Smithsonian Opens New Concept Restaurant at National Air and Space Museum
Jacques van Oene
May 24, 2002
Media Only: Claire Brown (202) 357-1552
Public Information: (202) 357-2700
Smithsonian Opens New Concept Restaurant
at National Air and Space Museum
With more than 20,000 meals already sold to tour groups over the next
six months, the Wright Place, a new restaurant offering menu items
from McDonald’s, Boston Market and Donatos Pizzeria, officially
opens Friday, May 24, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and
Space Museum.
The Wright Place will open in time for the Memorial Day weekend which
marks the beginning of the busy summer tourist season at the
Smithsonian. The restaurant will be open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also, for the first time,
breakfast will be offered.
The glass-enclosed restaurant is being operated by the
McDonald’s Corporation. It will offer traditional
McDonald’s hamburgers, fries and chicken, as well as Boston
Market rotisserie chicken entrees and salads and Donatos Pizzeria
cheese and pepperoni pizzas. The restaurant will also feature dessert
kiosks serving sundaes, smoothies and pastries. The Mezzanine Café
offering pastries, salads, sandwiches and LavAzza--Italy’s most
popular coffee--occupies a newly refurbished second floor.
In addition to providing an array of economically priced foods, the
restaurant is organized to serve a high volume of customers, which is
essential since the National Air and Space Museum is the world’s
most popular museum. In the past, the restaurant could serve a maximum
of 6,000 people per day (it was not open for breakfast). The new
restaurant will have the capacity to serve more than 15,000 people in
a day.
"On behalf of the nine and a half million people who visit the
National Air and Space Museum each year, we are pleased to welcome
McDonald’s," said Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, museum director.
"At the Wright Place, we’re providing better service and greater
value to meet the needs of families, tour groups and international
visitors in a comfortable, dynamic environment. As an added benefit,
the new facility will generate increased revenue for the Institution."
Named for aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, the restaurant
seats 1,000 visitors, with 800 on the main floor and an additional 200
in the café. The space was previously occupied by a cafeteria managed
by another outside contractor until it closed last September for major
renovation.
McDonald’s is operating the restaurant through a 10-year
agreement overseen by Smithsonian Business Ventures, which manages the
Institution’s revenue-producing activities. The Smithsonian
expects to earn $10 million more than it would have earned from the
previous operation, providing additional funding for museum
exhibitions, research and other programs.
"Being able to accommodate the diverse visitor base at the National
Air and Space Museum was a major priority in introducing this new
concept," said Gary Beer, CEO of Smithsonian Business Ventures. "While
the previous restaurant captured only six percent of the 1 million
school children who visited the National Mall, the new restaurant is
already exceeding this number with pre-sales."
The Wright Place’s imaginative interior design incorporates 18
video screens showing clips from "Space Station 3D," a new IMAX movie
that recently premiered in the museum’s theater, and "Infinity
Express: a 20-Minute Tour of the Universe," the current attraction in
the museum’s Albert Einstein Planetarium.
The futuristic theme is reinforced at the customer service center, an
area surrounded by plasma menu screens. After placing orders and
paying at one of 12 stations, museum visitors proceed forward to a
space-themed pick-up counter where they get their meals. The efficient
organization allows visitors ample time to enjoy their selections and
then return to exhibitions, programs and other museum attractions.
"The Smithsonian asked McDonald’s to revitalize the restaurant
facilities at the Air and Space Museum to dramatically improve service
for the millions of visitors who come to this Washington landmark,"
Henry Gonzalez, president of McDonald’s East Division, said.
"Patrons of the museum will now have faster service and greater food
variety at more affordable prices. With this major upgrade, for the
first time, the museum will easily accommodate groups large and small.
Customer convenience and providing great service will be hallmarks of
this flagship location."
In addition to the Wright Place, McDonald’s is operating a small
LavAzza’s stand on the museum’s west terrace as well as
several outdoor snack carts serving ice creams, hot dogs, sausages,
sodas, big pretzels and other snack items.
Before the museum opens to the public in the morning, people will
enter through the restaurant. During regular hours, access to the
restaurant is only through the museum itself.
The museum is currently building a companion facility at Washington
Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, which will house
the 80 percent of the national collection that has not been accessible
to the general public. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will open in
December 2003 to mark the centennial of the Wright brothers' first
powered flight.
The National Air and Space Museum, located at Sixth Street and
Independence Avenue S.W., is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. The museum will open at 9 a.m. from Friday, May 24 through
Monday, Sept. 2. The Museum is closed Christmas Day. Admission is
free.