Cheap eats in DC?

[disneynan]

We're planning a family trip to Washington DC this spring with our camper. We plan on having breakfast and dinner at the trailer daily, but are a bit stuck for lunch plans. I had originally planned on packing either a light lunch or snacks in our daypacks to get through our daily touring similar to what we do at Disney. But I've since read that our bags will be checked at all museums and no food or drinks are allowed. Sooooo......does anyone have any recommendations for affordable food near the National Mall? Also, one of my sons has celiac and can't eat gluten so I need a few ideas that would offer fresh fruits too. Thanks for any advice. The travel guides don't have much specific information and I haven't had much luck finding a good travel site. I think I've become spoiled with this great place for WDW planning - any site I've found for DC seems to complicated or doesn't have the info I'm looking for.

 

[Ohiodislover]

National Museum of the American Indian cafeteria is very good, with unique choices.

http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=visitor&second=dc&third=mitsitam

We also like Capital City Brewery...Despite the brewery, its great for kids. Typical pub food

http://www.capcitybrew.com/index.php

DH and DD spent $35 for the 2 of them in the Smithsonian American History museum--and it wasn't very good. Just an FYI

 

[golfgal]

The shops at the Old Post office have your typical fast food type places so if Subway or something similar works they have that. All of the museums have a food court so you can most likely find something there. The best place we found for the variety of food was the cafeteria at the Library of Congress. I am sure you can find something there. As far as cheep-plan on spending at least $6/person for lunch or more. Cheep food and DC are polar opposites.

Where are you camping?

 

[disneynan]

Thanks for the fast replies, I will definately check into these options.

We are camping at Greenbelt National Park. It's dry camping, but we are good for 3-4 days on our batteries and have a generator (and of course, a portable dump tank). It was a price we couldn't refuse after checking out Cherry Hill.
I've been figuring that any $$ we save will be spent for food and metro tickets.

 

[pixiepower1971]

We just came home from a week in DC. Plan on spending $10/person for food in the museum food courts. Double that for food in the American Indian museum. Its different but not a great place for picky eaters. We liked Museum of American History cafe. They have a very nice salad bar.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Capital City Brewery is wondergful! we loved there nachos. Also I love hard rock. Its a bit pricer (A burger, fries and soda were about $10) but it was a wonderful burger. It has a great menu for picky eaters and its a cool place to visit. Its like visiting a meseum, lots to see.

 

[disneynan]

The menu for the American Indian Museum cafe looks very interesting. We might check it out. The prices seem a bit higher than we are used to spending, but we would share.

I had already checked out the menu to Brew City. I tend to be wary of menus that don't give pricing. Found the same problem with Hard Rock Cafe. Ate at Hard Rock in 2008 while on a field trip with my son and I agree - the food was great. Had no idea of the pricing as we paid for the complete trip prior to going.

Is it true that you can't even bring bottled water into the museums?

 

[Ohiodislover]

Is it true that you can't even bring bottled water into the museums?

Yes that is true

 

[golfgal]

The menu for the American Indian Museum cafe looks very interesting. We might check it out. The prices seem a bit higher than we are used to spending, but we would share.

I had already checked out the menu to Brew City. I tend to be wary of menus that don't give pricing. Found the same problem with Hard Rock Cafe. Ate at Hard Rock in 2008 while on a field trip with my son and I agree - the food was great. Had no idea of the pricing as we paid for the complete trip prior to going.

Is it true that you can't even bring bottled water into the museums?

There are people selling water out of coolers all over the place and usually for 50 cents-$1.00 a bottle.

 

[disneynan]

So far we are planning on spending a day at the zoo (driving and packing lunches); a day at Mt Vernon (driving and packing lunches); an entire morning visiting the monuments (carrying lunches and having a picnic before heading over to the Mall museums after eating); and then 2-3 other days touring the Mall and surrounding areas. Have not yet decided about Arlington Cemetary.

Most evenings will be spent at the trailer although I'm thinking about taking one of the after-dark tours for the monuments as I think seeing them at night will be a different experience (especially the Korean War Memorial).

Our children are 17, 11 + 9; so for this trip we want to concentrate on the museums and major monuments. DS17 and I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 - we were only given 2 hours! He and I would love to go back as we felt too rushed and he wanted to read every placard, but no way am I taking my two younger ones there until they are older. What a moving experience that was though.

 

[disneynan]

There are people selling water out of coolers all over the place and usually for 50 cents-$1.00 a bottle.

I'm so glad to hear that. I was afraid of Disney prices!

 

[Ohiodislover]

I would recommend the night time monument tour

 

[golfgal]

So far we are planning on spending a day at the zoo (driving and packing lunches); a day at Mt Vernon (driving and packing lunches); an entire morning visiting the monuments (carrying lunches and having a picnic before heading over to the Mall museums after eating); and then 2-3 other days touring the Mall and surrounding areas. Have not yet decided about Arlington Cemetary.

Most evenings will be spent at the trailer although I'm thinking about taking one of the after-dark tours for the monuments as I think seeing them at night will be a different experience (especially the Korean War Memorial).

Our children are 17, 11 + 9; so for this trip we want to concentrate on the museums and major monuments. DS17 and I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 - we were only given 2 hours! He and I would love to go back as we felt too rushed and he wanted to read every placard, but no way am I taking my two younger ones there until they are older. What a moving experience that was though.

I think Arlington is a must do. We, well everyone else on our trip but me, opted not to do the Monuments at Night tour and I regret not doing that. It was fairly expensive but I think it would have been worth it.

If you get metro passes head over to Old Town Alexandria one evening and take the Trolley into Old Town. The Trolley ride is free and you could either plan on eating dinner there our just walking around. There is a cute ice cream shop there if you wanted to just catch dessert. You could bring a picnic dinner and eat along the river.

You might not be able to bring food to Mt. Vernon-but I don't think they checked bags there. We ate there and it was actually fairly reasonable and pretty good food.

 

[mikehn]

Not sure what type of lunch you are looking for, but there are hot dog carts all around the govt office buildings, where you can get a half smoke for a buck fifty, fifty cents for a bag of chips, 75 cents for a soda. The closer the vendor to the museums, the higher the price. If you walk a few blocks further, cheaper. Simply ask a local. We are happy to point you in the right direction.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Theres a little restraunt down by the mouments, Its got outdoor seating and the sign is red. I dont remember what its called but they were VERY well priced. I remember we got a hotdog, chips, soda and a snow cone for $4. This was a year ago or so.

 

[englishteacha]

We stopped in DC for an afternoon on our way to VA this summer. We grabbed hot dogs and sodas at a cart by the Air and Space museum. It was about $2 a dog, I think. Not much better than strolling on the mall with your sweetheart, eating a hot dog and looking at all the sights!

 

[kellyg403]

I second seeing the sights at night! I grew up in that area, as teens we would jump on the metro and hang out at the mall. Back in the days before cell phones even! I hate that my children are not able to experience that.

Its been a long time since I have been back to do more than stop at a museum with family when I am home. You can take the metro over to the mall, I think its in Crystal City..can't think of the name of the stop. Hopefully someone will come along and know. There is a decent food court there for quick eats and you can always tour the Pentagon while you are over there.

Kelly

 

[Christine]

This is terrible--I work in DC and I have no clue as to what cheap places are in close proximity to the monuments.

Two of my favorite lunch places (that are affordable) are:

Five Guys (burgers, fries) which is counter service.
Cosi (which is a sandwich/salad/pizza place) that is also counter service. It is a little more pricey than Five Guys but a lot of the stuff there can be split and they have a pretty good kids menu. The one I go to is on Capitol Hill and is a doable walk from the National Mall.

Please google these two places for locations and find out which ones are closest to your touring places and then plan on going there. You won't be disappointed and will save some money. It is my understanding that the food in the museums is pretty outrageous.

 

[lovemygoofy]

If you need a variety of places and somewhere to sit down either for lunch or dinner and a neat place to sight see, go to Union Station. It's a mall/train station with a very very large food court in the bottom of it. They have all types of food from salad making to greek to sushi to pizza and cheesesteaks.

It is a bit more expensive because it's mall food but you get huge portions. My husband and I can easily share a stiry fry bowl or a large cheesesteak and a sub.

This place also has some great souvenir shops and if you do a night tour, which is outstanding, most of the tours begin at Union Station.

 

[disneynan]

The hot dog carts sound great. My son with celiac would not be able to eat them, but the rest of us could.

Since you are a local, I have another question for you. Does the Metro have weekly passes or do you always have to either pay per ride or get a daily pass?

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I think we will definately do an after-dark tour and try to fit Arlington into the schedule. I'm not sure about Old Town though. I expect the children to be very tired at the end of the day. I think this trip will be more tiring than Disney as we won't be sitting on rides.

I asked my DD11 yesterday what sort of art she wanted to see and her answer was "all of it". I tried to narrow her choices by asking if she wanted to see American, European, Asian, modern or classic. Her answer "all of it". So, we'll see what I want and I won't tell her of all that we'll be missing as it would be impossible for us to see "all of it".