Cafe Express

Expensive? Yes, but the portions are reasonable and they offer combos. Thank you for my 7 dollar Riesling and outdoor dinning near a fountain. It wasn’t as elegant as it sounds but nice for a solo tourist to chill out and take a break from the museum. Nothing looked bad coming out of the kitchen.

Great service and food for a museums. Their serving sides are perfect. Def will fill you up and for the price is comparable. I love the freshness and the salad bar. This spot can get busy depending on the day and time of course. Love that they are on the bottom floor of the Art Museum

Came in very handy after looking at fantastic art for 2 hours. I needed a snack and something to eat so went downstairs and got the queso and chips. It comes with salsa and is pretty good. I wouldn’t hesitate to get any of the other menue items. The others around me seemed to be enjoying what looked to be good food.

Great salads, burgers, sandwiches, pastas, tarts, and desserts. My craving is for their black tea. Another great bonus about café express is the add on options available for pre-​mral snacking and meal accompany

The soup was lukewarm. They didn’t ask what kind of dressing I wanted on the salad, and the kind they put on it is gross. It’s gloppy and seems like congealed gravy. They don’t have diet coke. Fail!

Deeeelicious. My husband and I agree this meal was worthy of an anniversary meal! Chicken grilled perfectly and the mashed potatoes were to live for creamy and tangy. One of our best kept secrets!

Long line to order. Granted, it is lunch time and it is the only place in the museum, but there is only one cashier with several other people stuffing kiddy cups. Umm, there are people wanting to give you money (business) and you would rather stuff cups with kiddy trinkets. Guess this is a management issue.

First time at a café express, fast and delicious for reasonable prices. Great break between exhibitions

Wow! The museum café has come a long way from what was available years ago. I mean, what was available years ago has kept me from getting a bite at the museum while visiting. But some time ago it changed. And how!
Fantastic menu. Several delicious entrees to choose from. I’ve eaten here twice recently. Today, my son had the Mediterranean Salmon. He was greatly impressed. I had a bite: so yummy!
Because the Grilled Chicken and veggies was so very good the first time, I had it again today. Today’s veggie: steamed broccoli.
The price? Perfect! So glad we don’t have to leave the museum to have lunch elsewhere and come back. Those days are over! Now, we can truly enjoy a full day here.

Dirty silverware and a big bowl of dressing with a dash of salad. I love those delicious bar snacks though!

Nice, convenient café in the Museum of Fine Arts. We had very flavourful and hearty tortilla soup, spring salad and ciabatta bread. There was a self serve bar where you could add cheese, bread sticks, olives, pickles, jalepeno and garbanzo beans to your salad. They even had a coffee bar that looked nice. It was a bit long to get your order, and so busy you had to wait for a table. All said, the food was delicious and satisfying, and a good value for the cost.

I have been here a few times out of convenience for both breakfast and lunch (some of my classes are held at the museums frequently in the early morning), but I think today’s experience makes me not want to go back EVER! The first glance at the menu, I felt that it’s overpriced here (about 10 dollar for a pasta without any protein). The portions are small for breakfast but big for lunch.
— The pasta dishes are mediocre, and some of them had way too much sauce that made the whole dish muddy.
— The breakfast scrambles are small and the taste is average, leaning towards the bad side, but overall acceptable.
— NOW, the chicken tortilla soup ($ 8.95) today is extremely SALTY that I ended up not being able to eat it. It was salty that II felt nauseous. I have a very salty palette, but this one, OH MAN, it’s like the chef spilled a whole bottle of salt into it. It is INEDIBLE and probably detrimental to one’s health.
I would not recommend this place to anyone, It has two stars from me because of the convenience and the fast speed («express’ indeed).

Came here because so my friend and I could free admission into the MFAH museum. I knew what I wanted to order, but the prices threw me off (I honestly didn’t want to pay that much for some soup, a salad, nor a sandwich). Marcus, the cashier helped us out he told me what he likes to order so I said ok get me the combo then.
I ordered the potato soup, with spring salad, and the turkey sandwich. It all rounded up to be $ 10 total. (That’s a bit pricey for me) The place reminded me of Newk’s in Mississippi or McAllister’s. My friend ordered the same combo she specifically told our cashier, Marcus what she wanted. Chicken salad sandwich, caesar salad, and potato soup. Got drinks.
When we sat down it was 5 mins then our buzzer sounded for our food. When we got to the front it was some guy trying to get his order. The lady in the back yelled at us to get our food. She said, Hello your food is right here. Its right here. But we couldn’t get to it because it was a line of people and it was that same guy standing in the way. She continued to yell rudely at us again. Then, she tried to tell us that my friend ordered the turkey and I ordered the chicken. I politely corrected her and said no, I ordered the turkey not her.
When we got back to the table, I started eating on my salad and my friend started eating on her soup. Then she got done with her soup she started on her salad. I was just finishing up with my salad when I got started on my sandwich. She realized then that they gave her the wrong order: Marcus mistakenly gave her a tuna salad sandwich instead of what she wanted. It was printed on the receipt, I told her to go back up there and exchange her meal for what she originally ordered, but she told me no it was ok. When really it wasn’t ok, she sat there looking disappointed still munching on that tuna salad sandwich. I know, if it was me I would’ve taken it back up there and gotten what I ordered. Because just for me, I wouldn’t have eaten someone else’s tuna salad if I know I didn’t make it or my mum did make it.
On the other hand, the turkey sandwich was good. But really a sandwich I could’ve made at home, got a can of potato soup from Food Town and a bag of salad from the .99 cent store. All for $ 10 is just too much moola being spent.
The only thing that made the turkey sandwich stand out was the swiss cheese and the toasted bread. Plus, my dad has a panini maker grill at home that I can use to make this meal.
It was just an ok experience, nothing to get too excited about. I would have surprised myself if I made this at home.

Great hideaway in the museum district. Take the front stairs off main!

Ditto. There are very few places to eat in the general Museum District area, which has always puzzled me. I guess it’s pricey real estate, and the City only subsidizes taxes for sports stadiums and downtown office buildings. Well, off the soap box, the selections here are nice, the service was excellent. You order at the counter, take the little buzzer, and pick up your food when the buzzer goes off. The condiment/​Oasis table is fully stocked, CLEAN. I noticed nice little touches like mint for your tea and Stevia. The tables are spread apart so you don’t have to listen to anyone else’s drama. There is an Express Bar that serves alcohol and has a T.V. for watching sports — nice if someone in your party is more inclined to those sorts of things. Well done.

Oh man, why oh why do I keep coming here. Oh because there are very few food options in the Museum District and it’s nice to walk to lunch once and a while. Good thing is you can get into the Museum of Fine Arts for free with your lunch purchase from 11 am — 2 pm everyday. Which is pretty cool and you don’t have to wait for free Thursdays.
If you have to come here, do not ever ever come here for their breakfast. I am a huge abuser of salt, according to my cardiologist I need a crazy amount of it in my diet to live or at least keep me out of the hospital and it’s cheaper and just as effective as heart medication. So I like salt, a lot of it, an amount that would make other people gag if they tried to share my food. Now with that explained their eggs are way to nauseatingly salty! So gross. Gross, gross, gross. For a normal person I would expect them to take one bite and throw it across the room in anger.
Their lunch isn’t that bad, but it’s incredibly overpriced for the quality you get. I do enjoy the little sides bar of pickles, I could snack on those all day.
Their hours of operation are very inconsistent. They usually follow the hours of the Museum of Fine Arts, makes sense because they are located inside it, but they will also be closed for no reason with no warning.
The soda fountain always tastes like butt. Buy a bottle of water or coffee, if you waste your money on a soda you will be angry, I promise!

We have eaten here twice now and been really happy with it both times. It’s nice to have convenient, healthy choices when visiting the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
Located below the first floor, this place was really crowded on free Museum District Day. However, tables were cleared quickly, guests got seated, and although there seemed to be a long line for ordering at prime time lunch hour, everything moved quickly and efficiently.
We both tried the Petite sandwich deal which gave you a choice of three sammies, two salads and two soups. It was a lot of food for around $ 6.99. I was pleasantly surprised! And it was good too! I had a chicken salad sammie, potato soup and spring greens salad. The condiment bar is one of the nicest I’ve ever seen. There you can grab as many pickles, peppers, olives and breadsticks you want. They also have multiple mustard, ketchup and hot sauce choices. Everything is arranged nicely and it’s centrally located far enough away from the ordering line so it’s convenient without being in the way.
I loved the small slice of outdoor patio on the side. It was raining (believe it or not!) the first day we went but most of the tables were under an overhang so as to be out of direct sun and/​or rain. That was nice. Plenty of seating room inside but a bit noisier there. And you know me; I do outside 100% of the time if at all possible.
On my second visit the following week, husband had the same thing (so you know that was good!) and I tired a burger (which is not something I eat often so you know it must’ve called to me!). My burger was large and loaded with sundried tomatoes, avocados, grilled onions and oozing with melted cheese. Yum! It was actually more than I could eat. The fruit salad accompanying it was fresh and tasty.
This is the only food offering on site, but it’s a good one. I would certainly recommend it. Also, they have an outside entrance and it appears that anyone can just pop in and eat there too without the museum visit so that is kind of nice if you’re just in the area. Since we bought a museum membership; I know we’ll be back.
Written in my travelogue: Healthy, colorful, tasty and priced right. Real mint leaves for the tasty iced tea too! Thumbs up!

For museum café’s I don’t expect much, and admittedly I find the meals at Café Express shockingly bland and boring, but I was quit content with my half (turkey) sandwich, (baked potato) soup and (Cesar) salad combo for under $ 8. The condiment bar, with homemade pesto flavored croutons, cornichons, pickles and jalapeños provided a free and yummy appetizer that I would’ve relished as a college student.
Yummy cheap basic food considering it’s «serving airport masses» type resemblance.

You know that fruity breakfast cereal bar commercial where the woman starts making «better choices» during her day when she starts her day off with the bar instead of a donut? On days I am making «good» choices I will leave my dark cave in the skyscraper, walk on the street in the sun (not like a vampire in the tunnels) and come eat here.
There are a lot of people but they handle the crowds well — unlike Chipotle next door. I have never had to wait outside to shuffle through the lunch line. The overstressed employees also don’t hassle you if you take a minute to think your order through.
I have tried several different things and they all were good. I usually always go with something salad-​y but the turkey burger is also the best one I have found in the city outside of the Hobbit Café. If you go with a burger-​y option the best part of the whole experience is the sweet potato french fries! I I would be happy with a bucket of those.
Another high point is that the «fixins’» bar is always well stocked at this location. Nothing pisses me off at a place more than not being able to get my jalapenos. That makes me rage out. This location has not yet made me rage out.
And finally the blackcurrant tea is amazing. I don’t even like tea as a general rule, but I definitely like this stuff.

During my latest visit from my igloo in Chicago down to Houston, I made a special trip just to eat in this Café Express. This is the perfect museum eatery in a great art museum. There are few restaurants I’ve been to in museums that are this nice. Some museum restaurants are snooty and expensive (thank you, Art Institute of Chicago), hard to find and poorly managed (thank you, Field Museum), or just boring (thank you, Getty Museum). Café Express has a great menu and is a treat to visit – clean, well lit, easy to access and unpretentious. This is what our local Corner Bakery chain wishes it would become but won’t.
And this is part of a chain? Well, heck. Get a few up to Chicago, pronto!