Devon & Blakely

I’m very partial to Sweet Leaf Café in Virginia where they make exquisite toasted sandwiches fresh to order, so I had to adjust my expectations when it came to Devon and Blakely. Even after my sandwich was toasted it didn’t taste fully melted and warm, yet the filling was delicious enough that I forgive them their pre-​made status. Unilocalers have noted the wan bread here. I was about to make a dig about the thin-​ish bread, yet I was actually happy not having to navigate past a whopping serving of carbs at lunch. So although I love a crusty baguette like the rest of you, I’m okay with the thin bread here.
Their selection of sandwiches is opulent and the fixings are decadent. You won’t find your thin, two-​bite, English cucumber sandwich here. Think more Carolina barbequed, pulled chicken sandwich stuffed with cole-​slaw until it falls out of the whole construction. Swell, delectable choices.
If you’re vegetarian, they are solicitous: humus and avocado sandwich will do you right. Lentil soup hits the right notes. Salads are on point, with fresh ingredients.
Their space is quite cosy, booth seating feels comfortable, and I love the battalion of good-​natured (and good-​looking) chef assistants behind the glass counter ready to warm up your choice of sandwich or fix up your salad.
This place feels like a throwback, old-​fashioned lunch shop where office goers are offered quality sandwiches prepared with a great flourish. Thankfully different from the «Cosi”-style, corporate-​chain sterility and insufferably blasé counter service. For this, I give Devon and Blakely top billing.
I would give this a 3.75 rounded up to a 4. Now why did I knock them a star and a quarter? Well, the space is slightly confusing in terms of flow. For hot sauce, you can’t just pick up a bottle off a shelf, you have to special request it from one of the aforementioned chefs who will prepare you a tub. For a fork, it’s not just set out with the napkins, you have to ask at the check-​out counter. The sandwich line cuts off half way at the salad line. It’s not quite laid out seamlessly.

I’ve been stopping by this D&B for months before heading to the office. Coffee and a muffin. Every day. Last week I was paying $ 4.51. This morning, I was informed that prices had gone up and the charge is now $ 5.50. A dollar more?!? That’s almost a 25% increase. Totally ridiculous. And no advance warning, btw. Sorry to say I won’t be stopping here any more.

I will NOT be patronizing Devon & Blakely on G Street NW any longer!!!
Today, I went to purchase a small container of (my usual) tuna fish w/​a piece of day old bread which is usually $ 5 — when I noticed that the server priced it at $ 6 (a 20% hike) since the Met Café closed a couple of weeks ago.
I Got It – they are definitely trying to take ADVANTAGE of their customers.
Let’s let them know that they are NOT THE BEST OPTION on «G» Street N.W., DC

So I decided to order breakfast this morning for my office as I’ve done in the past to celebrate some of our interns leaving and a couple birthdays. I ordered at around 8:15am by delivery didn’t arrive until almost 9:45am. Almost 2 hours later. When my order arrive there were several errors with my order. Like I said in the beginning I have ordered breakfast from them before so I knew what I was talking about and confirmed several times with the man on the phone. I wanted yogurt and granola, I said «you guys have two sizes, a small bowl and a large bowl, I want the large one» He said okay. When they arrived it was like 8 individual cups of yogurt with granola. I asked for just 18 hard boiled eggs, I believe like 2 are 1.15 he charged me 18 times instead of 9 times. he charged me for 5 fruit salad platters, for a small bowl of strawberries. It is just all wrong and it doesn’t seem like this man knew what he was doing. Then after waiting an hour I called the man back because my order had not arrived, he said that they didn’t take the right number for me so they couldn’t deliver. They had my address, so the man could have delivered it to me. Or so I thought looking at the receipt the man took down the wrong address and the wrong phone number. Then after I gave him my correct phone number, I had to call back after waiting an additional 45 minutes and the man says «oh he didn’t have the right floor number» Okay you have my number 20 minutes ago when you realized you didn’t have the right address you they should have called me. All in all they need someone who can take proper instructions via the phone, and address. I paid $ 100 for this order, and even tipped the man when he delivered it because I’m not rude, however I would like a refund terrible service from them when I have received better in the past.

I like this place because it has everything that you need and the fixins for the salad are pretty fresh. There probably needs to be a sign to newcomers to instruct them to grab a salad bowl before getting in the salad line. There were at least four people in line who had to get out of line to grab a salad bowl. I am dying to try some of the desserts which look really good. The only thing I did not like was the fact that I felt the salad maker snatched my bowl from me. Almost pulled my shoulder out of joint. I gave him the evil eye before telling him what I wanted in the salad.

I eat here for lunch regularly. I like it, but took a star off for being a little pricey. To be fair, you can work it out so that you get more bang for your buck (get a large container of chicken salad for $ 18 and you have enough for about 3 sandwiches, so it’d work out to be about $ 6 per lunch/​sandwich), but basically, it is pricey.
I like the soups a lot. Most of the food isn’t at the level of «Oh my god that’s amazing!» but it’s good food with fresh ingredients and is pretty healthy for relatively low prices for DC. That combination is hard to find in DC.

Great soup. However everything else is overpriced, even the drinks. They must know it because it took me about 4 minutes to figure out what the price of an orange juice was. No one knew except for the girl at the checkout counter which was across the restaurant and it was incredibly frustrating and humiliating to have to ask 3 different people the price of an item with them giving me dirty looks.
I don’t understand why they don’t mark the prices of the drinks section. It’s ridiculous.

The sandwiches are slightly below average, but cost above average. The bread tastes old.
Worst of all, the soups are abysmal. That is, when you don’t just get a cup of broth.

I came here at lunch during the week and the place was really busy and it was very unorganized. There were no clear lines and the workers kept yelling «who is next?».
I got a half of a Thai chicken wrap which was really good and reasonably priced. The salads looked pricey as you pay per topping.
When I finally found my way over to the cash register to pay, the lady before me hadn’t even gotten her credit card back before the cashier yelled ‘who’s next?’. I politely wait for the lady to at least put the card in her wallet before I move up and the cashier asks a second time ‘who’s next?’ — sorry I don’t want to shove this lady over.
I go to hand her my Discover card and she was very rude and said ‘we don’t take that’. She scanned my card 3 times and after the third time she handed it back to me, didn’t say anything else to me then yelled ‘who’s next?’. I had to request a receipt because I was nervous I had just gotten charged 3 times.
The wrap was good but not good enough to make want to put up with these people again.

I come here when sweetgreen bores me. Great options for salads although I swear the salad guys just make up random prices once they’ve made your salad. This last time I actually questioned his math but didn’t want to seem petty over a dollar :) also the free bread is nice but it never seems fresh. Worth it if you can beat the line but certainly not an experience worth waiting for.

There are only few places you want to come back to… This was my favorite soup place while I worked near by in DC, and still favorite. I go there for lunch every time I visit DC. Everything is made fresh. Big selection of soups and you can get a sampler to try a soup, if you are not sure what you want. Then you get fresh bread for free at register. I love and miss this place

Devon & Blakely is definitely one of my favorite lunch spots, given that its right around the corner and the options are great.
Soups: Getting soup here is usually what I go for because they always have a ton of options (18 today) and they always offer a generous hunk of bread (which are delicious). My personal favorite is the split pea soup with ham, which cannot be beat on the slushy/​damp days in the city. The veggie lentin and chicken tortilla are also nice.
Salads: Extremely customization and come at a good price unless you’re the type that needs 10 ingredients in your salad.
Sandwiches: Definitely recommend the blackened chicken, I think that’s a store favorite. I did wish they would do half sandwiches, but it only applies to wraps.
Bottom line: solid lunch option, especially when the line at DT is out the door next door, and the soups are the best cure for a rainy work day.

Yay! But I am more than just a fan. D&B has everything I could want from a sandwich place. It has a great New York deli feel to it and tons of options for everyone. They make a huge and delicious quesadilla as well as pretty much every type of sandwich you could want. Quick service and high quality ingredients make me always down to come back for a quick lunch. Not to mention that they are the only place in DC I’ve ever seen a Black and White cookie! And they are good ones at that. A little expensive for a casual lunch place but I’m always satisfied so I don’t mind. You really can’t go wrong.

«It’s a soup day» is what I say to my coworkers when I’m in town and it’s below 45 degrees. Devon & Blakely is the best place around Metro Center for soup. I skip over Corner Bakery, Cosi, Au Bön Pain and Pret a Manger to get soup at D & B. The selection is great, with several vegetarian friendly ones.
The prices vary by soup and there is a large and small size. Corn bread is $ 1.95. Get this and you’ll have the most satisfying and filling winter meal.

Many of my co-​workers in here and were raving about this place so I had to check it out, lol
I came over here only morning break to check out the delicacies and to my surprise they had a full range of foods that ranged from pastries to wraps; everything looked yummy so I decided this would be my lunch stop for the day.
Soup: Seafood Chowder — very creamy with chunks of scallops, fish & crab w/​a few potatoes sprinkled in, it was really tasty & really hit the spot on this cold snowy afternoon. The soup comes in small & large and they also give you a piece a bread with your soup; I got a small which was just enough.
Sandwich: Turkey panini — it comes with turkey, mayo, lettuce & tomatoes but I added avocado… this sandwich was so huge that I could only eat half. I had the other half for dinner.
Dessert: Carrot Cake — the carrot cake was very moist & yummy!
Price point: it’s a little on the high side but what isn’t in DC & some if it ain’t that good but this place hits the spot
Seating: not very much seating but the few seats they have are premium for people watching
I think I’ve summed it up but try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed

Great soups.
So many to pick!
Don’t forget your bread from the cashier as you are paying. Go early if you want cream of crab or lobster bisque-​those go fast on the days they serve them.

This is the place to come when you want to treat yourself or someone else… because the food is damn good, but you will pay through the nose for it.
It is pretty chaotic at lunchtime– there is no wall menu or written menu that describe what is available. You simply approach each ‘station’ (soups, sandwiches, sides, salads) and peer through the window at the available items and make your request. A small soup ranges from $ 4.50-$ 5.50 from what I saw. A panini was $ 9.00. Everything looked amazing. it was so hard to choose.
No one that worked there was particularly friendly… too busy to care?
There are only a few tables there so it’s the best bet to take your food back to work, or to eat outside, etc.
Everyone I are with enjoyed their food, ranging from like to love. I’m sure I will be back — but this is definitely a place for people with corporate credit cards.

I’m torn between ²⁄₃ stars. It’s an average experience, so I’ll round up. I find Devon & Blakely overpriced for what it is. A full meal here costs around $ 10, and the quality is okay. My coworkers like coming here for the soups and free bread with the soup. The soup is quite expensive – about $ 5 for a small bowl. The soup is good but expensive, I’ve tried the sandwiches and they are average. The Federal Triangle area is limited with food options, so I think that aspect keeps this location pretty busy. There is ALWAYS a line when I’m here though it does move quickly.

Best place to go for soup in Metro Center. They have over 15 different soups daily, however if you go later in the day they do run out of some types. I find a large soup fills me up for the whole afternoon. They also have a salad bar with fresh ingredients. They always have a few kinds of vegetarian soups– my favorite is the lentil. The three bean chili is also delicious! It gets a little crowded, but the service is fast.
D&B is best to carry out from. They have a small seating area, but it is usually full during peak lunch hours.
Decent prices, fresh and healthy options. D&B is a solid downtown lunch destination.

I am most definitely a fan. I have ordered delivery from D&B twice and it has been very good.
My first order was a prosciutto and arugla panini. I don’t remember what kind of cheese came with it but it was really tasty. I also got a bag of chips and was very full.
My second order was the turkey and hummus wrap. It arrive quickly and looked so pretty I took a picture (posted here on Unilocal). I got another bag of chips to save for later and also a pickle. The pickle was not as sour as I would have liked, but that happens.
Their delivery is super fast (the minimum amount for delivery is $ 10) and everything arrives really fresh.