DC vegan food recs

If you're vegan and visiting DC, these are my recs for places to eat while you're in the area

The pantheon (listed here)

This is a list of my favorite vegan food and restaurants in the DMV (for those visiting, that’s the DC-Maryland-Virginia area). This isn’t meant to be a list of all the good vegan options in DC, it’s a list of my very favorite places that I’d want friends visiting DC to try.

Contents

• Favorite restaurants for vegans in the DMV

  • Not specifically vegan restaurants

  • Vegan restaurants

• My top 5 favorite bites of vegan food in the DMV

• Anti-recommendations

Favorite restaurants for vegans in the DMV

Not specifically vegan restaurants

Breakfast

DC is lacking in great vegan breakfasts, but a few places are pretty good:

• Busboys and Poets - Underrated spot for a great vegan breakfast. I really like their tofu scrambles.

• Silver Diner - Only a few vegan breakfast options but they’re all very good and you can substitute the eggs in their omelets with Just Egg. You can also get a vegan shake for the full diner experience.

Chinese

• Mama Chang, Peter Chang, and Chang Chang - All restaurants started by Peter Chang, a legendary chef in the DC area whose Wikipedia page includes a section called “Disappearances and movement.” This is my favorite Sichuan food in the area. Mama Chang might be my favorite restaurant period. Tyler Cowen’s most recent interview with Fuchsia Dunlop was hosted at Mama Chang. The tofu skin salad with hot and numbing sauce and the sesame noodles at both are my #3 and #4 favorite bites of food in DC.

Ethiopian

• Nazret Ethiopian Restaurant - My personal favorite Ethiopian restaurant in the region, which is saying something because we have the largest Ethiopian American community and the options are fantastic. Truly amazing food, with really fun drinks too. I got the peanut tea, which was a little like drinking peanut butter before I mixed it well, then it was perfect. The spice Ethiopian tea is also so good. At any Ethiopian restaurant you should make sure to get at least one separate extra order of shiro.

• Chercher Ethiopian Restaurant - There’s consensus from friends that this is the best Ethiopian food in DC proper.

These are also great Ethiopian restaurants and which one to go to really just depends on where you are in the area:

• Tsehay - Adams Morgan

• Enjera - Arlington

• Das - Georgetown

Fine dining

• Elizabeth’s - This is a very expensive multi course meal restaurant. It is the best experience with food that I have had. I’ve only ever done it once. I feel guilty about spending too much money on lavish experiences because of my belief system, but I have to say if you’re looking for a very upscale vegan restaurant in DC this would be my rec. I haven’t done other very upscale dining in DC so there might be other good options.

• Oyster Oyster - Also amazing but very expensive vegan multi course meal restaurant.

Indian

• Indigo - My favorite Indian restaurant in DC.

• VegZ - Great cheap(ish) Indian food. It’s pronounced “Veg-ez” not “Veg-Zee.”

• Himalayan Heritage - Indian and Nepalese food. You need to get the vegetarian mo mo with the fake meat, not the veggie one.

Pizza

• Andy’s Pizza - I feel solidarity with this restaurant. Great vegan pizza.

• Wiseguy Pizza - Also great vegan pizza. Might be better than Andy’s but I gotta ride or die for fellow Andys.

Southeast Asian

• Eden Center - The largest Vietnamese commercial center (and largest Asian mall in general) on the east coast of North America. Lots of amazing restaurants, shops, and a massive grocery store. People come from all over to try it. I haven’t scratched the surface of everything that’s good at Eden Center despite working a few blocks away from it for 6 years. My 2 favorite Eden Center places:

  • Dieu Huong Vegetarian Restaurant - Vegan Vietnamese food. Their spring rolls are my favorite bite of food in DC. Perfect texture and flavor, though this is very polarizing. Some friends agree with me and insist we always visit to get some, others are confused and don’t see how they stand out. There’s this one dish they have right now that mimics a really fatty cut of pork (I think it’s the vermicelli with grilled meat) that I haven’t found anything similar to elsewhere. Make sure to try all the common sauces in the metal containers on the table, they’re all made by the restaurant. Friends always leave here stunned and happy and talking about how great it was. There’s a separate section in the restaurant with vegan meats, which you can either have with rice there or take to go. Be sure to try those too, you need to ask about them separately.

  • Thanh Son Tofu - Everything here is to-go. The main attraction for vegans here is that you can buy a pound of fried tofu for $5. The three fried tofu flavors are lemongrass, mushroom and onion (my favorite), and plain. If you spend more than $30 you get a free sweet soy milk. Buying 6 pounds of tofu to get a free soy milk is a Powerful Vegan Move. They also have lots of flavors of sticky rice and great sesame balls.

• Laos in Town - Great Laotian food.

Other

• Falafel Inc - Extremely cheap compared to the high quality. If you’re looking for a very cheap vegan sandwich you can’t go wrong here.

• Daikaya - Great vegan ramen.

• China Chilcano - More expensive, a José Andrés Peruvian/Asian fusion restaurant. Very good.

• Chaia Tacos - Vegetarian, a lot can be made vegan. Great mushroom tacos.

Vegan restaurants

I don’t actually go to all-vegan restaurants often, because most DC restaurants have a lot of vegan options now, but these stand out and are each worth visiting regardless of whether you’re vegan:

• Shouk - Israeli Street Food. My favorite fast casual place in DC by a mile. Could eat this every day. The shawarma sandwich is my #2 favorite bite of food in DC. Their hummus is my favorite I can buy in the area. I am sad to say that Shouk has closed their DC locations. I miss the mushroom shawarma every day.

• Galaxy Hut - Fantastic vegan junk/bar food like poutine and cheesy tater tots.

• NuVegan Cafe - Vegan soul food. My favorite vegan mac and cheese anywhere and that mixed with other stuff they have is my #5 favorite bite of food in DC. The restaurant isn’t great for people staying and eating inside anymore so plan to get it to go. Closed!

• HipCityVeg - More expensive vegan fast/comfort food, a lot of burgers and chicken sandwiches. Best option for both in DC.

• DC Vegan - Expensive for what it is, but the food can be very satisfying. I’d just go for the main entrées and appetizers and avoid the salads and sandwiches.

My top 5 favorite bites of vegan food in the DMV

These are the bites of food in the area that haunt me the most. All of these are actually pretty affordable and not super upscale. These aren’t really the best dishes, they’re the best individual bites of food. Utilitarians can fight it out in the comments about what the difference is. In order of how much I like them:

1. The spring rolls from Dieu Huong Vegetarian Restaurant

2. The shawarma sandwich from Shouk Shouk has unfortunately closed its DC locations.

3. The tofu skin salad with hot and numbing sauce from Mama Chang and Peter Chang

4. The sesame noodles from Mama Chang and Peter Chang

5. A bunch of stuff from NuVegan all mixed together, make sure to include the mac and cheese Sadly this is also closed. My pantheon crumbles.

Anti-recommendations

I think these restaurants are pretty good, but you have much better options while you’re in DC. They come up a lot in conversations with vegans and I think they’re a little overrated:

• Loving Hut - Pretty good Asian food (and it’s run by a mostly harmless cult who believe that veganism is part of a galactic-scale battle against the forces of evil, and it plays lectures from the cult leader on a big TV in the corner, so it gets some points for that) but it’s not quite as good as a lot of what you can get at Eden Center nearby.

• PLANTA Queen - Pretty expensive, their vegan sushi is just okay.

• Pow Pow - Some friends love this place but it’s too decadent for me and makes me feel a little gross after. I’d prefer a cheap Chinese restaurant like Isshin.