Cafe Phillips

The food is overpriced and there is a $ 8 credit card minimum. If you’re going to evade taxes and fees can you at least help me out some, too?
The manager/​cashier/​owner (?) seems quite unpleasant and unkind. I imagine this must be true since someone had my review removed. So I came back to get a Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Mayo sandwich so I could repost this review. They forgot the mayo.

I was meeting an elderly friend here and she had bought her lunch at Phillips. I sat down to eat lunch with her and admire the coffee shop, when, I kid you not not, five seconds later a young woman came out to tell me I couldn’t sit there because I hadn’t bought food. I understand the rule, but the way this place handled the issue was pretty outrageous. The young lady went in and out came another lady who started yelling at us for eating someone else’s food on her property. This all happened in the span of two minutes. My friend is a loyal customer and was already sitting at the table, it was highly unlikely someone else was going to join her. There weren’t people waiting around for chairs or tables. Either way, I would have bought something if that’s what it took to sit there, but the yelling from the young woman made me want to leave immediately. My friend told them they’d lose her service forever and the young woman responded, «that’s fine.» Philips should train their employees on how to respect the elderly and their customers. It was really sad how terrible we were treated, and Phillips has lost two good customers. I’m from Texas, and while we don’t have the fanciest of places, the treatment we received here was truly disgusting.

So, the pastrami is, um, eh. Then they charge like 9 bucks for it. For someone who clearly knows nothing about how to assemble a hot pastrami sandwich. A small portion in a baggie is slepped onto a «not hot enough» grill and then he/​she puts it on a soggy piece of rye bread. then the cashier charges you for an extra pickle (when usually they forget to give you the free one anyway), and says, «my boss says I should.» Wow. Are we in DC at a deli or in El Salvador at a sweatshop?
By the way. The supposed «manger there» is Natalie Lee (sp?) She is not on-​site because she runs some other crappy place in Virginia. The unintellible Asian woman who gave me her number said that she was not available. But her number is 703.641.1500. People here should be fired.

Overpriced, low quality, terrible customer service.
I ordered an iced coffee and a BLT. I asked for the coffee to be light and sweet, the lady didn’t inform me that I had to make the coffee myself. She handed me the coffee, I explained that I asked for light and sweet, she looked at me like I had 3 heads! Eventually, after rolling her eyes, and sighing deeply, she pointed to the area where the sugar, milk, napkins, etc were. The coffee tasted like they scooped the water out of the toilet, it was horrible. The sandwich was average at best. Most places include a pickle, or a little container of cole slaw, or fries… this place includes nothing! There was a bowl of individually wrapped pickle spears on the counter at room temperature, I asked about them, then she said I could have one with my sandwich, but if I didn’t ask, I would have never known.
I was there with a colleague, he had a corned beef sandwich and a bottle of lemonade. The total cost for two sandwiches, a bottle of lemonade, and an incomplete iced coffee made from toilet water was $ 24!!!
On top of the horrible service, terrible coffee, and inflated prices… when we were done I still had half of my sandwich left. I asked for a bag to carry it, and she tells me they charge a nickel!!! Now that’s not a lot of money, but it’s the principle! Over priced, low quality, bad attitude, and I still left a tip in the jar when I originally paid, and you have the nerve to charge for a measly bag!!!
Don’t go to this place, there are way too many options in the area that must be better… because they CAN’T be any worse!!!

Although it gets super-​crowded here for lunch, these sandwiches are phenomenal and made efficiently.
Since my office is nearby, I frequent this place and the service never disappoints. The Tuna Melt and Hot Pastrami sandwiches are 2 of my favorites. Great flavor, and they made an ideal portion size.

This got a 1 star, due to the managers unprofessionalism. The sandwiches aren’t detailed, so I asked what came on one. After finding one I wanted, I ordered a soup as well. The price was a little high, so I questioned it. I found out that the sandwich I ordered wasn’t supposed to come with cheese, but that’s the way it was explained to me. So when she charges me 80 cents extra for one slice I told her that the cook said it was included. She argued with me in front of her customers called me a liar. After that I told her to give me a refund and she argued that, saying that the sandwich was already made. Needless to say, I was peeved and finally got my refund. This exchange took 5 – 6 minutes!

I visited them the other day after several years away. I no longer work near their location, and it was as good as ever.
The turkey is great, so is the tuna and roast beef. Their cheesesteaks were outstanding, the soups fresh and tasty, and if you go for breakfast, their bagels very fresh.

Don’t waste your time. Ordered a tuna sandwich and the amount of tuna was insulting. Clearly more bread. When I asked what «extra» tuna would cost, they told me $ 6. Will never visit them again.

I didn’t want to give it one star because I do appreciate the workers that work for this establishment, but the food is less than desirable. I have had the grits for breakfast on 3 separate occasions and they are never cooked properly. They always have this undone grit taste to them. The sandwiches are mediocre at best but the price suggest that you are getting a flavorful tasting sandwich. I definitely won’t spend my money going to a place just for convenience and not being satisfied with the food.

Best sandwich shop anywhere. The only difficulty is deciding whether to get the fresh roast beef or fresh turkey. I actually try to arrange my DC meetings so that I can get lunch at Café Phllips!

Lunch time favorite in NoMa. It’s a high end sandwich shop but every bit worth the $$$. The lobster roll is amazing with succulent meat throughout the sandwich. Also the Italian cold cut is good. All meats are freshly carved with a smörgåsbord of condiments and every type of bread you can imagine. My only complaint is the hours are limited to weekdays closing at 4 pm. If you want to treat yourself to a nice lunch, Café Phillips is the spot in NoMA.

I have had positive experiences at the Café Phillips at the 77 K Street location, so I was curious to try one closer to work. However, the sandwich I had was a disappointment. The bread was okay, and nothing was particularly bad, but nothing was good either. Iceberg lettuce instead of spinach. Turkey was stringy. Two small tomato slices. Almost $ 10 for the sub and a cookie (which was good). Hopefully it’s just this location…

2:30pm… They close at for and everything has already been away and this is not the first time. I appreciate wanting to go home, however, It usually takes a lot longer for a nice lunch spot to take such a precipitous fall is service and quality. It used to be fantastic.

I do not understand the negative reviews. This place is clean, fast, friendly, and serves super fresh ingredients. Came here with my wife and three kids for breakfast — and everyone is HAPPY!!! Impossible to achieve. So bravo café Phillips.
Great selection.
I can see the lunch prep and I would definitely come back for a sandwich.

This Café Phillips cannot get its act together — I went in at 7:05 AM with the intent to buy a freshly prepared breakfast sandwich, only to be told that the grill would not be ready for at least 25 minutes. I mean COME ON people! You expect customers rushing
to have to wait till 7:30 AM for hot breakast food? No credit cards accepted either, although that doesn’t affect their food prices anyway as they are way overpriced for simple deli food. How this place manages to stay in business amazes me.

Great food, fast lines. This is one of my favorite places to eat.
They don’t take credit for small charges but there is an ATM on site. Prices seem on par with the local area.

This Phillips is a little more than a block away from Union Station and super convenient for me when I’m on my way to work. Their bagel breakfast sandwiches are some of the better ones I’ve had in the area, and I also really like their breakfast burrito. I wish they hot hot sauce and not just hot pepper relish. I love hot pepper relish on a sub, but I’m not sure if I want it on my burrito. I also wish they took credit cards. Most of the time my decision to stop there is determined by whether or not I have any cash on me. They have an ATM, but I hate surcharge fees. Despite those minor gripes, I’m a fan & I will definitely be coming here again.

I genuinely like the café Philips brand. Every restaurant I have patronized has produced great quality food at reasonable prices with pleasant staff.
That being said, this particular café Phillips restaurant really tarnishes the overall brand. It frustrates me that this is the only café Philips that requires large credit card minimums, which to my understanding was against their credit card agreements. The staff is fairly short which I can normally tolerate, except when combined with slightly higher prices than it’s Café Phillips brethren and ridiculous credit card minimums. For all of you non-​cash carriers avoid this restaurant and choose a nearby place instead.

Let me start with I really enjoy Café Phillips, just not this location. Compared to other locations, the employees are rude, the prices are higher, quality of the food is lower, and portions are smaller. The ticker though that causes this location to get one star is their $ 8 minimum on credit cards. Chinatown has no minimum and I believe McPherson Square has a very low minimum. I don’t make a habit of using a credit card for small purchase at local stores, but $ 8 is a little steep.
The outdoor seating is a nice addition, but the elevator music being played is very loud.
Update: 20 oz soda is now $ 2.41 with tax!

There are no less than 10 food trucks outside their door, each of which take credit cards, but they are cash only! Even our dilapidated cabs take credit cards. I love Café Phillips, but not this one.
Adding insult to injury, my sandwich was served on a rock hard, stale roll. Yuck!