Sizzling Express VI

showed up at noon today and food was actually lukewarm and the orange chicken was tough… like it was from last friday and reheated. eh. i’ve had better, sizzling express!

The food was decent, however the waitress spoiled my appetite after spraying a cleaning solution on the tables next to where I was dining. A little more tact and patience while a customer finishes their food should be respected.

Surprisingly good.
It is what it is. a buffet. The advantage is they offer many different things and I was surprised in their quality as well.
They have a cold bar with various types of salads or items to make your own as well as a hot-​bar that features different items or specials depending on the day.
Being a buffet, it has all your typical characteristics so if you were expecting something more then you might be let down. They do have a sandwich station and some kind of grill area that I have never tried.
I have eaten here for breakfast and lunch and both are really good.
They have a very nice drink section which includes various craft drinks and imports to include Aloe Water’s, protein shakes, Natural Ginger Ale, etc etc.

Meh is definitely how I feel about this place.
Let me first remind everyone that this place was shut down by the Health Department for a few days in 2012. Eat at your own risk.
I eat here frequently out of convenience (I work in the attached office building).
The salad bar is extensive and seems to be of high quality. It’s pay-​by-​weight and seems a bit expensive — a large salad is often upwards of $ 11 – 13.
I’ve never had the hot food bar.
Until recently, I’ve ordered MTO sandwiches pretty frequently. The last three wraps I’ve had have been stale beyond the point of being edible. The last time I ordered a veggie wrap I found chunks of… something…in the filling. Will not be ordering that again.
I’ve never eaten one of the bowls before.
TL;DR I’ve noticed a substantial decline in quality of sandwiches. The salad bar is good but pretty expensive. Service is decent.
With the increasing number of lunch places in the Navy Yard area, I only find myself eating at Sizzling Express when I absolutely have no time to go anywhere else.

I have driven across town to eat here for lunch. The quality beats the one on Pennsylvania Avenue. I really don’t understand the criticisms I read. Flavor, variety, and quality is quite good.

This type of joint reminds me of delis I would go to in Manhattan to grab a bite for lunch. They have a massive pay-​what-​it-​weighs buffet for breakfast and lunch, as well as a sandwich counter and stir-​fry section. There is not a lot of choices within walking distance of the Navy Yard, so this location can get crowded but chances are you can find enough variety to avoid getting bored quickly.

Something for everyone here. They have a bowl station for teriyaki or Mexican-​style bowls, a big hot and cold food bar and a sandwich counter. Food by the pound is scary and they sell you «heavy» food… you get a few things and the next thing you know you are pushing a pound — or $ 8 plus dollars.
The sandwich bar seems the way to go, pretty good selection and they make them fast.

I came here for breakfast before working the Kollaboration DC 3 show at GWU. Anyone who knows me knows that I could eat breakfast food all day long at any time of night – and any place that can sell breakfast (namely hash browns) by the pound is automatically deserving of my praise.
Because the food is weighed, it can get expensive pretty quickly. However, you have a pretty large range of choices and everything was delicious/​fresh. They had a lot of fresh cut fruit as well. I think it’s safe to say that this was the biggest breakfast I’ve had in a long time, and I enjoyed every last bite.
Would definitely stop by again, just to check out lunch and maybe even dinner options!

Great place to stop iin for a snack.
On this particular day, I was feeling under the weather, so I only grabbed a smoothie, but it was excellent. The price was great and the server was really friendly.
Considering the volume around lunch time, the place was pretty clean and well stocked.
i will visit again next time I am in D.C.

Sizzling Express is within easy walking distance of the Navy Yard and the Dept of Transportation, which makes it convenient for lunch, but the food is just average. The hot entrees are bland, and there’s never any variety. I stick to the salad bar, which is always fresh. However, make sure your plate isn’t too heavy, or you’ll end up paying close to $ 10!

With not a lot of option around this isn’t a terrible place, but it isn’t great either. The buffet by weight is pretty disappointing. When I have gotten stuff from the hot buffet I always think, «This looks good.» Then I try it and I think, «Wish I didn’t get this.»
The sandwiches that they make are pretty good and not too bad of price. I always get my sandwiches on pumpernickel bread.

The food is… meh…ok. I’ve gone there a few times to grab lunch and it’s been… oook. I go there because there’s not a lot of places that offer vegetarian options in the Navy Yard area. It’s quick and easy to get to which is why many go there. I usually bring my own because ordering from the bar alone is ex-​pen-​sive. It’s cheaper, to order a sandwich/​wrap.

Even though there are only a handful of restaurants in SE, I still never go to Sizzling Express. The common areas are so dirty I can’t imagine what the kitchen looks like. The food is overpriced and below average. If you want lunch in SE DC stick with Subway, 5 Guys or Cornercopia.

Lunch buffet here is OK, but not the best. They sometimes have a decent vegetarian dish or two, although I was annoyed one time to find beef-​stuffed tofu. Careful not to buy anything heavy (like mac and cheese), as they charge by the pound.

Ugh. Stale, overpriced buffet food, or low quality steak and cheese. I tried this many times — there are few alternatives in the neighborhood. All I can say is the express part is what you will feel after eating this stuff, and the sizzling… I will leave that to your imagination. Do yourself a favor — pack a peanut butter and jelly.

Not good, but not bad… sort of what I imagine purgatory is like. There is lots to eat but none of it is incredibly appealing. Unfortunately, the options near the Navy Yard/​Ballpark are fairly limited you might be able to put together a plate to at least fill your stomach (but not satisify your taste buds). I will also say that dining in here is a challenge, tables are close together and there is always a crowd of people just trying to escape the Yard or looking for something different from the DOT.

I was very interested in trying Sizzling Express because the storefront made them appear to specialize in everything you could possibly want. They have a small selection of hot buffet food and a salad bar. There was even a smoothie bar and a sandwich bar. It looked great, but when I sat down with my buffet and salad selections, I was quite disappointed. The flavor was bland at best. I’ve had better food in a school cafeteria. Also, way overpriced. I get a lot more food for my money in the expensive café at my work. Sadly it turned they didn’t seem to specialize in much of anything. If I want a good buffet, I’ll just stick with the Coast Guard.

I’ve been coming to the Navy Yard area a lot for work where your options are very limited. We always grab lunch from this place so I’ve had the opportunity to sample a lot of different food items.
The food from the buffet is usually good, but damn can it be expensive. If your eyes are as hungry as mine, expect to pay $ 10 for a container of food. If you are on a budget I’d suggest ordering a hot sandwich which comes with thick fries. Cold sandwiches only come with chips.
But the number 1 reason why I give this place 5 stars… because the lunch lady April is kick ass. Always wears a big smile and brightens up even the darkest winter days.
Full Disclosure: Yeah I get that this is a ridiculous review, but I don’t really give a sh! t considering all the really sh! tty and baseless reviews this place has been getting.

So I was on the metro, on my way to meet a friend at Artomatic when I got tremendously hungry. While I was waiting, I looked around and noticed that there weren’t any restaurants in sight. After asking the metro guy about options (he said a Subway and Five Guys) we decided to walk farther down a little and check it out. That’s when about 2 – 3 blocks down, we saw the sign for Sizzling Express. We were intrigured when we saw the words ‘Tacos’ next to ‘Chinese Food’. We had to go in.
One of the first things my friend who is Korean noticed is that at the burrito station, the menu also offered a traditional Korean dish (bibimbap or something like that…)odd. Then looking around we saw the large salad bar, the large hot food bar, sandwich station, cashier, refrigerated drinks section and of course the burrito/​taco station. I loved it! I thought it was so neat that they offered various foods, but they were all ‘safe’ foods… the foods you can’t go wrong with.
My friend and I got sandwiches from the sandwich station and were impressed with the selection. They had wraps and other specialty sandwiches. My included grilled chicken, avocado, sprouts and bacon and my friend had a roasted red pepper and something else sandwich. They both came with fries and we thoroughly enjoyed them. All for less than $ 9…and that’s including a separate drink.
One weird thing is that after you order, they give you a check and you have to go to the middle cashier station to pay and then you have to show it to the sandwich makers before they give it to you. Nobody told us this, but being smart and observant people, we figured it out quickly.
Maybe it’s because there’s no lunch spot like this around where I live or just the novelty of it all, but I thought it was pretty cool. I would go again if there was one around me :-)

I agree with Ben M’s review, the Sizzling Express is definitely not the best choice for lunch around the Navy Yard. They are the only by weight buffet and salad bar in the area (I think Crystal City has like 7). I haven’t tried any of their hot bar food, but some of it doesn’t look half bad.
The only thing I’ve tried is their made to order sandwich station. I started telling the lady what I wanted and she interrupted me and said «You want C4!» I looked at the menu, and while that wasn’t what I was describing I decided it sounded good enough. She then hands me a ticket and I stand around dumbly until it’s made. Then she asks to see my ticket and informs me that I need to get it stamped at the cash register before she’ll give me my sandwich. I wish she’d mentioned that before, but whatever, I go pay and get my sandwich. For $ 6 I get a big old veggie wrap, with some Utz chips and a pickle.
The wrap was okay, except half of the spinach wrap was so dried out and hard I ended up just eating the filling of the sandwich and throwing the wrap away. I think I’ll avoid the wraps next time and see if their bread is any fresher. Or just forget the whole thing and go to Five Guys. Sounds like a safer bet.