Lunch along the mall in Washington DC
 

Does anyone have an opinion for a good lunch along the Mall or close to the Capital Building during the week.

For the family. Don't want to spend too much. Would prefer sit down non-fast food. Not too long a line.

Thanks for the help.

Many of the smithsonians have cafeteria style eateries which provide lots of choices and aren't unreasonable. I"m not the authority but I know for sure there's one between the the 2 national galleries of art, one at the museum of american history and one at the museum of natural history.

Of course most of the Smithsonian musueums on the Mall have various types of cafeterias, most of which are ok, if a bit pricey. The Post office Museum, which is a few blocks off the Mall, has a large shopping mall type food court with several pizza and burger type places.

My favorite (at the moment) is Jaleo's (Spanish Tapas) near the Spy Museum.
Our favorite Smithsonian Restaurant is found bottom floor of History and Technologhy Museum. They seem to be affordable and have a good variety of food. The retaurant at the Natural History Museum, next to the gift sghop (bottom floor) is our 2nd favorite.

There is a very nice cafeteria in the Madison Building (one of the buildings of the Librayr of Congress), which is across the street (catty-corner) from the Capitol (House side) at Independence Ave and 1st Street, SW. It is on the top floor (6th floor) and there is an outdoor terrace as well. It is called the Madison Cafeteria. Take a look at 00 http://www.loc.gov/loc/visit/food.html

You will find a number of restaurants along Pennsylvania Ave on the "House" side of the Capitol, esp. between the Capitol and 7th St SE (i.e. in the opposite direction from the Mall). The Tune Inn would be a good very casual choice, and it's a Washington institution. It is at Pennsylvania Ave and 4th St, SE.

Another good place is Eastern Market, where there is the famous Market Lunch counter restaurant with r famous crab cake sandwiches. Very casual, somewhat cheap and cheerful, would be good for lunch too. If you are taking the Metro, take the blue/orange line to Eastern Market. The exit is at Pennsylvania Ave and 7th St, and Eastern Market is at the end of 7th St where it intersects with North Carolina Ave. If you are there on a Saturday, there is a farmers and craft market at Eastern Market all day. There are lots of charming town houses in these neighborhoods.

Market Lunch
225 Seventh St. SE ? Washington, DC ? 202-547-8444

On the "Senate" side of the Capitol, there is Union Station which has a large food hall, good for breakfasts or lunches, easy walk to the Senate buildings, the Supreme Court and the Capitol. There are restaurants outside of Union Station in the surrounding streets as well. Take the red line to Union Station.

A great idea is to get sandwiches from one of the food halls in Union Station and go to the Capitol ground for lunch, esp the area behind the Capitol on the hill facing the Mall (Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

My favorite Smithsonian cafeteria is in the National Gallery, between the East and West Wings: it has a vast array of good stuff and a pretty, though noisy, atmosphere. The National Gallery also has a smaller, charming cafe in the West Wing, surrounding a fountain. That said, it will be hard to find any place in the area that isn't too crowded duing tourist season...but you've gotten some great ideas from the above posters. Have fun!

Cicerone has offered some great suggestions, and I highly recommend the Madison cafeteria at the Library of Congress Madison building, as he suggested. You will have extremely reasonable prices ($5/person), above average food, and one of the best views around. This is the modern-looking LOC building that is across the street from the domed LOC building.

If you are intent on seeing the Mall museums, your best bet is to eat in one of the on-site restaurants because anything else could take a lot of time out of the middle of your day.
If you want to leave the Mall area, go to 7th street north of Penn. Ave. for a wide variety of choices; or to the Old Post Office Pavillion (11th St) for the closest, but fast-food style eats.

Minor corrections to above posts: the National Gallery of Art is not part of the Smithsonian, though it is on the Mall. The Postal Museum, part of the Smithsonian, is next to Union Station; it is not the same as the Old Post Office Pavillion, which is close to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Enjoy your visit.