They know they have a captive audience, and they're willing to exploit it!
The Census HQ is designed as a prison compound and employees are actively warned against leaving the premises. This is mostly hype from scared white yuppies, but it is a fact that this area is a food desert.
So, what happens when a business realizes that it has a monopoly over food and beverage options for ~6,000 people? Everything you'd expect: fewer choices, lower quality, and higher prices.
What I don't get is how they avoid being shut down by the health department.
A) People have found maggots in the breakfast bar
B) Both times I tried the salad bar I found an insect in the spinach (the worker I showed the insect to thought she was being very helpful when she told me I could go get a fresh salad - but did NOT even pretend to look into how they got bugs, or even warn other patrons about the issue)
C) They serve the exact same food out of the exact same containers for several days in a row -- including food out under warming pans for the entire lunch period.
D) Items they have listed as vegetarian (like the mushroom bisque another review recommended) are actually made with animal products (chicken stock, in this case). I also like the mushroom bisque, but my friend who is vegetarian for religious reasons was extremely upset.
E) Sometimes when they're down to half a pot of soup they'll just combine it with one of the others (without changing the labels). You can track other items in the cafeteria from day to day as well, as they get used and re-used in different dishes. I'm all for recycling and using up leftovers, but not when I'm paying $7.36 a pound for pasta salad, and not when I can recognize items from the salad bar from 3 days earlier, from an entree 2 days ago, and from the special from over a week ago!
In short, better pack a lunch! (I walk to a subway sandwich store not too far away, but I'm not sure they'll be there long as the new management recently removed the 1-inch bullet glass that used to protect the workers there . . .) read more