The Daily Planet Cafe

Took our grandson to the NC Museum of Science, and decided to go ahead and make it simple by doing lunch there. Didn't have much of an expectation for the Daily Planet, but have to admit I was surprised. I expected simple burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and fries. But they actually go well beyond that. This is the type of place you might actually go to lunch at, without hitting the museum. In any event, I had The Daily Planet BLT, which was surprisingly large, and very good. My wife went with the cucumber salad side. She thought it would be a little bigger, but then again, it was only a side. But she did like it. And the grandson went simple PBJ....can't mess that one up. We'll do it again sometime I'm sure, since he loved the museum.

Pretty decent food! I ordered the chipotle chicken panini with fries as well as the fish and chips. Both were good. Fries were whatever. Kids liked em. Fish and chips served with coleslaw atop mixed salad which was a bit odd. Fish is super crispy and a bit oily. We went here after going to the other museum cafe for mid morning snack time. I had asked an employee/volunteer? for directions and she said the food options were better and that they had good fries and apparently they have ice cream too. Would eat here again.

I have to admit that I didn't have high expectations for museum cafe food, but The Daily Planet Cafe proved me wrong. The Cafe is located on the 1st floor of the Nature Research Center building. Service was friendly and the food was delicious.They have an extensive menu of items (including vegetarian entrees) like breakfast, salads, sandwiches, wraps, sides, small plates, and a kids menu.I ordered the Club Sandwich (turkey breast, cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, pesto mayo, multigrain bread) with chips. It tasted healthy (must be the multigrain bread) and generous with the turkey and bacon. The Kids Meals are such a good deal! For $6.50 I ordered a hot dog for my kid and it came with chips, fruit or fries, a small drink, a cookie, and a toy. She LOVED the little frog toy.There's ample seating inside as well as outdoor seating available. Try to come before the lunch rush because the inside seating tends to get filled quickly.

Great spot to grab food is you're visiting the science museum or the surrounding area. My mother and I took my nephew to the museum 2 Saturday's ago and I heard there was the Daily Planet Cafe so I decided we would try this out for lunch to stay in the area and not have to move the car. It's conveniently located on the 1st floor of the Natural Sciences Museum. It can be access through the museum itself or there is also a street entrance if you are not visiting the museum. There are QR codes around the museum that you can scan to see the menu online. You can also order your food online through the website to expedite the process when you actually get to the cafe. We decided to just order when we arrived. There's also menus around the cafe to see options.We went to the drink bar to order our food. I ordered the club sandwich with chips, my mother ordered the chicken salad sandwich with fries, and my nephew wanted a PB&J with fries. Once we ordered we received a buzzer and our cups to get our drinks from the drink machine. They were not crowded at all that day, but there were plenty of seats inside and outside as well. When our food was ready the buzzer buzzed and we were able to grab our food and return the buzzer. The food was surprising good. I didn't expect it to be this good and fresh, but I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken salad had pecans in it and I am allergic so I didn't get to try that sandwich, but my mother said it was good. The sandwiches were large as well, but not too big. Filling in a good way. The kid's meal came with a small cookie and toy as well. The prices were great as well. Very reasonable, especially for all you get. Definitely recommend if you're spending the day at the museums downtown.

The Daily Planet Cafe is a good option to dine if exploring the natural sciences museum. The menu is posted on the wall near the cash register where you will place your order. Museum members get a discount. Then you are provided a pager and it will flash when your order is ready to pick up.Normally you'd pick up from the kitchen but they have blocked off that area to keep the workers safe. So the pick up area is closer to the seating. An employee will have your order there and if you have multiple plates the employees were even carrying them to the tables too.Seating is indoors as well as outdoors depending on what you are looking for. Beverages are serve yourself and condiments are in packets now rather than pumping it on your plate or a small paper cup. The menu has something for everyone and the prices are reasonable. I went with the caprese panini this visit with a side of fries. The sandwich was large so I combined the contents onto half of the bread as that worked better for me. I like that the restaurant uses fresh, local ingredients from North Carolina.

Delicious food! It came out quickly for a sit down cafe and it was nice not to have to leave the museum to find food.

This was definitely not worth $5.50. The cup wasn't even full. Don't order unless you want to be sad.

The Daily Planet Cafe was the perfect spot to grab a quick breakfast. It was a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with an iced latte for my husband and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with an iced vanilla chai for me. We sat outside and the food and drinks were both really good.

Great place to grab a quick coffee and a breakfast sandwich downtown if you're nearby. Very quick, with a good tap-to-pay system. Love their turkey burger at lunch too, it has pesto mayo, sprouts and jalapeño!Oh and highly recommend if you're staying at the Longleaf Hotel, super quick walk.Update: I love that almost all their to-go containers are fully compostable.

I have given them many chances but they always leave something out. Today I ordered the Chipotle chicken panini with no red onions. The only thing correct is the bread. This has no avocado, pepper jack or roasted red peppers. It is just chicken with what taste like buffalo sauce. I didnt get a side either. It has been every time I have ordered. So disappointing to get to your desk and it be wrong.