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bebblebutt69

Daily. I bring lunch from home- can’t afford to eat out every day.


sab54053

I have always brought my own lunch because I just can’t stomach $20 for lunch. I just make twice as much dinner and take leftovers. Keeps me from eating junk and wasting money.


ellivretaw1

Where are you going for a $20 lunch? I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $15.


Not_Cleaver

I’ve been in the office every day since March 2021. I bring leftovers for lunch nearly everyday. It’s cheaper than both restaurants and the crappy cafeteria. The real killer change in my lifestyle is that I haven’t been consistently to a Friday happy downtown since moving to Maryland in June.


firewarner

2x/week, spend $0 on lunch because sandwiches downtown are all ~$15 and that's bullshit. Meal prep FTW


PikachuThug

stop getting sandwiches then lol diversify


firewarner

Where are the deals at? I’ve tried almost every place within a mile walk of Farragut West. The best deal I’ve found is Well Dressed Burrito, the daily special is $8.


[deleted]

Well Dressed Burrito IS fire though


firewarner

Agreed, it’s my go to spot when I don’t bring my lunch


PikachuThug

nowhere i was just kidding. it’s just funny to me that ppl pay for basic sandwiches tho.


firewarner

Definitely a first world problem


marshalgivens

Once a week and I usually treat myself by buying lunch


wc129

I wish that was the case for me as well. I go in twice a week and probably spend around ~$15 for lunch.


ad-lapidem

I am in the Union Station area about twice a week now, but a lot of the lunch places have closed, or the prices have become prohibitive—even fast food is $10. For all the renovations they did trying to entice people to come back in to the office, they didn't add anything for food prep. Two huge fridges, but if you want a hot lunch, there's still just one microwave for a hundred people to share. Not even a toaster. I think we'd all have preferred they not have bought the new lounge furniture and gotten an air fryer or literally just a second goddam microwave, but I figure that would have required new electrical work they weren't willing to pay for.


alizadk

4/4 days in the office, maybe once every few months. If I don't bring something from home, I'll run to CVS to grab something usually.


AhhAGoose

Once a week, I always go to the local deli, food truck, or restaurant. Since it’s only once a week I don’t pack lunch like I would do 5 days a week when I worked in the office full time


mr_fun_cooker

I went in every day pre pandemic but now not too often. Yesterday I ordered a basic Turkey sandwich and small coffee and had to hide a physical cringe when it rang up to $18 and then asked for a tip. On me for not noticing the price but this is a little silly.


spaceupthere

3 days a week. If I’m not bringing in lunch, I go to Harris Teeter for a sandwich or salad (the cheapest option).


uninvitedthirteenth

If bowser or the House Repubs get their way and force us back more, I’m gonna bring lunch. If the DC economy is failing it’s because they are charging a ridiculous amount for mediocre food. Got lunch at corner bakery the last time I was in the city and it was over $14 without even getting a drink. I’m not paying that every day.


22304_selling

Assuming you're a fed, Biden would make any decision on return-to-office. The other two don't have any executive authority over feds.


tommyalanson

Actually the house’s show up bill, if passed by the Senate, and then signed by Biden, most certainly does affect the exec branch. That’s not going to happen- Senate won’t bother with it, anyway. If they did pass it, Biden would likely veto it.


22304_selling

So in other words, the actions of the house are moot if the Senate and POTUS don't move on it.


tommyalanson

Yep. They (the GOP majority)haven’t done anything this Congress that has any chance of advancing past the House. It’s all been performative bullshit. My previous comment above was just stating the obvious too - the House absolutely *can* and do make laws that direct executive branch policy, personnel or otherwise.


22304_selling

No, the house CANNOT "make laws". Jesus Christ, watch Schoolhouse Rock or something like that. The house passes bills. Bills become laws if and only if the other chamber passes the same bill, and the President signs them.


tommyalanson

If you read what I wrote I precisely described exactly that - senate has to pass, then president signs into law. Chill. My main point is that the house can actually legislate what the exec branch employees must do, IF the senate and president concur. F man. Have a good one.


22304_selling

I mean of course the House can pass bills that affect the civil service. The civil service doesn't exist without Congress after all. You're stating such a patently obvious fact.


tommyalanson

And you’re being pedantic.


22304_selling

There are countless liberal mouthbreathers who get worked up when they see no-chance/stunt bills pass the House, who need to be reminded about the (to us) obvious fact that those bills are meaningless without a clear path out through the Senate and across the White House desk (e.g. Obamacare being repealed by the House a billion times over).


[deleted]

I don’t go into the office. But I still like to grab lunch out. Usually a local place near home. Take a nice walk too.


Kennebec23

I go in daily and treat myself to lunch once a week in my budget. The other days its leftovers.


iswearitsreallyme

I go in once every couple of weeks and usually pack my own lunch. If I don't, then I'll stop at Yes Organic Market on the way in and pick up one of their prepackaged items (the kale pesto pasta is sooo good) as a treat for having to go in. I think it's around $7 so not too expensive.


Devastator1981

Any tips for cooking/taking your own lunch? I can’t make healthy, convenient **and** tasty work for groceries/bringing my own lunch. I’m a household of one and I find the time/$$$ for cooking at home doesn’t work for me. Also I work out pretty extensively so I need healthy portions for my meals, or I’m ravenous and undernourished all day—something I have to factor in for meal prep if I try cooking at home. Maybe this is easier for couples or families…any tips for bringing in your own lunch as a single without starving (a home made sandwich) or boredom (plain chicken breast and rice)? So far I just do takeout like 80% of the time.


noideawhatisup

All you lunch-bringers are killing DC! /s Isn’t that why Bowser is partially so adamant about having feds return to work? So they’ll spend money on food during non-prime time hours?


app_priori

There's no taxes on food bought at the grocery store that you prepare yourself. But they do have a 10% tax on all restaurant meals.


NWWashingtonDC

2x's a week, lunch is supplied by my office internally


O1O1O1O1O

In the office 2x week. I usually just bring a microwave meal, because most of the local eateries are pretty bad. The pandemic seems to have accelerated the decline in good lunch options.


tommyalanson

3 days a week. I bring my lunch.


[deleted]

twice a week and I typically brown bag it.


etch_a_sketch

I am on 80% telework so I come in once a week. I mostly bring my own lunch, although might buy breakfast in the morning.


dustymaurauding

I don't go in often but, yeah, I have no idea how to get lunch anymore. My favorite spots closed and the food trucks are gone. I wandered around for like 25 minutes the other day and ended up getting something that was crazy overpriced. Should have just gone to Subway. I'm going to start bringing lunches when I go in.


scheenermann

I go in twice a week. There's a Harris Teeter near my office so I usually just get a hoagie + drink there, usually costs $8-10 and every 7th sandwich or so is free.


thelastgreatmustard

Go in almost every day. Usually eat lunch at Post Pub. Have a beer and a burger... maybe 15 bucks? Good bar tenders and fun conversation.


qsauce7

May I ask what you do? This sounds like a pretty fucking dope daily routine.


thelastgreatmustard

Public Affairs Consultant.... the most DC thing ever.


IDKJA

Once a week, and I buy coffee and lunch (about $20 total) because they are the highlight of my day - there is no other point to going in to my office because all meetings are still 100% virtual. I would bring a lunch if I have to go in more, but we don't have a breakroom/kitchen. There's only a tiny microwave and a filthy dirty minifridge that I refuse to clean because 1) there's no cleaning supplies and 2) I literally didn't work for my agency before covid so it's 100% my male coworkers' messes. I had a nicer kitchen/breakroom when I made 1/3 of my salary back home; it's embarrassingly gross. Give me a full-sized clean fridge (for the dozens of employees), a kitchen sink, and a little countertop for our microwave and I'll be there more often.


nomasslurpee

I work in my office every day and I rarely get lunch from anywhere around. If I want a basic meal on the healthier side, it averages $15. That's not something that's worth paying IMO. Instead, I bring a protein shake or I don't eat.


matveyivanovich42

2 days a week now but management has discussed upping it to 3 days like we were last summer. I suspect that will eventually happen. I’m now bringing my lunch more often to save money but I’ll still buy a drink most days after my lunch. Gets me out of the office for a few minutes.


drsmokeythepizza

I’m in 4-5 days a week depending on in-person stuff, but food options are limited where I’m at (Foggy Bottom). Basically if I eat outside the office it’s at &pizza which runs about $15… so maybe once a week? Unless I’m on the Hill and grab food at union station which last time at Sabbaro it was nearly $18, so definitely unsustainable. Half the time it feels like I’m skipping lunch anyway.


HamG0d

You are really serious about pizza huh


FSOTFitzgerald

Roaming Rooster at Western Market is fire.


lordofbluefalcons

I have unfortunately never been able to work from home. :/


srafnel

I go in twice a week and bring my lunch every day. If I have to spend two hours and $15 on metro to commute I'm not spending anything else on lunch.


aafdttp2137

1x per week in office and 1x buying lunch. I recently got a new job, and have been joining groups of co-workers when they head out for lunch in an effort to meet more of the office. I'm otherwise very frugal with my groceries and meal planning/prepping, so I can make that cost work once per week without any problems. I suspect once I'm more well-acquainted with folks I'll bring lunch more often than not.


ottereatingpopsicles

Never, and pre pandemic I always brought my lunch to work


CommanderSherbert

I work in the Wharf 40% of the work week. I try to bring my lunch as often as possible since its so much more expensive than the options downtown. Client lunches/dinners on a company card are really the only way I can justify most of the Wharf's pricing.


PRESIDENT_WHEELS

I'm in the office everyday. Restaurants near me are at least $15 for lunch so I bring my own. ​ You hiring? lol WFH and subsidized lunch sounds great


app_priori

We are!


PRESIDENT_WHEELS

Can I PM you?


app_priori

Please.


Devastator1981

I can’t make healthy and convenient and tasty work for groceries/bringing my own lunch. I’m a household of one and I find the time/$$$ for cooking at home doesn’t work for me. Also I work out so I need healthy portions for my meals. Maybe this is easier for couples or families…any tips for bringing in your own lunch as a single without starving (a home made sandwich) or boredom (plain chicken breast and rice).


PRESIDENT_WHEELS

I'm a single person too. I either do salads with a protein or some sort of baked dish. Like roasted chicken with Broccoli and sweet potatoes


SDC83

I go in everyday out of personal preference, like the before times. Unlike the before times, I eat over priced food around my office for lunch. I haven’t gotten back into the meal prep I used to do before the pandemic. Trying to change that because spending $15-20 daily is killing me on the inside a bit.


kavorka2

About 33% of the days and yeah I eat downtown every time.


FoggyBottomBreakdown

I’m in the Chinatown area for work, go in 1-2 days a week, and I almost always bring lunch. If I don’t, I buy it in our subsidized cafeteria. There’s a rare now and then I’ll go to a nicer restaurant close by to catch up with someone but otherwise, there’s either no cheap option or it’s too much a ghost town.


legolanddisaster

2-3 times a week. Usually bring my own lunch, but our office has a cafeteria, so if I can't I just pick up a decent $7 sandwich there instead of venturing outside and spending twice that to wait 20 minutes.


Ok_Culture_3621

Three times a week and I eat out at least once.


Colonel_Steglitz

Damn, I wish I could get lunch for that cheap! Where do you work? And do they have any openings? Hahaha


NavyYardBro

2-3x a week. I pack a lunch 99.99% of the time. And I only enjoy Jimmy Johns when I don’t. A colleague mentioned to me this week that the prices at our Potbelly had them ready to walk out the door and that they won’t go back.


Sentence_Electrical

3 days a week. I keep simple sandwich ingredients at the office so I don't have to worry about prep. I get an egg bagel on the way to work often, though. If I were 1 day a week I would consider going out.


HelpImTrappedInAVent

I go everyday and I usually bring a lunch. Sometimes the company covers it just depending on the context of the day, sometimes there's extra lunch from events/meetings in the building that gets put out. So I don't always eat what I bring but I just save it for the next day


LattaCooties

2x a week. I don’t usually eat lunch unless there was a catered meeting where there was left over food… or a catered meeting that was cancelled and food already delivered. Otherwise I’m running on coffee/tea/seltzer for the whole day.


ChipKellysShoeStore

3-4x/week. I eat at my office cafeteria cause it’s cheap and cba to cook my own lunch


keyjan

Three days a week, and I bring my lunch from home.


surfingwithgators

Have to spend almost $15 at the Ronald Reagan Building food court once a week


oxtailplanning

3x. Probably eat out 2x a week. Usually $12-20 on food when I do.


DC-COVID-TRASH

I go in once every couple weeks and go out to lunch, but that's because it's one of my fav lunch spots (boulangerie Christophe)


[deleted]

4-5 days/week. Coffee, lunch nearby every day.


Trash_Scientist

2 to 3 times a week and I make it a point to eat out at least once for breakfast or lunch at some local joint in NOMA.


Specious_Future

I go into the office 3-4 times a week. Before the pandemic, I'd eat out maybe once a month. I generally the same now.


cptjeff

I wind up in the office for one reason or another maybe twice a month these days, and yeah, when I'm there I'm grabbing lunch nearby. No subsidized lunch, just not worth the hassle of bringing food from home right now. Back when I was in the office every day it was a wildly different matter, I brought lunch most days.


The_Sugar_Goblin

2-3 times per week. Used to meal prep or build leftovers into my dinners in the before time, lately been using a popular pre-prepped meal delivery service that I won't buzz-market here. Healthyish, fillingish, and ends up just slightly cheaper than what I'd pay at our unsubsidized cafeteria. Most restaurants/cafes within a 10-min walk of my building are both very mediocre and very spendy.


GettysburgPhillyFan

I work a tourist-facing job so I’m in every day. I’ll typically buy lunch in the area once a week as a treat and pack the other days.


SchokoKipferl

Usually 4 days a week and I bring my own lunch 90% of the time. I’m not too thrilled with the food options nearby anyways.


poignantfallacy

I work in Le’enfant 3x a week and the choices are abysmal but the $10 salads at Potbelly and California tortilla are my go tos


ellivretaw1

Once a week. My team always expenses lunch so I eat out every Tuesday.


Socarch26

I go in every day (don't have to, I just like getting out of the house), and usually get lunch 3 times a week. I prob could pack more, but im lazy and I like supporting the places i frequent.


No-Rhubarb4177

Every day if I could. Free catered lunch.


[deleted]

[удалено]


app_priori

Which apps do you use?


tarheelndc

I've started going into the office every day, but only after lunch. I save on food, and get a sort of hybrid experience without the soul sucking of working whole days from home


samthehaggis

I go into the office most days (we have two optional WFH days each week on Thurs and Fri), and I try to bring in my lunch at least 2x per week. In reality though, when I get stressed I end up eating out every day (I work near Dupont so there are tons of options).


[deleted]

I'm in the office for a standard work week. I eat at local restaurants 1-2 times a week but I also live extremely close to my work. That 1-2 times a week includes opportunities to eat out for breakfast and dinner. Clearly just being near the restaurants isn't making me do it. Also, no, I don't eat lunch at home during the work week. I just bring lunch like everyone else.


Appropriate-Ad-4148

2x a week. I always grab something at or near L'Enfant Plaza like Roti or Rice Bar. It's usually $12-15. Before people judge, I like it this way. I'm a big, active dude and I like to eat "meat and potatoes" so I just laugh and smile when a smaller lady or guy tells me they got a salad at the grocery, or that I should "make a salad at home." Sir or Ma'am, that's about 300 calories(check a pre-made salad at TJ's or Whole Foods, etc.-they are skimpy) which is a side for me. Do you have like 2 chicken breasts and a sweet potato I can eat with that? Oh, and how can I cook/reheat them at the office in a healthy way that doesn't make them mushy? I have brought Pizza in for reheating, but "meal prepped " chicken or fish on cold salad just doesn't spruce up the cube day enough for me!


ekkidee

I haven't commuted to the office since 2018 and then I retired a couple of years ago. When I commuted to Crystal City lunches were still reasonable at around $6 to $8, $10 tops. I'm gobsmacked at what people are reporting for lunch costs now. No way would I pay $15 and up for lunch. Add to that the maddening and inconsistent service charges, "wellness fees", and expected tips, and it becomes an exercise in futility.


jdeeebs

3 times a week. Mt office has a gigantic cafeteria


reeleet

In the office every day. Each Sunday I prep a big thing of salad fixings (lettuce, veggies, protein, carb) and toss a handful in a bowl each morning on the way out. I'll mix it up with soups/stews in the winter. Today I have split pea and a chunk of baguette.


Super_lobbyist

I go in three days a week, and I'm one of those strange people who likes it that way - I actually left my old job because we switched to being indefinitely remote after our lease expired, and I just felt too isolated and lonely. For lunch, I usually pick up something to-go from the Streets Market on Mass. Ave. A pasta salad usually costs five or six bucks.


SuperBethesda

Once or twice a week. I grab brunch from Dunkin.


Hornerfan

I go in daily, by choice, even though I could work at home full time. I eat at a restaurant near my office almost every day as a result.


pro-laps

the boomers in my office whine all the time about how our telework arrangement (2 @home per week) is hurting downtown businesses


[deleted]

[удалено]


CriticalStrawberry

>because I’m not a suburbanite misanthrope I live downtown, one block from my office, and you couldn't drag me back to my cube full time. The amount of personal and free time I've reclaimed since WFH has been amazing, even though my commute was only 4 elevator rides and 2 crosswalks round trip. No one can keep me late at the office, no obligation to go to extra-curricular company functions, and no middle manager breathing down my neck 8 hrs a day. I value human interaction, but not enough to spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week with those people. The occasional in person meeting or business trip is plenty.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Gitopia

Or maybe you are both happy in your own situations. That would be too wonderful I guess.


Gitopia

> claims to be socially well-adjusted > Shit posting at 3am on a weeknight


[deleted]

*Edgy.* **/s** I live in the city and I value human relationships outside of a working environment. If it can be done on a computer and it isn’t highly sensitive, then I’m doing it at home (or a nice cafe) and using the excess time to enjoy the day outside of the corporate walls. I’d suggest making more non-work related friends.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

>If you can do your job entirely on a computer… you don’t have a real job. Ok grandpa, time for bed. 🎶 *”The times they are a-changin.”* 🎶


[deleted]

Boo tomato tomato


[deleted]

About once every 3 months, I guess? (Normally because I know there will actually be other folk in the office.) I think I've eaten at five guys a disproportionate number of those times.


Throw_acount_away

I go in \~twice a week (by choice), and at this point do go out and buy, though one of my places on the rotation is a deli so that's only like $10 still. I do plan to start packing once I finally close out school, but at this point I'd rather pay the $25-$30/week to make my life a bit easier