30-Minute Meals with Woodrow Wilson
The corner of 13th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW may contain the best lunch value downtown. No, we’re not talking about the the all-too-familiar basement level food court or street vendor. Instead, look up and join the world thought leaders at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, their café is a secret lunch spot of sorts, but it’s not too hard to find. All you have to do is: pass through the metal detectors at the southernmost entrance, sign in at the guards desk., take the Wilson elevators to the 6th floor, and make a couple of lefts. And one last thing ... plan on a late lunch. Employees at the Center may dine anytime. For you? 1:30 - 2 p.m.
Once the scholars have had their fill, the café is opened to us regular folk. There’s enough food to go around, and the expected quality and below market prices are worth the wait. The sparse menu selection can be reminiscent of a high school cafeteria at times, but there are enough choices to please most anyone. Rotating entrée specials might include a roast leg of lamb. Tender and rare, it’s a dish a restaurant could charge over $20 for. We got it with two sides for $5.30. On themed days, such as Indian day, a plate full of daal, sautéed zucchini, and steamed rice goes for $2.60.
If the day's entrées leave you uninspired, the Center's sandwich station provides another filling option. Sandwiches average out at about $3.50, which pays for cold cuts piled on your choice of fresh bread slices or rolls, gourmet mustards, the requisite pickle and even a colorful strawberry garnish. Light appetite? You can get a half sandwich for half the price or, better yet, pair it with a bowl of soup ($1.25 small/$1.50 large). Chunks of fish and clams in a balanced, creamy base make one day's seafood chowder a great value, but let loose a starving intern with a bowl of beef chili onto a full fixins bar, and you'll soon see the value that can be packed into a few square inches. All the sour cream, cheddar, red onions, chopped tomatoes, and scallions you could manage to pile on top for $1.50 — an intern's second favorite treat next to free beer.
While employees of the Center get a discount on the already cheap prices, you won’t need to don a tie and lie to the cashier about being the Associate Director of Near Eastern Policy Research to afford your meal. Just eat a late morning snack to tide you over and head over at 1:30 p.m. for lunch. Grab a comfy chair, listen in on some worldly conversation as you look out on the plaza speckled with 8th-grade day-trippers below, and get out for under $5.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave.