Cosi

i just got the tofu thai curry bowl and it was the saddest thing ive ever seen… I will not ever step foot in this place again.

In town from Dallas for a visit. The dishes themselves are not gourmet cuisine, but both the dinner (Adobo Chicken) and breakfast (Santa Fe Wrap) I tried were both well flavored, filling, and made with fresh ingredients. ⁹⁄₁₀ would eat again.

This was our reliable go-​to place on our recent visit to DC. The location near our hotel was super convenient and their hours of operation made them very accessible for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The service was a bit hit or miss, but they always got the job done. We tried a lot of items on the menu and everything was good. The salads were especially tasty. I’d definitely recommend this restaurant if you are looking for higher quality, but reasonably priced, fast casual food.

This sandwich place was located next door to my hotel (literally) and we needed lunch for our bus ride to Norfolk, and Cosi was a great fit. We originally went to the Pret a Manger which was dismal.
My friends ordered sandwiches, but I chose salads since I thought eating that on the bus would be less messy. I had the Cobb salad, added avocado and had the dressing on the side. Stephen had the Tandoori chicken salad with dressing on the side. Our salads came with bread or chips, and we took 1 of each. The bread was a square artisan bread, that was probably warm when he gave it to us, but after 2 hours on the bus, it was crusty but still very good.
2 salads came to just under $ 18, and it was a very full, substantial salad.
My only complaint is their ordering system. On a Saturday, there’s no ropes for us to queue, and being my first time, I didn’t know you order at the salad station then pay. I did the reverse and it got a bit confusing what ingredients I wanted. I think I got stuff left out, but it was still very good.

This has become my go to breakfast spot for the last 2 years. Not only is the food terrific and reliable (the turkey brie sandwich is one of my favorite lunch items (toasted is even better) and the new build your own oatmeal bar is a great addition), the staff is the friendliest and most energetic in town! Every morning I’m greeted with a smile and terrific service. Oh, and you can’t beat the free bread.

Why is the rating so low???
This deserves 5 stars!
I just had their «Asian Salmon Salad» with Hot Apple Cider, along with a piece of bread.
Service: Friendly staff and timely service.
Price: $ 9.29 for salad, $ 1.99 for hot cider, bread is free.
Food: I enjoyed the food quite a bit, the crunchy sesame chunks were very fresh and delicious! It adds a nice texture to the salad. Salmon wasn’t special but no negative comments, greens were pretty fresh and dressing was sweet and tart, overall I enjoyed it a lot! Apple cider is pretty good and the piece of flat bread was surprisingly good!
Would definitely come back again!

I lIve on the west coast so this was a frst time for me trying Cosi. I had the chicken pesto melt sandwhich was really yummy & the tomatoe basil soup which was also delicious. The bread they give you with the soup is really good as well. I also tried their caramel apple hot cider and am addicted!!! It is so yummy & perfect for the holidays. Now I’m bummed we don’t have Cosi’s on the west coast :-(.

There used to be a day when cost provided good food and good service.
Neither is true any longer. The quality of good (especially produce) pails in comparison to their competitors.
I came in, ordered, 10 minutes later asked why I hadn’t gotten my food. They had lost the order!!! Seriously? Never coming back.
30 mins later.
Now having finished my meal I can affirm this was worst meal of all time.

The service was ok and the food was as expected. Unfortunately the coffee (self-​serve) was cold. Gotta stay on top of this in this sort of establishment!

I generally love Cosi but agree with other Unilocalers that this location seems worse than the others in the area. I visited about a couple of weeks ago and ordered the soup of the day, turkey chili. It was a good portion of soup for a decent price, but the service was pretty awful and not friendly. I’ll probably skip this place in the future.

This location seems worse than the others in the area. I’ve eaten at other locations without a problem don’t get the chicken at Cosi. I tried eating in one of their Asian salads and I nearly felt nauseous before I finished the salad (didn’t eat most of the chicken).
I’d go another location to avoid an overpriced, underwhelming lunch. Better yet, check out a food truck if one is in the area.

Had a Tuscan Pesto Chicken Sandwich yesterday. Asked for no cheese, got to my office… guest what was on it? Yep, FREAKING CHEESE… ugh !!! This location also felt a bit dirty. Last time eating here. Had the same experience at the 13^th & K Street location (before they closed) — -now I know why.

Very basic soup, salad, and sandwiches. The two separate lines for salad/​soup and sandwiches was not clearly marked and I found myself in the wrong line. When I finally made it in the right line my salad was prepped, but not made before the employee walked away. Mediocre food, and not very impressive customer service. Not high on my list for places to eat.

Disinterested employees and mediocre food and drink. The hot chocolate I ordered was basically like hot milk, which is a shame because the employee really made me work for it. After blandly intoning, «What size.» I fumbled around looking for a sign that showed the ounces, sizes, or even prices of my options. Even though he was unable to make eye contact with me the entire transaction, I’m sure he could tell I was hoping he’d throw me a bone and tell me what the different sizes were. No such luck. I guessed «small?» It’s a good thing it was small because it had no flavor and almost burned my face off.
To add insult to injury they call their square shaped bagels, «squagels» and I actually had to say that word while ordering. Eff you, Cosi. :)

I will echo what others have said and say that while I love Cosi’s food, particularly their salty bread and the turkey and brie sandwich, the staff is very indifferent and SLOW. This seems to be a common problem with Cosis around the area — this is now the closest Cosi to me since the last one closed down but I had a huge problem with the last one with almost comically slow service.
When I came here earlier this week, the line was only about 5 people deep in the sandwich line but it still took almost 10 minutes to get to the front of the line. Once you get your food, you have to cut through the salad line in order to get to the paying line. The paying line took a while too and they couldn’t make up their mind which of the three cash registers to use. None of the staff was particularly friendly and you feel like you are kind of bothering them by asking for things.
So overall, this Cosi is not much more impressive than the one that shut down on 13^th and K. I think the best Cosi in the immediate vicinity in terms of line management and friendly service is the one on G and 12^th. They get very crowded but manage to get the lines through quickly, make sure to get your order right and are generally pleasant. Its a slightly farther walk for me but I think I will be going there from now on.

I want to love Cosi, I really do. The food here is, when executed properly, heads and shoulders above places like Au Bön Pain or Pret. But that’s the key phrase, ‘when executed properly.’ I don’t know if the staff is poorly trained, or what, but they don’t seem to know what they’re doing. For example, my salad is properly tossed only roughly half the time and the pizza is usually slightly undercooked. Not only that, but the staff, while not hostile, is usually cold and distant. I’m not looking for best friends, but come on! I feel like I’d be here every day if they had better staff.

Yes– good food, ruined by surly and untrained, non motivated staff. Clearly no process plan or training or vested interest for the employees here. This cant work. Don’t go– you’ll be frustrated.

I’d never been to a Cosi before, but I met up with a local friend here. They seem to pretty a local hit, but was less than impressed and rated it consistently with most other Unilocalers.
a.) My order was wrong, but it still tasted good, so that was a plus.
b.) $ 13 for lunch… not a plus
c.) Upstairs seating was hotter than outside (in the middle of August)
d.) Lines were a bit confusing and a girl was almost stoned for having tried to order her sandwich in the salad line… pick your line carefully and prevent the embarrassment.

My office is really close to this Cosi — definitely don’t go here anymore since Pret opened across the street!
Their food actually isn’t bad — I like some of their salads (the salmon salad and the signature salads are my fave), and their cranberry orange bagel toasted is a great breakfast option. Aside from once ordering a hot coffee and getting an ice cold coffee — the decanter had clearly been sitting out all day — I haven’t had bad food here. Their rewards program is also pretty good — and free.
But — their service is terrible! They’re the most disorganized, poorly trained staff — there are often a few people standing around when there’s a long line. It’s just incredibly frustrating when employees are standing around talking and don’t seem to care about customers. They have gotten my order wrong several times, and never thank you after you order.

I just want a sandwich, why do they make this so difficult.
It’s a poor man’s Panera, if that poor man was homeless and drunk, staggering down the street with his shoes on the wrong feet.