Castle Cafe

This is a fine place to get coffee, but avoid the food.
My sandwich was soggy in some places and too dry in others. The greens inside were wilted, and sauce flavorless. The reason I stopped in is that it was cold and close, I was looking for something warm to eat. The only available hot food was two sad looking kettles of soup. There was not much variety in choices ither, and this is especaily dissapointing due to the cafes proximity to an African and Asian art museums. Furthermore the food offered was quite expensive. I was expecting a lot more from an establishment located in such a gorgeous building. The interior of the café had all the appeal of a high school cafeteria. I left regreTting that I had not walked a further distance in freezing weather to get a decent lunch.
Not a half bad Latte though, so it gets two stars.

This place has a good variety of food for such a small café. The chicken noodle soup hit it right on the spot since the temperature outside is 28 degrees. The place is expensive but I would expect that since the café is inside a museum. Overall, good place and would come back.

I was cold, I was hungry and I needed to get something to eat. I saw there was a café option in the Smithsonian Castle, so I opted for it.
What did I notice? The cashiers and all other staff — except the cook, all stood outside of the registers and chatted VERY LOUDLY around the table and condiment area. They did No busy work, did no cleaning, nothing. The cook, he was busy on his cell phone, texting someone.
When I asked if they had soup, I was directed to the kettles off to the side.
It was all self service, and so I helped myself to a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a bottle of water, paid my $ 9.00 and took a seat.
The soup was mediocre and the water was just fine.

I’ve tried many of the dining options in the Smithsonian Museums and I think this is the best one for several reasons. It is quick and easy to get a snack or a full meal. They have reasonably priced alcohol. You can sit down and enjoy your food and drinks. If you are looking for something to tide you over while you continue to explore the musuems, this is a great choice!

I went and ordered bunch of things but the coffee was cold. Anyways, I came outside and was looking for creamer and there was the milk in a jar that I could not get to open. I asked this African– American guy with braids who was wiping the table to help me and he told me” you don’t know how to open it?’ and then he calls me «Babe»?? This how you treat your customers? There was something wrong with the jar and I could not get to open it and if someone asks for your help you ask your customers back if they know how to open it? What’s up with the rude arrogant customer service at this café?? Totally unprofessional. Bad culture!

it was hot and kind of humid inside and sweaty and the acoustics make it a super loud place, i wonder if people used to not talk as much? maybe itw ould have been fine if i didn’t have a headache, not sure.
this place… is nice in the middle of the national mall, I guess, because it’s hard to find food in the vicinity unless you leave it.
if you walk down the hallway into ‘america’s treasure room’ (containing items from other countries — weird name — colonialism?) there was a TV supposed to show pandas. You could tell, because the time and date stamp from those VHS or low-​quality video feeds was burnt into the monitor. the screen was displaying a windows login screen
That being said, the food here’s a ripoff

After a day full of museums walking around in the hot sun I was so happy to find a nice shady place to sit down and have lunch.
Skip the pre packaged food. They make them fresh in the back for the same price and they are 10000x better.

A nice food & beverage option on the Mall.
A decent selection of fresh salads and pre-​wrapped sandwiches.
They have some tables where you can rest & relax.

The customer service at this establish is beyond awful. The cashier was rude and disrespectful when she made an error counting back change. We still never got the correct change and her condescending and arrogant attitude will make sure that we will never give our money to this place again. Shame on you castle café for such an awful experience.

Pretty disappointing for being the food spot of the whole Smithsonian’s visitor center.
The options are limited, and the food was not that good. I had a chicken sandwich, which I had been said could be served hot (it was –3 c outside, I was craving something hot).
The chicken sandwich was basically tons of meat in bread. I was expecting more lettuce and vegetable, not just dry meat and bread. The sandwich had been out in the oven for heating, so the bread was hot (even burned in some spots) and the meat was cold. Not a pleasant experience.
The one good thing was the home made whoopie pie.

Pricey but pretty good food. There’s not much to choose from in that area other than museum cafes and hot dog carts. Seating is limited though, so we had to wait around for a bit to find a table.

Looking for a quiet respite and a little decent food. Respite it is, but not much choice and expensive. Unless you want a snack I would go elsewhere.

You will be paying out the nose for ambiance and convenience. I work basically across the street, and because the entire National Mall is a food desert, I was stoked to have some place different to sit and have a coffee break (especially such a gorgeous place as the Castle interior and the exterior gardens!). Sadly, I can not afford to pay $ 2.85 for a standard small coffee and will have to stick with the craptastic government agency cafeteria when I need a cuppa joe with limited travel time.

Lagermeister and I were looking for a quiet, out of the way place to converse over a coffee. Starbucks was too noisy with music, and Au Bön Pain was too crowded… after a long walk we chanced across the Castle Caf and found the perfect conditions for our Cup…
Go into the Smithsonian castle, walk past the scale-​model of the National Mall, and gravitate toward the stained-​glass filtered sunlight. In the corner you can buy a coffee and chat with all the old ladies who seem to be the only people to visit the castle. The dowagers are quiet, and make you feel young, as you sit there on the high stool-​chairs under the tall windows and plan your incursion into the museums. It’s almost like you’re a priveleged guest at a private mansion. If you want to get away from it all but don’t want to stray very far, investigate this elegant hall.