Cornerstone Cafe

Awesome buffet.
Quality and diversity of food is great, well-​maintained throughout the day, and half-​priced after 3pm.

The restaurant located across the street where Westin and Lowes Madison sat. Open from morning to afternoon, only served breakfast and lunch, in buffet type. Foods would be re-​arranged/​re-​set after 1030AM from Breakfast to Luncheon menu, which would formally begin around 11AM. Cost of foods measured in weight: 5.99/lb. for breakfast and 7.49/lb. for lunch. Additional for coffee. Many people took carryouts (store had boxes for you to take out) and let the weight determine the cost of take out, how convenient. We spend less than $ 10 each for breakfast or lunch. The restaurant did not open on Saturday and Sunday. Foods were a mix of Chinese and Americans. Many fruits/​veggies for choosing. We loved it. We would have to spend plenty if used the diners in hotels.

Great breakfast buffet. Cold and hot items as well as ready-​made. Always clean neat with very friendly service!

There’s a lot of selection at this food bar, all arranged neatly and well organized. Some options when I was here ranged from salad, roasted veggies, soup, BBQ, to more Chinese buffet foods such as egg rolls and orange chicken. Prices are by the pound, and we were full after eating our trays of food which were about $ 8 – 9 dollars.
The food itself tasted fresh and I love the variety here. Overall a good place for a lot of variety and if you want a quick meal.

Very disappointed. The lady doing breakfast sandwiches can barely speak English and totally ignored us. We were pushed aside for other customers (Thursday 8am /​8−20−15). Besides, the do vegetarian sandwiches on the same grill as meat sandwiches. Ate from the buffet and the food was mediocre. Wouldn’t feed a homeless person there. Who is mismanaging this place?

This is that kind of fast food place that reminds me of Korean-​owned cafes in college food courts. You come here to grab a bite on your way to work because you couldn’t get up early enough to have a proper sit-​down breakfast at home, or a sandwich for lunch because, well, who has time to eat lunch anyway? The breakfast bar and the buffet are pretty typical. I find most of the buffet items a bit too greasy, even the toast. But there’s fresh fruit you can help yourself to. And it’s not cheap, either — but compared to Whole Foods a whole lot better.
It’s so hidden that even after having resided in the very same building for three years, it didn’t dawn on me it existed and that I should try it out. Compared to Peet’s across the street, it’s definitely got better real food (no I don’t want to pay $ 6 for a sugar-​laden scone that doesn’t give me real nutrition for a meal) and reasonably priced coffee. I once paid nearly $ 20 for a pound of ground coffee at Peet’s; it’s good, but definitely not five times as good as my everyday cup of joe that I can get from a Dunkin or regular cafes like Cornerstone.

This place used to be my daily breakfast sandwich spot, until I was gaining weight. Now it is my occasional sandwich spot. To be honest, this is just like any other per pound place with a deli, but the shining star of the establishment is Ledi. She runs the deli in the back and she has got it down to a science.
Are these the best sandwiches I’ve had? No, but they’re pretty good if you want something greasy. Some of my preferred sandwiches to order are the chicken cheesesteak and the reuben. So generally, anything that involves heating on the flat top grill. If you want something less greasy, there are better deli’s, but this one is still sufficient.

«Hi, can I get the [sandwich that comes with chicken breast and many other delicious things that I love]?»
«No. We are out of chicken breast.»
«Oh, well can I just get it without the chicken breast?» (That’s how much I love the other stuff.)
«No.»
“Wait, you can’t just make that sandwich, but just not put the chicken breast on?”
«No.»
Okay then! Bye forever, Cornerstone.

While looking for a quick and inexpensive meal, walked right by this place and decided to take a chance. Although I’m not a fan of buffets, this place was very clean and the food was hot and fresh. My meal, a bottle of water, and some juice rang up for just over $ 10 which I thought was an excellent price for downtown D.C. I heard breakfast is great, so I’ll probably be back later this week for that!

I love this café!
The food is tasty and the price is extremely affordable. Probably one of the cheapest lunch deli/​hot food bars in DC. Breakfast consists of a full hot bar of things such as: bacon, sausage, potatoes, omelets, burritos, hash browns, french toast and a bunch of other stuff, as well as a full salad bar. The made-​to-​order sandwiches are great as well. I usually get the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and if I get it on a croissant (extra $$) and add avocado (extra $$), my sandwich is still only around $ 5 with tax.
Lunch is great as well. Full salad bar and a large selection of food at the hot bar. The food is typically «Chinese» food (fried rice, lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, etc.) but also some American food as well, such as pulled pork, fried chicken and mac and cheese. They also have a lot of grilled vegetables.
Come here after 3:00 for half-​price everything from the hot bar and salad bar. Oh yeah and the best part about this place is that there is no credit card minimum!

Secret buffet downtown?
Yes! You read that right ladies and gentlemen. We all know there’s not a lot of options downtown. Well, I finally discovered why. Cornerstone Bakery IS all the options in 1 PLACE.
Crazy talk, I know, I know. Though this place is a GIANT buffet that charges and extremely good price for incredible by-​the-​pound food. It also is the answer to those wasted conversations with coworkers that always go like this:
Corinne: «Yo, who wants lunch?»
Rachel: «I do!»
Corinne: «Want to go get salad?»
Rachel: «Well…not really. I want Jalapeño Chicken.»
Guess what, they can both get what they want at Cornerstone Café! So check it out, and downtown will never be the same after.

Still affordable breakfast exist inside of downtown DC. Thank you. I don’t like spending 15 – 20 just on eggs.

Great little spot. Was in town for a conference and I ate breakfast there every morning. Good selection of breakfast items, fresh fruits, and salad bar. Cashier, cooks and staff were all pleasant. Great bargain for breakfast.

Solid food. I usually go to the grill, but I’ve tried the buffet a few times, and enjoyed it. The grill food can be a bit greasy, such as the reuben. I love a reuben, and want to taste everything, but usually it is too greasy for me. But the burgers are good, and the grill workers are super friendly.

Good place for a salad, if you are smart to not pile on the heavy items (watermelon, fruit, hard boiled eggs) it comes out to a good price. Also you can get a bite or two of chinese or whatever else to add a savory morsel as a side dish to your salad. Sandwiches tasted good and are fairly priced. I come here multiple times a week.

Good breakfast or lunch option. Good coffee. Priced about like every other downtown lunch spot. Diverse veggies and meats and low carb options for the sandwich-​averse.
Two improvements could be easily made: 1) Leave the half and half out at lunch or at least include an unsweetened creamer option. 2) List known allergens — The chicken/​tofu dishes look great, but wheat? No wheat?

I would seriously be lost without this place. I work kiddy corner to it and go there at least once a week either for lunch or breakfast. Both are great. The buffet has everything you could ever want. The food (almost always) looks fresh, it –always– tastes good, and they have seasonal stuff. They also have a coffee bar, a sandwich station where they’ll make you any deli sandwich you can think of, and even have some new ones, a huge fridge with almost any drink you could want (seriously though, where’s the blood orange san pelligrino?!), and a wall of munchies. They DO take credit card and cash.
Don’t trust the baked goods at the front though. Stale as all get out.

Thank the lord they FINALLY take credit cards now. Am I the only one who only carries cash on their person after fisting ones into their pocket after drunkenly skipping away from a gay bar?
Whether looking for a freshly made breakfast or lunch sandwich at their rear deli or pay by the pound salad/​entrees stations — this place has everything. My colleagues rave about the coffee (I drink the gross free stuff at work) so I wouldn’t stop you from hitting up their coffee bar in the morning. Maybe I would too if they had baileys.
When I first moved to DC I thought CC was a bit expensive — but when comparing to its competitors it is well worth the price. I really like that they have a variety of selections for their by the pound plates and they are always rotating the menu. I think I’ll have the mac’n’cheez with a side of chicken parm. LAY OFF ME I’M STARVING.

This was an excellent hot and salad bar. Went with a group of ladies for lunch and it was packed, but things were moving along. Everybody tried something different and liked it. Large selection as compared with other hot bars in the area, and quality stuff. Love the selection of fresh fruit available. This was a serious deli/​café. Definitely a wonderful place to go for lunch. Plenty of seating in and outside.
The clerks are very friendly and the food is very good.

Disclaimer: Cash only.
Stop the presses, I think we’ve found the best deal yet for hot food and salad bars. Cornerstone Café offers lunch a $ 6.29/pound and breakfast at $ 5.29/pound. This is compared to Jack’s Fresh, Market to Market, or Sizzling Express that charge $ 6.49, $ 6.49, and $ 6.89 respectively. Oh yeah, my rating is premised on the perception that all four hot food/​salad bars are comparable in selection and quality.
The trick still remains loading the most expensive food items with the least amount of weight. This means to avoid cheap and heavy items like stir fry noodles, fried rice, and mashed potatoes. In fact, skip the all carbs and starchy foods because carbohydrates are cheap. If you must have carbs, pick up a few pieces of sushi — which saves space while preserving value. Also, avoid cheaper salad bar items like Cesar salad or mixed greens when you can load up on more nutritious and richer selections like avocado salad, mozzarella salad, broccoli salad, or asparagus spears. You’re best bet will always be lean proteins like roast beef and seafood — but not chicken — because you get the best bargain per ounce.
4 Stars — I recommend coming around 11am. Most of the dishes are fresh out of the kitchen and at the peak of its presentation. You get the first pick at the food and there are fewer people.