Unique Lunch: U.S. Patent Office Wants Alexandrians To Visit For A Bite

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Come for the patents, stay for a pizza?

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood is hoping to attract residents craving more than just intellectual property rights. You can now get lunch there again.

The Roundhouse Cafe in the USPTO reopened to the public March 30, with a menu that a press release says includes sushi, a made‑to‑order deli, a fresh‑salad bar, self‑serve hot entrées, and a hot bar. They’ve even got chefs tables and a weekly chef-curated menu with seasonal promotions and guest restaurants.

The cafe is open Monday through Friday for breakfast from 7 to 9:30 a.m and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Inventors in need of stimulation can visit Roundhouse Coffee on those days from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And in case you thirst more for knowledge (or funding) than for California rolls, you can gaze upon new Dulany Street neighbors the National Science Foundation or drop by the reopened Henry E. Baker Public Search Facility and find out who did actually invent, say, the sneezeguard.

The cafe is under new management and is now run by Eurest, a longstanding European restaurant operator.

Find out more about the work underway around the Roundhouse Cafe here.