Washington Perk is located in the back of the Gallery right across the street from Washington Park.

The building is a nice big open space with cool pieces of local art all over.  The whole place has a really modern feel to it, although the charm fades quickly when its 76 degrees and sunny outside.  This would be a really nice place to hang out when it’s cold and snowy outside.

The menu has traditional items done in a contemporary way.  I ordered the Veggie Panini with a side of pasta salad.  The panini was loaded with flavor yet didn’t have a lot of fat.  It consisted of eggplant, onions, and provolone cheese with an olive pesto sauce on a nice light flatbread.  It came with some amazing kettle chips flavored with some sort of hot pepper spice.  The pasta salad wasn’t mayonnaise based, which would have been too heavy for such a warm summer day, but instead was sauced with a vinaigrette and contained chopped raw carrots and cucumber.

Washington Perk also has an open wireless network too, so you can bring your laptop and surf around while you drink a coffee or have a sandwich.  If you frequent Panera, I would suggest you give Washington Perk a shot, the food is much better, and better for you, and the atmosphere is much more relaxed.