Marketplace Café

If you’re at a mall, and want something decent to eat, it can be tough to find a place that offers tasty food and quiet, clean, comfortable surroundings.
Nordstrom Café has been my go-​to, whether I’m with my grandma or toddler, or on the go myself. Very civilized, they serve wine, and are great for kids– bringing raisins and milk and crayons right away (endless gratitude from me and other frazzled parents).
I often get the grilled shrimp and arugula salad, which is perfectly fresh, smoky, creamy and salty, while staying fairly healthy at less than 500 cal.
This is a partial service restaurant, meaning you order at the counter and they bring it to your table. I like this method bc you get the speed of «fast fresh» with the luxury of table service.
I’m going down to 3 stars though–
— as you’ll see in my picture, today my shrimp still had the veins in a few pieces, which is rather unsavory given that you’re staring at your food’s digestive tract and fishing it out to avoid the intestines. AND
–their coffee is *always* terrible (burnt, warmish, and dull), which seems to be an easy fix given the proliferation of great coffee available everywhere.
Here’s hoping they will fix the coffee issue, but I will be back.

Amazing chicken mozzarella sandwich. Their dressings are flavorful, light, and delicious. I had the cilantro lime. Highly recommend it. Will definitely visit again! Prices are reasonable too. $ 10 – 12 per person.

A better option than food courts and the prices are very reasonable. I have tried the soups, salads and sandwiches. The tomato basil soup is very rich and hearty. The soups are barely warm once you sit to eat but they will reheat for you if you ask. Sandwiches are always fresh the citrus turkey is excellent.

I tried to go here with my coworker on 2÷12÷15. We got to the entrance and the bad fish smell was so awful that we had to leave and eat elsewhere. The smell permeated the entire restaurant and parts of Nordstrom. It was VERY unpleasant. If you are going to have fish on the menu please make sure it is good and fresh. I have worked in seafood restaurants and fresh seafood does not have a strong odor. If you are somewhere that has a strong fish smell be cautious of the freshness of the food!

Nordstrom Café is a quiet, organized, friendly, and spacious alternative to the chaos that is the Pentagon City Mall Food Court. I usually come here to grab lunch and get my second shopping wind. The customer service and food options are solid. I usually go for the grilled chicken and strawberry salad (get the dressing on the side!), and a cup of the tomato basil soup. Only giving three stars because there isn’t a spot for credit card tips on the receipt and it can get pricey if you are getting more than one item.

I laughed, I cried, I was attacked by a cougar. The place is a quaint cafeteria with a small one page menu assisting indecisive shoppers that have walked the floor of the mall for so long they need sustenance. A good place to meet a middle age woman as I look around and see a bunch eating by themselves. The ambiance is this place’s strength. The menu is traditional american like a clydes.

My family and I always prefer to eat here after a long day of shopping at Nordstrom. The food court at this mall sucks, so Nordstrom Café is a great option. You order at the counter, then you find a table. Waiter takes your tab, then delivers the food. The food is always on point! A little expensive for what they are, but still beats the nasty food choices at the food court.
We’ve been going here for years so I’ve had just about everything on the menu. But nowadays, I almost always order the same thing: Chicken pasta rosa (even this one cute waiter recognize the fact this is what I always order hahah!). It has bacon in it! Food isn’t necessarily good for you, but who cares if its taste good!
This place gets busy during the lunch hours, so get here early (around 11). Whether its a weekend or on a weekday, it gets packed.

This is a hidden gem. I have never been when it’s packed and found the service really good. I always have a sandwich or salad and have never been disappointed. More expensive then Subway, but you get what you pay for.

I enjoyed lunch at Nordstrom Café today. First, the cashier was super nice and helpful. I had the chicken, fresh mozz ciabatta with a side salad and Sangria!!!
The sandwich was delicious-​a good amount of veggies (arugala, tomato and more), fresh mozzarella and pesto. The Parmesan ciabatta was just right – slightly crunchy, but still easy to chew. The side salad was great too. It had healthy mesclun greens and a balsamic vinaigrette that was delicious. The Sangria was quite good too. (I liked that they had it in a large «pitcher» with fresh fruit. It was not coming from one of those glass bottles labeled «sangria.»
The waiter was outstanding, and consistently checked on me and offered me dessert. The food could be considered pricy, but for the DC area, I think it was reasonable. $ 10 for sandwich and around 8 for the Sangria. (I don’t remember the exact price.
Definitely a great place to go and enjoy a healthy lunch in a peaceful, nice environment! (Unlike the 1^st floor loud food court area at this mall)

The Nordstrom Café is a gem in the Pentagon City mall. It’s a great place to visit if you’re looking for more than just food court food. I visited briefly by myself for lunch a few weeks ago and was looking for a quick lunch on the go. Though it’s sit-​down, I was able to order, get my food, and eat it within 15 – 20 minutes. I ordered the shrimp salad and it was extremely fresh and perfectly blended together — I loved the touch of croutons and the excellent creamy salad dressing they used. My only complaint is that the food here is a bit on the pricier side (though it’s to be expected, since it’s located in Nordstrom). Just a note to first-​time visitors — the café is located near the elevators on the third floor of the Nordstrom department store in the Pentagon City mall. I’d likely visit again — fresh food, great service, and quick for a sit-​down.

Poor service 6:15 PM 27May14. Cancelled order. Fled asylum with our sanity just intact. Good riddance.

Five stars for food, zero for service. Nordstrom Cafés are my go-​to lunch spot anytime I’m in a mall. Usually they’re a cut above, have really, really good food, and have that legendary Nordstrom customer service. Not this one.
I’ve had many sub-​par service experiences at this particular location, but today’s took the cake. Server was late bringing drinks, never brought our bread, and gave my party of two (one toddler) one napkin. Then our food took over half an hour (by which time my toddler was wild with hunger and boredom). When it showed up, his kid’s meal was ice cold and my entrée was the wrong one.
I flagged down the manager and explained our bad experience thus far. We noticed the wrong entrée had been rung up and she went off to fix it. Great chance to do something to make it right, yes? No. She merely voided the mistake and charged me full price for the salad I’d waited nearly 40 minutes for. No apologies even.
Oh, and they never brought us our chocolate mints either.
Was going to do more Nordy shopping after lunch, but was running so late and was so irked at that point that I just left.
Can’t believe Nordstrom lets one of their stores perform so poorly.

This was my absolute favorite place to eat in this mall, food always yummy not matter what I ordered but the best thing I loved was the hospitality and always stellar customer service. Today I received neither, I ordered what I thought was a simple California club, 30mins later I was still sandwichless. At about the 20 min mark I had to stop my waiter to ask if there was some kind of delay and I was floored when he very dismissively responded «look ma’am I really don’t know, I’ll see if I can check». I guess he opted out of checking because he continued to whiz by me with plates of food for everyone else, smh. Here’s where it got worse, I’m a pretty patient gal and truly all I was looking for was a sincere response or sense of urgency in finding out what the issue was so imagine the extreme offense I took when he extended an apology the individuals seated next to me regarding the delay… Oh really!!! This marks the pivotal moment where my annoyance turned to flat out anger. I had to eventually flag down a guy who appeared to be manager and explained how long I’d been waiting, he also said he would check and then here comes another lady to once again tell me it would be right out… What on earth?! Again she offered a lame and forced apology. Now as I said, this place has always been great in my opinion as far as customer service, sooooo I fully expected the manager to return to offer something for the inconvenience and poor service I’d received. Never happened, they simply finally decided to give me my sandwich and I suppose that made waiting 35 mins for a sandwich acceptable. It was not.
As much as I love awesome food, I also thoroughly enjoy being treated appropriately. To that point I am a great tipper, but good tips come from receiving awesome service so take a wild guess about how I handled that. The one star is only for the food.

This place is a solid choice, especially if you’re looking for a nice decent sit-​down atmosphere as a refuge from the legions of middle school groups who have taken over the pedestrian food court hostage!
A nice selection of salad and sandwich options are offered and are fairly filling portion sizes. However, during my last visit I opted to try one of their available specialty selections mostly pasta-​based consisting of several chicken protein selections, salmon or beef. I ended up ordering the pot roast past a bowl which was absolutely delicious!
Plated up it appeared to be a smallish portion, but in actuality was quite filling, satisfying and very tasty. The waiter also brought warm housemade rolls to the table along with pats of butter which went perfectly with my comfort food selection!
As an occasional dining stopover when milling about the mall, I recommend Nordstrom Café as a decent dining alternative.

My nicoise salad had way too much dressing and the salmon was overcooked. Slow service. Disappointing meal.

This place was actually a pleasant surprise. My expectations were definitely low going in and I was exactly excited by the menu here.
The ambiance /​décor isn’t anything write home about. It’s a total basic café. The service, though, was great.
The process is that you wait in line (if there is one) to order at the counter. You then seat yourself at a table. A server then comes over and takes your receipt. This server then brings out your food, refills your drinks, etc.
The food was good. It wasn’t great. I wouldn’t make a special trip back here for anything. But it was certainly better than anything else I’ve ever eaten at this mall.
We tried a lot of items, including the tomato soup, potato soup, cheese board, ham and cheese sandwich, chicken pasta, salmon, and a variety of desserts. The tomato soup was delicious. The potato soup was bleh. The cheese board was typical. The ham and cheese sandwich was tasty. The chicken pasta was quite nice. The salmon was decent. The desserts were great.
All in all, we had a good and filling meal. But again, not really worth a special trip or anything. And there wasn’t anything that left me craving for me. But if you’re shopping at Pentagon City and want to eat, skip the food court and come here instead — you won’t be disappointed.

Discount for current military and veterans during November!
Great spot for lunch. Definitely a far better choice than anything at the food court four levels down. The Roma tomato basil soup is excellent and comes with a crostini. Salads are okay. Sandwiches, especially the California Grill, are excellent. You order at the register and a sever brings it to your table.

The Nordstrom cafes remind me of what shopping in a department store was like when I was a little kid and more of them had in-​house restaurants. It’s a quiet respite from the noisy mall and the food and desserts are surprisingly good. The pasta dishes can easily surpass those of much pricier Italian restaurants. If you happen to be at the mall on a weeknight after a long day at work, it’s the perfect place to go.

I’m torn on giving this 3 stars or 2.
Reasons it deserves a 3:
It is within walking distance fro my apartment and they serve good wine. And dessert. And wine.
You can find seating that makes you think you’re not actually still in the mall.
Did I mention they serve wine at the mall?
Reasons it deserves a 2:
The cashier actually made me wait to order while he talked to a girlfriend or boyfriend on his cellphone, letting them know he was too busy to talk. Yeah, ok.
After ordering wine and dessert, it took 15 minutes for the waiter to bring it to me.
It’s not like they actually cooked anything. Do you know how awkward a single woman sitting in the mall café feels without anything in front of her? Yeah, my cell phone died and yet I still stayed out, a brief respite from the kids.
I know I mentioned you could find a seat that made you think you weren’t actually sitting in the mall, however, I wound up sitting in the front table with a lovely view of the children’s clothing section because every single other table in the café was covered in dirty dishes. Nothing like dining alone at a single table, basically on display, sipping wine and eating dessert, trying to forget about the rough day you had with the kids while looking at even more kid’s apparel while other mommy’s wrangle their own monsters.
Well, that settles it, I’m going with a two after all. But, I’ll probably be back– they do serve wine.

I’m a fan of Nordstrom Café — like the food options here and also the service. Food quality, as expected, is top class. My favorites here are — Tomato Bisque soup, French Dip, Chicken sandwich.
They do have enough seating and I have never had to wait for a table.

I am so disappointed about my last experience at Nordstrom Café since I typically love going there. I GOT FOOD POISONING from the Crab Cake Sandwich. Never again!
I will still shop in the store.