Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital
Honest and delicious fare in the National American History Museum at the National Mall
The National Mall has a dearth of places to eat and what there are, food kiosks and cafés at the various museums, are grossly overpriced. Given what is, for all intents and purposes, a captive audience, I’m not entirely surprised. The museum restaurants, moreover, get pretty negative reviews, with the exception of those at the African American History Museum and at the Native American History Museum. We didn’t have a chance to try the latter, but after perusing the powerful exhibits at the former, we headed for lunch at Sweet Home Café. My cousin Adriana and her family, visiting from Argentina, joined us.
Despite its name, Sweet Home Café is neither a café nor homey. It’s basically a large cafeteria, busy with school groups and other tourists, without much charm to speak of. There are four food counters, each with different offerings. The “Agricultural South” counter offers fried and baked chicken and sides: mac & cheese, collard greens, sweet potato, potato salad, coleslaw and corn bread. The “Grill” station has fish, chicken tenders and a hot dog, as well as a fresh salad bar and French fries. A dessert counter offers a variety of desserts, including some which are definitely not African American and which are probably not made on the premises. I found the same dulce de leche cheesecake I had here at the Natural History Museum café. The final counter seems to offer a succession of “themed” dishes, which change weekly. When we were there, they were celebrating James Baldwin with a French-inspired menu.
After you order your food, and get drinks and perhaps a wrapped dessert from an open counter, you head to a checkout counter where you pay. I had read lots of reviews that the he checkers could be rude, and my cousin experienced this – they were curt and insulting. Apparently the checker she got was frustrated with their limited English. My husband and daughter didn’t have problems when they got food for themselves and me.
I didn’t take good pictures or notes of our meal there, so you will have to rely simply on my recollections.
I got the Daube de boeuf ($22.50) or beef stew, which came with one side – I chose mashed potatoes. It was a little on the cold side but otherwise delicious. The meat was tender and abundant, the sauce well balanced and the mashed potatoes perfectly made. It really exceeded my expectations flavor wise. The portion was large enough that I could share it with Mike, though neither of us were particularly hungry.
As mentioned, I also got a slice of the dulce de leche cheesecake ($8), which was quite tasty but not particularly remarkable (though good enough that my daughter got a slice of it the next day). Sodas were an incredible $4.70 each, though you could get a refill.
My cousin Adriana and her husband both got the pulled pork. This was a completely new dish for them and they both raved about it. I didn’t taste it myself, so I can’t vouch for whether it was a particularly good pulled pork, or whether my cousins were blown over by the novelty of the dish. But at least it was solid enough to delight newcomers to American cuisine.
No one should be surprised that there weren’t really good options for vegetarians – but you can order a plate with three sides (~12). My daughter went this route and got the baked macaroni and cheese, the roasted sweet potato and the corn bread, which came in a little loaf. She thought the mac & cheese was good, better than your Kraft staple. The sweet potato was surprisingly good, it was sweet and soft and she liked it quite a lot – even though she is not someone who usually gravitates to sweet potatoes. The cornbread, unfortunately, was very dry – but the flavor was there. The main problem with her side dishes is that they were all pretty cold.
In all, given the dearth of dining options in the area, Sweet Home Café is a good option for those visiting the museums and monuments in the area. It has relatively reduced hours of operation, 11 AM to 3 PM most days, so beware you get there in time.
Sweet Home Café
National Museum of African American History and Culture
1400 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC
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