CVC food comes at a price

If any Hill staffers are thinking the Capitol Visitor Center will offer an alternative to another lunch in Longworth, they may want to think again ­­­­— or stop at the ATM first.

The $621 million CVC, as it is called, features a stylish new dining facility, but the fare comes at a price — in some cases, nearly double what a similar meal would cost at Longworth.

CVC pricing has been benchmarked against other museum fare on the National Mall and was never meant to be in line with costs at the high-volume Hill cafeterias, said Aidan Murphy, the vice president of operations for Restaurant Associates, which runs food operations for the CVC and other Hill cafeterias.

On Wednesday, while eating his slice of plain cheese pizza and drinking a 24-ounce fountain soda — a $3.80 lunch at the Longworth cafeteria — Andrew Hoyt, an intern for Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), called the CVC’s pricing ridiculous. A similar meal would cost him $7.50 at the CVC.

And tourists eating in the Longworth cafeteria last week were equally upset. “That’s too much money,” said Lisa VanBuhler, who was visiting the Capitol with her family from Mooresville, N.C. But she admitted that “people will pay it because their kids are hungry.”

A one-topping slice of pizza will cost $5.75 at the CVC, compared with $2.95 at Longworth. A bowl of soup will cost $4.95 at the CVC and $3.25 at Longworth.

If tourists are making their way through Washington’s museums, though, they might not notice as big a difference. At the National Gallery of Art’s Cascade Cafe, for example, the price of a slice of plain cheese pizza is $4.50, while the CVC charges $5.25. A cheeseburger will cost $6.95 at the CVC, versus $4.75 at the Cascade Cafe.

Murphy defends the pricing, saying there are some very important differences in the quality and size of the food portions sold at the CVC. For instance, the pizza served at the CVC is an 8-inch handmade individual pizza, while the Longworth Cafe serves a slice made in a large sheet pan. And prices at the Cascade Cafe don’t include tax, which makes the final ticket price more in keeping with the CVC pricing.

The CVC restaurant is forecasting that it will serve 20 percent of the more than 3 million people who are expected to visit the CVC each year. And Murphy added that there will be special deals for students and other groups that include a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a cookie and a bottle of water for $6.

Those who run the CVC are happy with their choice. “The Visitor Center Restaurant offers very high-quality food, and the food prices at the restaurant are comparable with other public venues,” Sharon Gang, the marketing and communications manager for the CVC, said in an e-mail.

“The restaurant was designed with visitors in mind, as there is no other eating facility for visitors in the Capitol.”

But that is precisely what upset Allan VanBuhler, visiting from North Carolina.

“As a taxpayer, I would feel like I was ripped off,” he said, especially if he found out later that he could have eaten at Longworth for a smaller price tag. “You pay when you don’t know.”