Brown Bag

Have been here many times (in the building I work in…) but will not return. Been overcharged frequently — not saying its overpriced — but that the staff actually charge prices at the register higher than on the sign or priced on the pre-​packaged food. Staff seriously don’t care… done!

This Brown Bag is the ultimate example of mediocrity. I work in the office building where this is located so myself and co-​workers just keep coming back out of convenience/​laziness. At the very least, none of us have had a turn-​off experience that prevents us from coming back.
I’ve tried it all — salads, sandwiches, pastas, breakfast. Ingredients are on the cheap side, hot sandwiches are not that hot, and nothing is seasoned to pop. It’s cafeteria food at gourmet sandwich shop prices. The problem is the food is just so mediocre compared to the huge variety of food trucks and gourmet lunch spots surrounding it. If you want a side or drink with your salad or sandwich, you’re going to spend over $ 10, and there are much tastier options within one or two blocks for that price.
When the weather is nice, I venture elsewhere, and I recommend you do too. But when it rains or the weather turns cold or I’m in a rush, I turn back inside my building to mediocre Brown Bag.

Good and quick. A little pricey, but nothing too crazy for the DC area. They have good breakfast sandwiches and salads at lunchtime. Cookies are a nice add on treat as well. Would definitely return for a quick bite. And last note, the salads are a great size. Very filling and taste fresh. Everything is pretty much made in front of you. Just be careful about going in during high traffic times. The line can grow a bit.

I come here because it’s very close to my office but probably wouldn’t otherwise. The prices are pretty expensive for being a regular fast sandwich/​salad/​breakfast place. The salads aren’t very fresh and for the price, I would rather go to Chop’t or Sweet Greens. The sandwiches are also $ 8 – 9, which is also pretty expensive.
I don’t mind the breakfast items including the sandwiches and the muffins.
I advise you to stay away from the pasta. I got the marinara penne one (forgot the exact name), and it was over cooked noodles, with super bland sauce. It was so bad. Noodles I boil myself and any store bought sauce is better.
The good is that it’s easy to order. You check of the items you want on a brown bag and put your name. This way they know exactly what you want without confusion. The manager is also very friendly and helpful.

I’ve been here twice, and I really want to like this place. I just don’t. It’s way too expensive for soup and sandwiches, though the staff and the cashier are helpful and friendly.
I’ve only been here just after the lunch rush so I can’t attest to the brown bag «system“‘s speediness or efficiency. I was disappointed they ran out of soups by 2pm and they don’t have ice for their cooler drinks.
If I came back, I’d try their pasta or salad instead of a soup or sandwich.

I love salads, so I tried Brown Bag this week for the first time. I thought the concept sounded pretty cool — write your custom order on a brown bag :-) However, the salad was very blah. I ordered a custom grilled chicken salad. Unfortunately, the grilled chicken had zero flavor. It tasted like poached chicken that was cut up. And the rest of the salad was uneventful. I will not be returning.
Thus far, Sweetgreen is the best, quick & healthy salad I’ve found in the city.

The concept of Brown Bag is pretty neat and efficient actually. You put your name on a paper bag, mark your choice of bread, meat/​stuffing, add ons and condiments OR you can choose one of the already designed sandwiches like the N.Y. Reuben or the Left Bank Chicken Salad sandwich. Your sandwich is made and ready to go in the same bag on which you placed your order. Note: The deli also serves wraps, soups, salads, and pastas. They also have a breakfast sandwiches available for the morning crowd. They have chips, fruit, and other sides available to enjoy with your meal. As for sipping, there are fountain drinks, old fashioned cream sodas, and fresh squeezed lemonades and juices as well.
The line moves quickly and the staff is kind & pleasant. The cashier was really energetic (but not overly) — its nice to have a welcoming and enthusiastic end to a culinary business exchange.
I came here with a friend during the busy lunch hour. We were lucky enough to sit down at a table a girl kindly offered us because she was leaving. With a warm atmosphere, great food, quick service and the good company & conversation of my friend, it made for an exceptional Monday lunch. Totally knocking the «uh, Mondays» feeling out of the water.
Thanks BB!

Interesting concept-​put your name on a paper bag, mark off your bread choice, meat, add-​ons and condiments, and your sandwich is ready to go in the same bag on which you placed your order. The line moves quickly and the staff is pleasant. The prices are a bit steep though. A sliced bread sandwich, by no means overstuffed or even all that filling, with a banana and no drink will run you over $ 10. Sing it with me-​Five dollar… five dollar footlong… or maybe 11 inches.

Decent lunch spot — nothing spectacular, but good to when trying to grab something quickly. I wish they used fresher tomatoes (or took them off the menu when out-​of-​season) and didn’t use iceberg lettuce (yuck).
Otherwise, expensive as the other reviews have mentioned, but all in all, not a bad spot.

I saw this place when I walked past a few weeks ago, and in one of my «I need to get out the office and away from everyone» moments, I decided to come over here.
As I didn’t like the idea of spilling noodles all over myself going back to work (you know I’d do it, too!), I decided on a sandwich instead. The hanging sandwich board needs a better, bigger font for those of us who need glasses, I found it very hard to read the sandwich ingredients before putting my glasses on and practically pressing myself against the counter.
I decided on the Parisian sandwich, which consisted of brie (I never turn a brie encounter down!!), olive oil, tomato, and basil, on a baguette, and put into a sandwich press to cook. It doesn’t sound like it’s much, but the result is utter yumminess, only made better if you’re a brie connoisseur. =) The bread was nice and crispy out of the press, and the brie was warm!
I also treated myself to a lemonade (lemons and cane sugar, a match made in heaven), and a cookie. The cookie was chocolate chip and has a nice consistency, just this side of crispy on the edges.
There is NOT a lot of room to move around in here, and I’m sure at lunchtime it can get busy, so fax or call your order in ahead of time to skip the line.
Any notions of eating cheap in this area have been crushed by reality. Even my local subways foot-​longs are $ 6 now! So I don’t even bat an eye when today’s lunch came to $ 12.60. It would have been cheaper without the lemonade and the cookie, but I definitely needed a pick-​me-​up, instead of the usual «glass of water, crust of bread, back to work, routine». In this case, I think the price was justified, as they know how to make a great sandwich and cookies. I will definitely be back the next time I need a treat.

I eat here on occasion out of convenience for lunch. Their food is very good and the menu is very creative. Their service suffers when it gets busy, mainly because the way they take orders and serve up the food is not a good plan, so orders get lost, out of order, mixed up etc. The prices are a little higher than comparable restaurants, but I’ll keep going here so long as it’s not during the rush.

soggy sourdough bread. excessive amount of garlic aioli. Ended up throwing away half. worst part was I ordered and paid for extra provolone and bacon ($ 0.75 each)– neither made it into my sandwich before I noticed
3 stars for playing 70s funk.

I think this now ranks as one of my top places to get a good sandwich next to West Wing Café. There are a lot of good choices on the menu and you can always build your own sandwich. Today I had a sandwich that is kind of a hybrid of my two favorite Cosi sandwiches — the Parisien. They are generous with the brie (unlike Cosi) and the sandwich was grilled and absolutely delicious. This place is also cheaper than Cosi, so I now know where to go when I get a brie craving.
Nice selection of cream sodas in the fridge.

The pad thai was absolutely ATROCIOUS. It was SOUR when normally it’s fairly SWEET with a peanut flavor. It wasn’t even a decent noodle dish by any other name. If you go there, try something else…

Food is fresh, menus selection is good — this qualifies as a solid lunch choice.
Very limited seating so just expect to carry-​out. I’ll probably be dropping in every now and then, but I can’t help but think they’re overpriced by a dollar or so.

Terrible service. Don’t bother using the online ordering system. First off, their online menu is not even half of what the in-​store menu offers. Second, they tell you a time to pick up your order and when you get down to the store at the specified time, they haven’t even started making it! And they aren’t even busy!
When I asked the manager (the 3^rd time this happened) why it wasn’t ready at my pickup time, I got some offhanded response about wanting a warm sandwich and told to just wait a second. Ten minutes later I get a thrown together sandwich with the wrong ingredients that I paid 8 dollars for.
You’re dead to me Brown Bag!

Who knew, a new Brown Bag location seemed to just sprout up out of nowhere.
They just opened up a few weeks ago, and the place is great — much smaller than other locations with a lack of many places to sit down and eat, but its outstanding for the purpose of getting take-​away.
Clean, relatively quick, and the same menu as all of the other Brown Bag locations — just without the massive line, as I think it’s still somewhat of a secret that they’re open. Also serve breakfast too, which looked pretty good. I always hear that their muffins are good, but haven’t tried them yet.
So, I’d appreciate it if you actually didn’t go to this location — I’d like to be in and out of there in less than 5 minutes. Thanks!