station.
Most importantly for a DC lunch place is the fact that they move large volumes of people pretty efficiently during the weekday lunch rush.
However, my real reason for writing the review is to complain that it’s called the West Wing Café (White House) and yet one entire wall is a mural of the Capitol. That really bugs me. I guess that shouldn’t influence whether you go there, unless you’re a local with OCD.

I don’t know how anyone can give this place more than one star. The prices are outrageous. Even on small health bars and bottled drinks they charge huge markups. I guess they’ve got a higher rent to pay but it’s hard to justify coming here for food that’s mediocre quality. The sushi I had here was just OK, nothing to write home about.
I paid $ 4 for a health bar that costs $ 1.99 at the Harris Teeter a block away.
In sum, despite the wide variety of food options here (from sandwiches to sushi to salads and paninis), the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Go to the restaurants a block away for better quality food at a better price.

I love this place! They have a great variety of food and everything I have ever gotten I always liked.
These are the things I’ve tried:
–Salad with chicken, spinach, cranberries, cheese
–Chicken sandwich with pesto and cheese
There can be a line but at least the place is really large and there is plenty of seating.

I have worked in NoMa for almost a year and I can’t believe its taken me this long to try this place. Getting to it in the construction is a pain. The deli selection is great — they also have Sushi. Service is quick and quality of food is very good. Plenty of seating as well. I will definitely be making this a regular stop.

The West Wing Café is the best choice for a quick work lunch in NOMA. They have an impressive array of food… great deli sandwiches (Boar’s Head brand), sushi (made fresh in front of you and fairly decent for a lunch place that does not specialize in sushi), frozen yogurt, soups, salads, bubble tea, and the usual snacks, sides, and drinks you’d expect from a deli.
What sets this location apart from similar places in NOMA that also cater to the business crowd is the quality of the food. Most of the «delis» (the native New Yorker in me cringes at using that word for any place in DC, but… you play the hand in front of you)) in NOMA are just «meh», but West Wing is pretty damn good. Plus, the staff is fast and friendly.

I go here all the time. The paninis and salads are very good. It is reliable and has an excellent selection, from drinks, to sandwiches. The employees are always extremely polite and efficient. Also, the coffee is decent.

Convenient to have a place with such a wide range of foods under one roof. Paninis, deli sandwiches, soup, sushi, smoothies, bubble tea, fancy packaged foods. Quick service, good food.
The sushi is good – not amazing but good. It’s very dangerous that a place so close to my office has bubble (tapioca pearl) tea – hard to resist. It’s very addictive. The taro flavor is my favorite.

Good place for lunch and close by my work. Their menu is huge! Takes me forever to make a decision but the paninis that I’ve tried have been really good. They have a nice selection of treats too and have fro-​yo with a toppings bar, nice! Solid choices all around, I like.

Miso soup and veggie sushi. It’s fresh and quick. Their toasted sandwiches are also a good choice.
Fun décor and literally every snack you can think of, including seaweed, lentil chips and Way Better Snacks.
Also, they have a ridiculous drink selection. Tea’s tea. So good.

I would give it a five but twice i have gone for chocolate frozen yogurt and they didn’t have chocolate that day. otherwise, food is great with good variety.