The newly renovated main cafeteria at NIH features a number of branded stations.

Photo: NIH

When “Health” is part of an organization's name, you know wellness has to be a big part of the retail dining equation. But at the main campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, popularity doesn't take a back seat either. Pizza, burgers, barbecue and homestyle entrees are there every day for those who wish to indulge.

That means a delicate balancing act for the in-house dining operations, which primarily consists of a series of nine dining centers and coffee kiosks managed by Eurest Dining Services, a unit of Compass Group North America. Additional onsite dining options are offered in seven c-stores scattered across the campus that are operated by independent visually impaired owners under the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act.

(There is also one other dining center run by the Recreation & Welfare Association, an in-house organization that offers social, athletic, wellness, education and special interest activities to employees of NIH and of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. R&W also manages some vending and gift shops at NIH, though the bulk of the vending operations are handled by another Compass unit, Canteen Vending Services.)

The NIH main campus takes up 322 acres in a prime area north of Washington D.C., just inside the Beltway. The complex, which houses research facilities, administrative offices, outpatient clinics and an in-patient hospital, has some 18,000 staff on site each weekday, plus a nearly equal number of contract workers and visitors.

The dining outlets designed to serve this large onsite customer base have been undergoing a steady program of renovation and updating in recent years under John Crawford, who took over as Food Program Specialist for NIH's Division of Amenities & Transportation services five years ago.

Evolution of a Dining Program

Crawford's mission is to upgrade the dining to provide more choice, convenience, daily and day-to-day variety and, of course, healthful options (plus keeping the program self-supporting). When finished, the array will include a number of outlets with unique offerings that can serve as “destination” dining places on the campus, along with strategically placed mini-cafes that offer grab-and-go meal options along with gourmet beverage choices.

Currently, the dining mix at NIH is concentrated in the Clinical Center building and its ACRF (Ambulatory Care Research Facility) adjunct. The facility has a main dining center with several nationally branded stations, a separate branded Au Bon Pain kiosk, plus a non-branded multi-station cafeteria called the ACRF Dining Center on the second floor.

Healthful dishes like the colorful salad below are a big part of the dining emphasis at NIH, where the Balanced Choices program of management company Eurest gives customers easily identified choices. The dining management team (pictured above) includes NIH Food Program Specialist John Crawford and Eurest Regional VP Nancy Arnett. Photo: Nicholas McIntosh

The Clinical Center (also known as Bldg. 10 on the 70-building campus) houses about a fifth of NIH's staff, making it by far the largest building in terms of its onsite population. That accounts for its outsized share of campus dining outlets.

The main cafeteria in the building sees some 2,500 customers just at lunch and pulls in around $15,000 a day in total sales. The ACRF dining center on the second floor generates another $4,000 a day and the Au Bon Pain, located in a foyer a little distance from the main dining center, generates up to $8,000 more with its array of quick grab and go favorites, baked goods and hot and cold beverages. The NIH campus as a whole generates around $40,000 in daily foodservice sales (exclusive of the c-stores).

In addition to the outlets in the Clinical Center, there currently are also full dining centers in four other buildings: the main administrative center (Bldg. 31), the Porter Neuroscience Building (Bldg. 35), the Natcher Conference Center (Bldg. 45) and Building 1. Two cyber cafes complement these eateries with their stripped down grab-and-go focused menus.