A Practitioners Guide to Washington Lunches

• Two miserly samovars of coffee is all that you can ever expect from USIP.  Ever.

• A nice assortment of sandwiches from the Corner Bakery.  The turkey sandwich with cranberry bread is a particular favorite.  Canned soft drinks, cookies and other desserts.

• Though my experience dates from ’04, at that time these lunches were a serviceable selection of ham, roast beef,or turkey sandwiches packaged in a happy-meal-style box with a bag of Route 66 chips and a cookie or brownie.  Canned sodas were also available.

• Essentially the same as Brookings; Corner Bakery half sandwiches; cold pasta salad; cookies, other baked desserts.  What puts the Carnegie Endowment over the top is its soft drink (!) bar service with bartenders in black bow ties.  You stay classy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• Reportedly, Subway sandwiches.

• Potbelly sandwiches, soft-baked cookies, two-liter bottle soft drinks.

• Corner bakery, pasta salad, and dessert on the Brookings model; canned soft drinks.

• Pew earns five glorious sandwiches for a catered lunch featuring actual plates and silverware, stuffed chicken thighs, rice pilaf, and salad.  Admittedly this was back in September ’08 for a two-day conference, not a lunch lecture, but I remain confident that the spread is undeniable.