Dine at Three (3) Restaurants in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Plan Your Visit

Dine at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

In one or more of its three restaurants

For inquiries about our dining facilities, please contact the Management Team at 202.633.9501.

We are proud to offer a variety of top quality, delicious ingredients in our menus that focus on local, all-natural, organic, sustainable, made from scratch, and more. Look for all-natural and hormone-free pork, hormone-free milk, house-made soups, whole wheat pizza crust, and nitrate-free hot dogs, just to name a few. Seasonal ingredients are always featured, all eggs come from cage-free hens, and all desserts & pastries on our Bakery Table are made from scratch in our kitchen. Please see below for a list of our “green” offerings and initiatives.

Atrium Café

For menu information, see the Atrium Café Menu. Please note that menus are subject to change.

Fossil Café

Featuring specialty coffees, gourmet sandwiches, fresh salads, homemade desserts, organic fruit, beer, and soft drinks.

Café Natural

Offering Ice cream, specialty coffees, and homemade desserts.

Hours of Operation

Location	Opening and Closing Hours
Atrium Café	11:00am – 3:00pm
Fossil Café	10:00am – 5:00pm
Café Natural	11:00am – 5:00pm
Concessions	11:00am – 5:00pm

When the Museum extends its hours to 7:30 PM, the following restaurants will also extend their hours:

The Atrium Café will stay open until 5 PM.
The Fossil Café will stay open until 7 PM.
Café Natural will stay open until 7 PM.

For a list of these extended hours days, please see our Museum Hours page.

Locations of Cafes

Atrium Café & Ice Cream Bar: Ground Floor. See Map

The Fossil Café: Dinosaur Hall on the 1st Floor. See Map

Concessions: Outdoor Kiosks located on the steps of the Museum on the National Mall.

Commitment to our Local Community and the Planet

Our menu is based upon locally sourced and seasonably available products.
We feature Pineland Farms Burgers, which are hormone and antibiotic free.
Pineland Farms is an agricultural co-op with local members in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia.
The BBQ beef brisket is also from Pineland Farms and is smoked in-house.
All our pulled pork is made from Duroc All-Natural Pork.
Our rotisserie chicken is all-natural.
All of our sides are made in-house and feature local produce.
Sandwiches are featured on artisanal breads from Lyon Bakery in Washington, DC.
We roast and/or smoke our sandwich meats in-house.
All our soup is made from scratch in-house.
Our pizza is prepared on a whole wheat crust.
The desserts & pastries on the bakery table are made from scratch in-house.
Our water comes in a bottle made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and is sourced from a local distributor.
We provide milk that is rBGH free.
All our eggs come from cage-free hens.
Plates, cups, cutlery, etc., are made from compostable materials.
We compost all food scraps and trash from the cafés.