A couple of years ago I raved about the Green Olive Buffet out in the ‘depths’ of Alexandria. The selection is massive, and the ridiculously cheap prices make the already decent food taste that much better.
Good lunch buffets are more commonly associated with the suburbs and strip malls than urban areas. Most thoughts of a lunch buffet actually within the District line conjure images of anemic chaffing dishes at a dimly lighted Sizzling Express. The saddest desk lunch is infinitely more appetizing than that.
But what about those workday afternoons when one normal-sized plate just wont cut it? Or you want an excuse to gorge and fall asleep at your desk until quitting time? Or a perfect place to dine with your co-worker who always orders more than everyone else but wants to split the bill evenly? For most downtown office workers, Green Olive is just too far away.
If you know where to look, unexpected bottomless options dot the District. It’s no surprise that the easiest buffet cuisine to find is Indian. Daals and curries lend themselves to big batches and aren’t fazed by long stints on a steam table. Plus, it’s near impossible for tandoori chicken to not be delicious. But you can also find all-you-can-eat Italian, mounds of meat, piles of pizza, and members-only munch-fests across the District on any given weekday afternoon.
With most of D.C.’s buffet meals ringing in around or sometimes below $10, the price is usually right for the hungriest, if not most discriminating, lunchtime diners.
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Armand’s Chicago Pizza
226 Massachusetts Avenue NE
$7.99
The Capitol Hill branch of this local deep-dish pizza chain distinguishes itself from its cousins by its weekday lunch buffet. Set on the Senate side of the Hill, just east of Union Station, it’s a great stop if you’re in the mood for a load of cheese and carbohydrates. At the back of a modest dining room sit several pizza pies just waiting for you to grab a slice. It’s far more appetizing than the tepid salad bar, vat of noodles, and bucket of marinara positioned off to the side.
City Buffet
1101 14th Street NW
$9, includes soda
Chinese buffets dot strip malls and shopping centers all over America. But as far as we know, there is only one in the District of Columbia—City Buffet, just south of Thomas Circle. You might term the cuisine on offer as “bad Chinese.” Seafood dishes featuring slices of imitation crab meet and gloppy sauces. A small selection of Americanized classics like a gummy General Tso’s chicken, triple delight, and pepper steak. Then a row with fried wings, fried seafood balls, fried noodles, fries, other fried things meat on a stick. Trays in the back are filled some salad options, Jell-O, and cream puffs. I don’t think many go here under the illusion that they’ll be getting great food. There’s a high grease and cornstarch quotient. For the price it’s hard to complain, though not really worth it unless under a dire craving. Carry-out is $5.95 per pound.
Filomena
1063 Wisconsin Avenue NW
$19 (Friday and weekends only, includes tax and gratuity)
The menu covers are filled with the names of all of the A-listers, including several U.S. presidents, that have come through its doors since 1983. But you won’t need to open those if your there to treat yourself to a gut-busting Friday afternoon to celebrate the end of the work week. A spread in the back, right in front of the kitchen includes pizza and a salad bar, pasta, meats, and a few desserts. One afternoon I thoroughly enjoyed tortelloni and a hearty rigatoni—both which originated from the famous “pasta mammas” that roll dough in the window looking out to the avenue—massive meatballs, and an incredibly tender roast pork. The only weekday day the buffet is offered is Friday, but if you find yourself there on another afternoon the regular lunch menu is surprisingly inexpensive and everything comes with unlimited trips to the salad bar.
Fogo de Chao
1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
$34.50, $24.50 for salad bar only
This local outpost of a Brazillian churrascaria franchise famously allows for overeating with flair. Gauchos parade around the room with swords of roasted meat carving cuts of sirloins, ribeyes, lamb chops, sausages, bacon-wrapped chicken, and more. At the large salad bar at the center of the dining room sits a dizzying array of salads, cheeses, salamis, smoked salmon, and marinated and fresh vegetables. It’s a fun splurge, though the amount of salt and fat in the meats eventually gets in the way of the desire to keep your disc on “feed me” side. While you’ll leave far heftier than you arrived, at least your wallet will be lighter. (Though at least the $34.95 lunch price is $17 cheaper than dinner.) And if you want to avail yourself of the salad bar option only, that will set you back $25 and you’ll still eat very well. If you have to go back to work after lunch, good luck collapsing at your desk from the meat sweats.
House of Kabob
1829 M Street NW
$9.49
For a hole in the wall on M Street, one can’t fault the House’s selection or value. Sure, it’s 49 cents more than Mayur across town and it’s for a Styrofoam and plastic fork operation. But the thighs and legs of tandoori chicken are incredibly moist, cubes of tender curried beef simmer in a pool of brown gravy, and there are four vegetarian dishes. (However, the halal meats make much bolder statements.) There are also good samosas served with a spicy red sauce, though not a full chutney selection. Bollywood hits play on the 13-inch television on top of the drink cooler and panel art photos of sandwich fixings scream Subway. For those on the go, take out is available for $5.95 a pound, a steal compared to other pay by the pound operations in the city.
Masala Art
4441B Wisconsin Avenue NW
$9.50
Masala Art in Tenlytown may be a bit out of the way. But with the critical acclaim the neighborhood joint has received, it’s no surprise that the Indian buffet is among the best in the city and a boon for lunchers in upper Northwest. The papri chat—a popular Indian street food of fried flour wafers—and the array of bright fixings like chutneys, onions that you can douse over the crisps stand out. So does the lassoni corn palak, a creamy spinach dish with kernels of yellow corn. Fresh is delivered to the table.
Mayur Kabab House
1108 K Street NW
$9
Mayur’s K Street location is one of the things that set it apart from other office-land Indian restaurants which are largely clustered in the West End. So does the building it occupies—a three-story Tudor revival sandwiched between a LEED-certified office building and an old church. Plus, the joint serves some of the best valued Indian and Pakistani food around. Channa peshawari ringed with vegetable fritters stand out from a rotating selection that always includes a handful of vegetarian and meat dishes, including tandoori chicken, biryani, and a few sweet bites of gulab jamun to finish things off. At $9 for lunch, you’re set until breakfast the next morning.
Mehak Indian Cuisine
817 7th Street NW
$10.95
Mehak’s website and window signage only mention a weekend lunch buffet. But follow the yellow sandwich board plopped outside its prime real estate in the heart of Chinatown and you’ll discover that the buffet is on seven days a week. The selection is wide and service friendly at the narrow space just off the corner of 7th and H street NW. It’s a few dollars more expensive than Mayur Kabab House a few blocks away thanks to the location and a slightly cheerier dining room. The small, old business is still hanging on among the national chains and big-money ventures that have transformed the neighborhood around it.
Mehran Restaurant
2138 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
$8.99
Mehran has got that sparse, operating-room décor. So don’t be surprised to see scrub-clad employees of nearby George Washington University Hospital filing in and out for a quick lunch. Pay up front and keep on filling up your Styrofoam plate with tandoori chicken from the steam table. Though the $8.99 price tag is not high, Mehran has the smallest selection and drabbest accommodations around by far.
Trattoria Nicola’s
1250 22nd Street NW
$11.95
Nestled in the Embassy Suites in the West End sits Trattoria Nicola’s, a hotel restaurant that many residents are bound to have passed a million times without giving much thought to. The massive hotel is geared toward tourist families, business travelers, and middle-school class trips. Its in-house Italian restaurant is no more on the radar of local foodies than the waffle iron that anchors the complementary breakfast.
But Nicola’s weekday antipasti buffet is somewhat popular with nearby office workers. You’ll start off with a choice of a hot pasta or soup delivered to your table and from there meander over to the antipasti table. Expect breads, olives, some cured meats and cheeses, marinated vegetables, a spread of bean and pasta salads, and a featured dish or two that may include like roast pork, spiral ham, or meatballs.
But the expectations should end there. The word “antipasti” is crucial, so don’t come expecting trays of lasagna or pans of pizza. You’ll get white bean and tuna salad and other dishes meant to be served cold. It’s a unique spread and sounds great on the page, but this buffet gets picked over quickly and is not well replenished as the afternoon progresses.
