Where to eat vegan in Washington, D.C.

Plus, I share travel tips & things to do between mealtimes. 

In this post:

My first day in D.C. I knew where I had to go – Vegan Donut Central (also known as Sticky Fingers bakery & cafe).

Currently, they only offer donuts on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. 

The adorable space is filled with vintage baking equipment, a display case with pastries aplenty, and a refrigerated case with specialty & to go items.

I’d already scoped out the Sticky Fingers Instagram feed. So I knew which vegan donuts they were offering that day – vanilla, tiramisu, Snickers, and blueberry.

I ordered one of each in a to go box, so that I could share with David when he had a break from his conference.

Of course, I needed to have one first while I was there. I chose the vanilla, which is like a classic glazed donut.

A classic glazed donut doesn’t get a lot of hype, but like vanilla ice cream, there’s a reason it’s the standard. It’s perfect in its simplicity.

Before I left, I ordered two more of the vanilla.

We finished off the rest of the doughnuts over the next few days of the trip. The tiramisu was a surprise hit. The filling was like a Boston cream, and it had a nice edge to it.

All of the doughnuts were wonderfully fresh and bouncy.

Another favorite place from the trip was Shouk. This order-at-the-counter place reminds me of the vibe at Baja Fresh or Sharky’s. However, they serve all-vegan Israeli street food!

When you travel, it’s clear that there’s a lot of overlap in types of vegan restaurants, but I can safely say I’d never gone to a plant based, fast casual Israeli place before now.

My first visit there, I decided to go with a roasted cauliflower bowl. It was topped with tomatoes, scallions, and a tahini sauce. Everything tasted really fresh and vegetable packed.

I also added a side of polenta fries, which were dotted with fresh thyme.

Shouk was a stone’s throw from our hotel. So I had a chance to visit another time.

That time I got the breakfast pita, which was filled with a chickpea flour-pancake, chopped tomatoes and cucumber, and crushed avocado.

I’d never thought about using a chickpea pancake as a filling before, but what a great idea!

The pita was super fluffy and made fresh in house. The whole thing was so filling, I could barely finish half of it.

David had the Shouk burger, which was also stuffed in a pita with pickled turnip, charred onion, arugula, and a tahini sauce.

(On a different trip he ordered the black bean & sweet potato pita, which he said he preferred. However, both dishes were very tasty.)

HipCityVeg is a fast casual vegan joint in the same wheelhouse as Native Foods. You order at the counter from their menu of sandwiches, salads, and wraps.

HipCityVeg was less than half a mile from our downtown hotel. So it was super convenient to visit a couple of times.

On our first trip, David and I both ordered the Crispy HipCity Ranch sandwich. You have the option of getting it buffalo-style. Obviously, that was a yes.

It was topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and peppercorn ranch dressing. It was one terrific sandwich.

One of my favorite things on the menu was the kale lemonade. It wasn’t overly sweet, and they add just the right amount of kale juice for bite, without overwhelming the flavor.

On another visit, David ordered the lil’ golden nugs and sweet potato fries. He didn’t realize that these vegan chicken strips are actually just the Gardein chick’n tenders that we make at home often in the air fryer.

Obviously we like them and all. But when on vacation, we’d always choose something we can’t easily get at home.

When I saw Jerk Caesar salad on the menu, I was intrigued by the addition of crispy plantains. And that’s what sold me on the dish. I’m a huge plantain fan. However, they actually just use plantain chips in the salad.

(Note to self, though, I want to make a salad with fried sweet plantains in it. That sounds like a surefire way to delicious.)

The salad was still really good, though. It was topped with jerk-seasoned Gardein chick’n, romaine, and a creamy dressing.

The salad also included jicama, which added something crunchy and slightly sweet that I enjoyed.

While in DC, we also ordered delivery from Busboys & Poets, which has a lot of vegan options, and an Ethiopian feast from Dukem. (I recommend the collards at Busboys & Poets and gomen at Dukem.)

Even with all of that, there were still more places that we missed and want to try the next time we’re in town – especially Evolve Vegan and NuVegan, which my friend Laura loved when she visited DC.

Of course, there are loads of touristy things to see and do while in DC. Here are some tips on where to stay, when to visit, and what to see while you’re there.

We stayed downtown, near Chinatown, and it was incredibly convenient.

Not only were there loads of things to see and do within a few blocks, any of the major sites were a mile or two away within a circular radius. That made for a pretty easy walk, subway trip, or taxi cab ride.

(Although, be warned. During rush hour, a trip of a couple miles can cost upwards of $20 via taxi.)

The streets are very user-friendly, as they are built in a grid – circling out from the Capitol. (The Capitol building is the city center.)

Numbered streets run north & south. Lettered or named streets run east and west. With the lettered streets, first they run through the alphabet, then two syllables, and then three. So you can tell how far a street is from the Capitol by the letter with which it begins and how many syllables it contains.

Finally, avenues run diagonally across the grid.

The city is laid out in four quadrants. Since it does radiate out from the center, it’s important to pay attention to which quadrant you’re heading to – northwest, southwest, etcetera.

We visited at the end of November, just after the Thanksgiving traffic had died down.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was in the 50’s and 60’s the whole time we were there, meaning that coats were largely unnecessary as long as I dressed in layers. (Of course, if you’re coming from a warm weather state, that might sound downright frigid to you.)

Also, the museums were a breeze to visit. There were no crowds and no waits.

I’ve heard that April, May, September, October, and November are the best months to visit. March & April are popular times to visit for cherry blossom season.

(When should you visit to see the cherry blossoms? According to the National Park Service, peak bloom has occurred as early as March 15 and as late as April 18. The entire blooming period can last up to 14 days, which includes the days leading up to peak bloom.)

We also visited during the week, but before we left on Saturday, I was amazed by how much space there was on the sidewalks. The next time I go, I’ll make sure the trip falls over a weekend for at least some part of it.

The 2 mile long National Mall is incredibly picturesque. With the Capitol at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other, this area is not to be missed.

Many of the Smithsonian museums are located in this area, as well as the Washington monument, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and the very sobering war memorials.

The one and only other time I’d visited Washington, D.C., I’d been very excited to see the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Fonzie’s jacket from Happy Days, and Mister Rogers’ sweater.

Then after we left D.C., my camera popped open, exposing the film. (Those were the days…)

This time around, Fonzie’s jacket was nowhere to be found. Unsurprisingly, it’s not really a headliner anymore. The ruby slippers were not on display and were instead getting some TLC in the Conservation Lab. (The process will take at least a year while they are treated.)

Luckily, Mister Rogers’ sweater was still making an appearance, along with Oscar the Grouch, Prairie Dawn, and the Swedish Chef.

And you’ll be glad to hear, I did not have the slightest trouble exposing my film this time around.

Also in the American History museum, I saw Indiana Jones’ whip & hat, and Julia Child’s kitchen. I used to love watching Julia Child on PBS when I was a kid. In those days when I prepared meals of ramen, I liked to pretend to be her while I cooked.

On a somber note, the exhibit on the Japanese-American internment camps was very moving. It gave me chills.

There are loads of museums in D.C., and a lot of them are free. That makes it easy to just pop in for a couple of hours, and not feel like you have to allot the whole day to get your money’s worth.

I am a serious mail lover. So when I saw there was a National Postal Museum, I was excited to visit.

Plus, David was at a conference during the majority of our trip. So I didn’t feel like I was dragging anyone along for what admittedly must be a niche interest. The whole time I was at the museum, I only saw about 5 other visitors.

There was a letter mailed from the Titanic (presumably dropped off at a stop in France pre-iceberg), lots of interactive areas to design your own stamp, a prop plane, railway car, and full-sized mail truck.

I am a lifelong fan of A Christmas Carol, but I’d never seen a live performance of it. When I saw that it was being performed at the famed Ford’s Theatre, it seemed like kismet.

I sat below the Presidential box, where Abe and Mary Todd were seated on that fateful night of April 14, 1865 when John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln. There is also a museum below the theatre with noteworthy artifacts from the President’s life.

Once David was finished with his conference, we stuck around for an extra day. We did a quick walk through of the public areas of the Supreme Court building (above).

We also toured the Capitol building, guided by a staff member of my local congressman.

For me, the official buildings are a lot more impressive from the outside than from the inside. So on our next trip to DC, I wouldn’t necessarily feel like I need to see the inner workings.

If you’re interested in getting a free tour of the main government buildings, contact your congressperson or Senator before heading on the trip.

Some of the tours they can help with include:

• The United States Capitol
• The White House
• The Library of Congress
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• The State Department
• The National Cathedral

They have a form on their websites, and you just fill it out with your dates & number of people in your party. For White House tours, reservations are available no earlier than 90 days but no later than 21 days in advance of the desired dates.

I didn’t contact my congressperson until a few days before our trip, but they were still able to work us in for a Capitol tour.

The Google maps app is really handy when maneuvering the city.

It includes a variety of directions options plus the amount of time each choice would take – whether by car, Uber, Lyft, bike, subway, walking, or some combination.

If you choose the subway route, click on that part of the trip, and it will list the trains you can take followed by the times they come in. It’s super handy if you’re unfamiliar with the area and aren’t sure in which direction you should be going.

(The trains are listed by color and then by destinations along the route – as opposed to north or south.)

When booking flights, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is closer, but Baltimore-Washington is sometimes cheaper.

Keep in mind, though, that it’s quite a jaunt from downtown. (It takes about 30 minutes when it’s not rush hour.) You can maneuver transportation from there, or get ready for a $70 cab ride each way. Including cab fare, it might not be a better deal after all.

There was still so much more that I would have liked to see on our trip – especially the National Museum of African American History & Culture and the National Air & Space Museum. (I visited the Air & Space Museum on my previous trip, and I remember finding it really impressive.)