Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital
We got to dine at the Congressmember-Only Dining Room!
Our trip to Washington DC was amazing, and one of the main highlights was having lunch at the Members Dining Room at the Capitol. This is a dining room reserved exclusively for members of the US House of Representatives, their staffers, (the US Senate has its own dining room) and their guests. It only operates when Congress is in session, though before the pandemic it had been open for reservations to anyone on the days Congress wasn’t in session. This no longer seems to be the case.
The Members Dining Room has actually two main dining rooms. One appears to be for Congressmembers only and the other for members and their guests. The latter one, named after Ernest Petinaud, who served at the dining room for fifty years, is relatively small, though on the day we were visiting it was also rather empty – only two other parties were dining there (no congressmembers that we could identify, mind you). It has a simple, old fashioned elegance – with a rich crimson carpet, yellow walls, crystal light fixtures and a huge painting of the British surrender to Washington at Yorktown. The tables had white tablecloths and blue napkins, and looks exactly like the photos of it you can find online. The dining room has been operating at its current location since 1858, and I daresay it hasn’t changed much.
The Dining Room was offering a buffet lunch that day with table service for drinks. The offerings were limited but broad enough that most people should be able to find something they liked.
“Bean soup” has been a staple of both the Senate and the House dining rooms for many decades, and while I don’t like beans, I urged Mike to have it. As it happened, they had both a black bean soup and a white bean soup. He thought the white bean soup was very good, with the black bean one less so. I had the DIY salad, and found it pretty average.
Mike had the salmon and the Brussel sprouts. He found the salmon to be good, though not particularly remarkable. The Brussel sprouts were very good, but he is a fan of them in general.
I had the chicken thigh, and it was well seasoned and moist – better than what you’d expect from buffet food. The roasted potatoes were a bit dry, as they usually are.
My daughter, a vegetarian, tried both the rigatoni and the rice pilaf. She found both of them to be fine but, again, unremarkable.
My cousin Adriana, who was with us, raved about the food – but I think she might be less picky than we are.
But, of course, regardless of the food, eating at the Members Dining Room was an extremely cool experience. We felt the history of the room, the uniqueness of the experience, and are extremely grateful to have been invited to enjoy it.
