Smithsonian Cafe and Chowderhouse

Great chowder in a comfortable cafe setting. Only $1 more for popovers. Decent prices and pleasant staff.

I ordered a clam chowder to go, I opened it up when I got to my destination and they gave me seafood chowder. It was good, but not what I ordered.There grilled cheese is amazing!Some of their cupcakes are good. The frosting can be like a brick of sugar and some cupcakes hardly have any flavor. That's been a major letdown as many times as I've stopped for lunch. That's why I gave them 3 stars.

Great place for soups and grill cheeses

Friendly staff and lots of gluten free soup/chowder options with GF crackers!

Excellent chowder and grilled cheese !

Great little place to get your grub on.

I regularly stop here for lunch while at work and it's definitely the hidden gem of the area. The staff are the friendliest people you'll ever meet and the food is UNREAL. If you're around in the morning and looking for a stellar breakfast sandwich, this is your place. If you're CRAVING a hearty bowl of some award winning seafood chowder, this is your place. If you like cupcakes, cookies or a delightful sandwich, this is your place. Oh, and if you leave without buying a popover, you screwed up. Bad.

Very friendly service. Exellent food. Good place for lunch.

When I went here, instead of being greeted in any sort of a positive way, the first thing out of the persons mouth eas that they were closing in 20 minutes. Uhm...okay??? So immediately very rude service. So, after feeling annoyed I still place an order to go (which I was already going to do!) Because I needed to be somewhere and no time to eat elsewhere. I ordered a grilled cheese with avocado. Left and when I went to eat it, it did not even have the avacado which I obviously paid more for and it's not like it was some complicated order. Honestly I could forgive that if they hadn't been so frickin rude.

There really aren't a coherent set of of words to properly describe how incredible this place is. I visit Northampton to visit a friend a few times a year but secretly come just for this place.

Nicely located cafe serves soup and sandwich fare with coffee but only lunch. Perfectly located off down town. Great for a bite to eat before catching the Peterpan bus or Greyhound. Great cup cakes!!

The service was "eh". Not rude, but not pleasant either - and very slow. Waited almost 10 minutes while the counter guy finished restocking paper products under the back counter before he would take my order. There were other staff milling about, but they were busy and didn't come to the counter either. This was at 12:00p. I don't have much time for lunch so that was a bit annoying. Having gluten free options is great. The chowder is very nice. The chicken soup tasted like it was made with chicken boullion - ick.

I suspect this place is run on a shoe-string as the dining area is barely decorated and looked run-down. The radio in the corner was not tuned properly so had static. Counter service was friendly but why do these places always include suggested tips when you sign. Counter service doesn't warrant tips. Clam chowder was good but used gum thickeners. Clean restroom.

I work down the street and came in for some soup. I'm not a fan of tomato soup but theirs is by far the BEST I have ever had. Grilled cheese with tomato and tomato bisque is my go to on a cold day. I HIGHLY recommend this chowder house not just for their food but for their customer service too!

Excellent, quality soups and grilled cheese sandwiches!