Traveling Vegan: Washington, D.C.

I love museums. I mean I really love them. Wherever I'm traveling, I look into what local museums I would like to visit. When I found out I was going to Washington D.C. for work, I knew I wanted to take some extra time to see the city. D.C. has so many museums, I feel like it would take a lifetime to take them all in and the history they hold. I did my best to see (and eat) as much as I could in my few free days there. The sights and the vegan food did not disappoint.


At the start of our trip the humidity in D.C. was unbearable and this is coming from someone who lived in Orlando for seven years. Let's just say my suitcase was not smelling it's sweetest when I packed everything to go home. With all this, we somehow thought it would be a good idea to walk around the National Mall and see all of the monuments on a horribly humid Saturday afternoon. It was amazing to see all of these monuments for their historical significance but also because of the fact that they are destroyed in every alien/natural disaster movie in existence.

 

 
                

Onto the museums! Our first two stops were all about aviation. We visited the National Air and Space Museum and the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, which is also part of the National Air and Space Museum. These two museums were mind blowing but some of the highlights were for me were seeing the Discovery Space Shuttle, Amelia Earhart's Vega plane, the Apollo 11 lunar module, and the Spirit of St. Louis.

 

 






Arlington Cemetery was our next stop and it was quite an experience. Other than seeing an alarming number of people wearing Make America Great Again swag (really seeing one person is alarming enough), it was humbling to see the graves of the Kennedy's and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

                                      

The first thing that went on my to see list when I started planning this trip was a visit to Ford's Theater. If you are historically challenged (Robin), this is the theater where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It was absolutely surreal visiting the theater and The Petersen House across the street where the president passed away.

The gun that shot Lincoln

Lincoln's blood

 

The room where Lincoln died

Another spot that I couldn't miss was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This wasn't the most fun place we visited because as you can imagine, the subject matter is pretty heavy but so crucial to experience.

 

Shoes

 

On our last day in D.C., we were able to squeeze in a few hours at the National Museum of American History. Highlights of this museum were the Star Spangled Banner, Thomas Jefferson's desk on which he wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln's top hat, George Washington's suite, and last but not least Sgt. Stubby!

 

 


All of these amazing sights were perfectly paired with the awesome vegan eats below!

NuVegan Café
2928 Georgia Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 232-1700
Menu

NuVegan is an interesting place. First, it's cafeteria style but getting your food and ordering is not intuitive. Once we figured it out and attempted to order we were met with an employee just giving us an extended buzzer noise when we tried to order something they were out of. We just stared at him until he was finished and then he told us that they were out of the item. We stepped out of line to re-think our order and tried again with a much nicer person. Not a super nice ordering experience. I got the yams, mac n' cheese, corn bread, and chicken drummies. Don't come for the mock meat, you'll be disappointed but the mac and cheese is where it's at. This mac n' cheese will make my top 5 vegan mac n' cheese list. Really amazing! Other than that, nothing really stood out to me. If you are in the area, it's a good option for some quick vegan food but if you have more time, try one of the other amazing options below.

Sticky Fingers
1370 Park Rd NW
Washington, DC 20010
(202) 299-9700
Menu

Get your sweet tooth fix here! Sticky Fingers is a bakery that also has a full food menu. The place is super cute with vintage appliances decorating the space. The place is stocked full with yummy treats so I stocked up so I could take some back to the hotel with us. We tried a little devil (based on a Hostess cake), root beer cupcake, orange creamsicle cupcake, cookies and cake cupcake, brownie, and a strawberry lemonade whoopie pie. Let's just make this simple. EVERYTHING WAS GREAT! The most original to me was the strawberry lemonade whoopie pie, which tasted so unique. I loved it.

For dinner we order a bunch of dishes to share. We started with the Black Bean & Green Chili Quesadilla filled with black beans, corn, green chilies, avocado & house-made cashew cheddar, and served with salsa & chipotle aioli. This was pretty good but not something that I would order again. Next we had the California Burger which had a house-made lentil patty served with avocado, lettuce & our very own salsa. This was the most disappointing dish we had at Sticky Fingers. It just didn't inspire anything in us. The two dishes that redeemed the Sticky Fingers food menu was the Reuben with marinated tempeh, sauerkraut & Russian dressing on rye. This was so great! I was super happy with it and would for sure get this again. As if all that wasn't enough, we also had a cup of Cheesy Mac, which was also very good.

 

 

Fare Well
406 H St NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 367-9600
Menu

I love Fare Well! It's the cutest cafe with some seriously yummy food. I had brunch and lunch here while I was in D.C. Since this is a sister restaurant to Sticky Fingers, they have a large array of Sticky Fingers baked goods. For brunch I tired the Cookie Dough Pancakes which came with three chocolate chip pancakes topped with cookie dough butter. While these were very good, they pretty much just tasted like chocolate chip pancakes. While I really enjoyed them, I didn't get a cookie dough vibe. My favorite dish was the French Toast Casserole with fruit sauce and whipped cream. The bread was marbled and it was presented very well. It was so tasty! I would get this again in a hot second. My Husband got the Seitan & Waffles with southern fried chickpea seitan with waffles, maple syrup, and hot sauce. He really liked this along with a side of scrambled tofu.
We came back the next day with a group of people for lunch. I was in the mood for something sweet so I went all in and ordered the S'mores shake. OMG. This thing was out of this world. Pure bliss. For my food I ordered the Pierogies with garlic & onion potato Pierogi with sauerkraut, sour cream, and seasonal vegetables. I always get Pierogies when I am in the mid west or the east coast because you just can't get them like this on the west coast! They lived up to my Pierogi expectations and were very good. The food highlight was the Reuben with marinated tempeh, sauerkraut, russian dressing, and cashew swiss on rye that Matt and I shared. This was one of the best Reubens I've had. It was absolutely delicious. Not to be missed. The staff here are so nice and helpful and with the great food they are serving, Fare Well is not to be missed!

 

 

HipCityVeg
712 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 621-8057
Menu

If you literally can only have one meal while in D.C., it must be HipCityVeg. While Fare Well gives HipCity a run for it's money, HipCity has the best vegan food that I tried in D.C. Right up front, do not miss it! On my three visits, I enjoyed the Philly Steak with pulled steak, grilled onion, mushroom, lettuce, tomato, & organic ketchup on a whole wheat long roll. This was one of the best Philly Steaks I have ever had. It had a really nice spice to it. Matt and I also shared the Udon Noodle Salad which has spicy glazed chick'n, sprouts, arugula, carrot, cabbage, daikon, scallions, peanuts, & Chinese black bean dressing. If you are looking to be a little more on the healthy side at HipCity, this salad is a great option. The highlight was the Crispy HipCity Ranch which has battered chick'n, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, & peppercorn ranch. This was the most realistic chicken I have had. It was an amazing chicken burger. With these I had the sweet potato fries with sriracha aioli for dipping. Delicious!

Fruitive
11th St NW & Palmer Alley
Washington, DC 20001
202-836-7749

Menu

Fruitive is a all vegan spot with several locations that serves breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. I ate there a lot during my last work trip to DC as there was a location right across from my office. They have so many options but I think the wraps, smoothies, and the Acai bowl were the stand outs. 

Fancy Radish
600 H St NE

Washington, DC 20002
202-675-8341

Menu

Living up to it's name, the Fancy Radish is a fancy and trendy spot. Their plates are made for sharing so it would be wise to order quite a few of them. The stand outs here were the Rutabaga Fondue (served with pretzel bread!) and the Peruvian Potatoes.









Guest coffee post from Matt:

Baked & Wired
1052 Thomas Jefferson St NW
Washington DC 20007

703-663-8727

Menu

Awesome coffee (their iced lattes are amazing), comically bad service, awesome vegan cupcake option (singular).

Compass Coffee
1535 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Amazing iced lattes and Nitro Cold Brew, awesome service, and a few vegan snack options.

What are your favorite vegan spots in D.C.? Let me know in the comments!

All photos by Ashley of theveganadventure.com