{"id":8763,"date":"2025-05-02T13:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T13:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/house-office-complex-to-get-major-food-overhaul\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T13:48:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T13:48:05","slug":"house-office-complex-to-get-major-food-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/house-office-complex-to-get-major-food-overhaul\/","title":{"rendered":"House office complex to get major food overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The House side of the Capitol complex is getting a major overhaul of its restaurants, with vendor Sodexo out after a 10-year run.<\/p>\n

Beginning in August, Metz Culinary Management will take over, bringing a slew of new eateries with it, according to an email sent to staffers \u2014 with online ordering available at each location. <\/p>\n

Construction will start that month, but \u201crest assured that Members and staff will still have options for grabbing breakfast, lunch and coffee throughout the construction process,\u201d the memo continues.<\/p>\n

There has been a long push for expanded brand-name food options as Sodexo’s generic cafeteria options, combined with low staffing levels, drew complaints from lawmakers and staff.<\/p>\n

The changes come after two major renovations, with Dunkin\u2019 being closed for an extended period of time and &Pizza, which shuttered last August, to be replaced by a renovated coffee shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incoming vendors represent a broad range of food service operators who will deliver diverse and popular food options,\u201d according to the email from the office of the Chief Administrative Officer to staffers.<\/p>\n

The most controversial move appears to be that Starbucks will replace Dunkin\u2019 Donuts in the Longworth House Office building. The impending demise of Dunkin\u2019 sent shockwaves through the offices of the Massachusetts delegation (the state is, after all, where the coffee-and-doughnut institution began). Massachusetts Rep. Lori Trahan\u2019s deputy chief of staff jokingly decried the switch<\/u><\/a> as a \u201chostile and political attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move also frustrated lobbyists who frequent Dunkin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty broken in Congress but the food options \u2014 especially the Dunkin \u2014 aren\u2019t it,\u201d one health care lobbyist texted.<\/p>\n

Panera Bread will replace Au Bon Pain in the Cannon House Office building, and acai-bowl joint Freshens will replace Jamba Juice in Longworth. Jimmy John\u2019s will replace Subway in Rayburn, with PX Tacos and Java House replacing the current Common Grounds coffee shop in that building. Steak n Shake will leave Rayburn in favor of CHA Street Food, an \u201cAmerican-influenced Asian\u201d restaurant.<\/p>\n

In addition, fast-casual Mexican joint QDOBA will be added to the Ford building, and Black Crown Collective will also take over the Common Grounds coffee cart location.<\/p>\n

Other changes include in-house catering being taken over by Trade Center Management Associates and Monumental Vending Inc. taking control of micro-store and vending locations.<\/p>\n

Katherine Tully-McManus contributed reporting.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The House side of the Capitol complex is getting a major overhaul of its restaurants, with vendor Sodexo out after a 10-year run. Beginning in August, Metz Culinary Management will take over, bringing a slew of new eateries with it, according to an email sent to staffers \u2014 with online ordering available at each location. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}