I have no problem with dining at Union Station. I think we shied away from downtown once we saw how expensive things can be. It may be worth a few extra dollars to not have to travel or walk too far. I also don't mind waiting until 5 PM for dinner, although it might be easier to accommodate a large group if we sat down earlier. Obviously being a facility with a Club Acela and most of us qualify to be in there, and could bring others in as "guests", we have a place to kill some time after a 3:30 PM arrival. I'd also get an extra Amtrak tier qualifying segment out of it since the 7 PM train I reserved WAS-ALX is ensured whereas it would not have worked with the necessary travel time to and from Largo. But I was willing to endure the Blue Line back from Largo to Alexandria via its dark tunnels under Foggy Bottom if it was for the best interests of the group.
It's surprising that Penny was told something different from the policy they put on the menu. We also potentially could have twice as many showing up depending on who stays in Washington and who goes home after the train rides. If need be there is also nothing wrong with a group of 16 splitting into 2 tables of 8 , or even 4 tables of 4 as long as we're close by. They also say there is a 17% gratuity added for groups of 7 or more, which I can live with since it eliminates need to figure out tips for ourselves, and other places can be 18% or 20% for large groups.
Uno might work too (as our Chicagoan suggested 
) as their menu is quite varied, although I don't see prices. But they are not just a pizzeria and have steaks, chicken dishes, pasta, soups, etc.
My apologies if my comments came across the wrong way. However it stimulated dialogue we could have had in December.
Edited by KevinKorell, 04 January 2015 - 03:25 PM.
add comment about Uno
It is usually slower afterwards.
