An Uncommon Cafe

Very good cafeteria. Great selection of food from sandwiches to burgers to home cooking and Asian cuisine. Sandwiches were made fresh in front of you. Great view of the city and the river. Everyone we talked with was friendly and helpful.

Our guide book said: «Where the power players of Washington go to meet and greet. A garden-​like atmosphere»
After snaking our way through halls last carpeted sometime in 1978, we found the entrance to the café. Apparently, in DC, the word «café» is used loosely as it is at Disneyland. This was no café as we know them to be. It was a cafeteria as I remember them to be from my many days spent in the hospital as a sick child of the 70s and 80s. In fact, the food may have been there as long.
Starvation and utter lack of choice make for strange lunch bedfellows.
I ordered a turkey sandwich with bacon and avocado. I watched the larger African American woman who used her disposable glove-​clad hands to assemble my sandwich with disinterest. First, the wheat bread from the cellophane bag. Next, the bright yellow mustard. Then the pressed and formed turkey slices. The diced bacon. The lettuce. Then she pulled a spoon out of what I too late realized was diced avocado that was sitting in what was most likely a lemon juice bath. I walked away, slowly with my tray. My eyes wandered over the other stations: burgers, pizza, salad bar, desserts… Chinese! I grabbed a jello cup with real whipped topping for dessert.
I don’t recall exactly what sandwich the Love of My Life ordered. I do recall him having a plate of Chinese battered, deep fried and sauced meat. He made fun of my jello cup with real whipped topping.
We sat down on the chrome and wicker chairs next to the floor-​to-​ceiling windows overlooking the Potomac. The view was truly lovely. I put a piece of the avocado from my sandwich in my mouth. The lemon juice permeated the avocado, making it inedible and giving me an instant ulcer. Once removed, the sandwich was nearly impossible to eat because it had been soaked with lemony avocado juice. Thankfully the jello cup with real whipped topping saved me from starvation that day.

I frequently visit the Library of Congress as part of my job. Whenever I do, I usually stop in at their café/​cafeteria on the top floor of the building for lunch.
They have an excellent salad bar! Lots of fresh, raw veggie and fruit options, plus lots of prepared salad choices!
They also have a variety of buffet stations for sandwiches, pizza, hot food of the day, soups, and more.
The view of DC from the café windows is pretty nice.