Carvings — Restaurant in Washington

Carvings is a small, local deli in Washington, DC, where I recently picked up lunch to-go. It has the feel of a mom-and-pop shop, and with roots going back to 2008, it clearly has staying power. That said, the pricing structure left me scratching my head. For instance, you can get a sandwich with fries for a set price—but ordering just a sandwich (no fries) will still run you about the same. In my case, I wanted a plain chicken sandwich—just chicken, cheese, and sauce (though there was less than I thought there’d be)—and was told it would cost the same as the full combo. I asked for chips instead of fries, and that was fine, but it didn’t feel like a great value.

To be fair, running a small business in DC is no cheap feat, and I understand that pricing likely reflects operating costs. Still, $17 for a basic chicken sandwich and a bag of chips feels steep—especially with minimal toppings and limited sauce.

The menu might benefit from a more flexible or à la carte pricing model, especially for those who want just a sandwich without sides. Also, the selection of add-ons like chips, drinks, or snacks seemed fairly limited in store.

I respect the effort to keep things going in a tough market—but a few tweaks to the menu and pricing structure could go a long way toward enhancing the...

I ordered my food, a club with mayo, mustard, no tomatoes (I’m allergic) and wheat bread! They gave me my food with tomatoes. He told me will the club comes with tomatoes. So? I’m allergic! You can’t make me eat it. So I asked for a remake or my money back. He said they will fix it. I watch them take the tomatoes off the bread as if it would be ok. I nicely told him again that I was allergic and couldn’t eat that sandwich. I asked for. Full remake or my money back. He remade it but smh I would not let them remake it a third time. The sandwich I git back was not what I asked for. I got a panini with the club fixings on it! I don’t usually eat white bread. But I had it today and I did not enjoy it. I ate half of it and took the meat off of the other half. It was way too much bread and not what I asked for. I don’t think I’ll go back unless...

Is the service good? Sure. Did the food taste good? Not very much. Was it worth the $14.95? Absolutely not. Look I get that D.C. prices are higher because it's D.C. but you can walk into almost any New York deli and order a sandwich for about the same price and they give you more than just four thin slices of turkey. If most of what I'm eating in a sandwich is bread it's not worth it. If you want a good deli sandwich, walk a few blocks more to GW Delicatessen. You'll get bigger servings at a much cheaper price. There's no point in going someone that has "good atmosphere" or "good vibes" because those things don't fill your belly. Good food at a...