National

Cafe at National Museum of American Indian panned in new review

Thursday, May 4, 2017

A painted skull graces a counter at the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Photo by Indianz.Com / Available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The eatery at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., has "devolved into a sorry state of affairs," according to an extremely critical review in The Washington Post.

The Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe has frequently earned praise as one of the best dining options on the National Mall. But reviewer Tom Sietsema said that's no longer the case, citing salmon that tasted like it's been "canned," a plate of "dry" yet expensive chicken and poor service.

"A seat near the curved picture window, framing a small waterfall, is still the best place to land, but if you’re here for much more than fry bread and a thirst quencher, good luck," Sietsema writes in his spring dining guide.

Sietsema appears to trace Mitsitam's decline to the departure of longtime chef Jerome Grant. He's now working at the Sweet Home Cafe at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which has drawn praise since its debut last fall.

Grant's replacement at Mitsitam is Freddie Bitsoie, a citizen of the Navajo Nation. He is the first Native person to serve as chief of the cafe.

Read More on the Story:
Once a model for museum dining, Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe has devolved (The Washington Post 5/3)