Where to Eat While Attending the
2008 World Humanist Congress
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel
For breakfast, lunch, and dinner enjoy the contemporary menu and relaxed atmosphere of the American “Sea” Grill. Savor the perfect cocktail at the Lobby Lounge, or visit the Foggy Bottom Brew Pub for a seasonal microbrew. In the lobby you’ll find a Starbuck’s coffee station with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and pastries. And, of course, for those lodging in the hotel there’s always room service.
But hundreds of people are in the hotel for the World Humanist Congress. So expect hotel food options to be crowded every morning at breakfast; on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday at lunch; and on Wednesday and Thursday for dinner. Consider, then, the following options.
La Promenade
Downstairs, just below the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, is an indoor shopping mall with a number of food options. It is open from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Oh’s Chinese Restaurant is the only restaurant there that remains open weekday evenings. It will be reserved for the Student Humanist Dinner on Friday evening. La Promenade is closed Saturday and Sunday.
National Mall
If you go out the front of the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, turn right, and walk one long block, you will reach the Smithsonian “Castle.” There is a small café there that is open daily from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. On the far side of that building is an outdoor fast-food stand. And most of the Smithsonian museums along the National Mall feature cafeterias. Admission to all Smithsonian museums is free. Museum hours with food service are generally 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily. For a full list of museum dining options, log onto www.si.edu/dining/default.htm.
Gallery Place
The Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station is surrounded by restaurants. A full listing, with the location of each, can be found online at www.tourofdc.org/restaurants/bymetro.php?msn=16. To get to this station from the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, go downstairs to the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station to the Green Line and stand on the “Greenbelt” side of the platform. Take the first train that comes, Green or Yellow Line. You will go just two stops. Get off at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station and use any exit. Walk around the block and pick a restaurant or fast food place that pleases you. There will be something open for any meal of the day. (Also, the National Museum of American Art is located there, at 8th and F Streets. It is open from 11:30 AM to 7:00 PM daily, and admission is free.)
**Note that during the weekend of the World Humanist Congress, from Friday, June 6 at 11:00 PM, to Sunday, June 8, at midnight, track work will be performed on the Yellow and Green lines. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority suggestes adding 30 to 45 minutes of travel time into your schedule for those lines.**
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
The popular food court here features eighteen options, including a few that serve breakfast. (For a list, go to www.itcdc.com/explore.php?p=13.) It is open Monday thru Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Saturday 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Sunday 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM. There are also fine restaurants here. The Aria Trattoria Italian Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Monday thru Friday and for dinner on Saturday. Three other restaurants--City Lights of China, Kabuki, and Great Steak and Potato--are open for lunch and dinner Monday thru Friday and lunch on Saturday.
To get there from the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, go downstairs to the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station and go to the Orange Line. Stand on the Vienna/Fairfax side of the platform. Take the first train that comes, Orange or Blue Line. You will go just two stops. Get off at the Federal Triangle Metro Station and use the Woodrow Wilson Plaza exit. Cross the plaza to the building. (If you get out at the 12th Street exit, turn left and walk a long block north to Pennsylvania Avenue, then turn right and go one block to the Old Post Office, where you will also find a food court open during lunch and dinner—and offering a bird’s-eye view of Washington DC from the building’s tower.)