DC Vegan — Restaurant in Washington

Wow...just wow. I hardly even know where to begin. As the token vegetarian / plant-based person in my friend group, I'm constantly being flooded with recommendations (and requests for recommendations haha) for the best veggie-friendly places in the District. And, let me tell you, DC Vegan has gotten a lot of love in the last year or so -- I can hardly count how many times someone has recommended this plant-based deli to me, but, for whatever ridiculous reason, I never really found myself out by Logan Circle. Until, that is, they opened up their vegan cheese store and I felt like I could no longer justify not paying them a visit. Ironically, I didn't even end up ordering from their vegan cheese case, despite how beautiful and enticing it was, because I was just so overwhelmed (in the best way possible) by the rest of their menu.

The first thing I noticed upon looking at their menu: they mark common allergens directly on their menu, so I don't have to bother pulling up an online allergen menu or peppering the staff with a million questions. Immediate win in my book -- for both me and whoever else is in the store with me. This was also probably the only time in my life I've been overjoyed to not see a single item with a little "V" or "VG" next to its name because there's no need for that here!

My eyes immediately skipped over to their bowls, which are served with super fresh spring mix and quinoa for a satisfying, but not heavy base that packs some extra fiber and protein...great way to feel like I'm being a little extra healthy while devouring some vegan deliciousness. I ended up settling on their braised jackfruit bowl, which was basically their take on a Philly cheesesteak, but vegan and gluten-free-ified. But I guarantee you'll miss neither the meat nor the gluten -- it was absolutely delicious and jam-packed with flavor. The quinoa / spring mix base was topped with a super tender, umami braised jackfruit, roasted bell peppers and onions, and the most delightfully garlicky braised collard greens. Then, everything was topped with a beautiful drizzle of cashew cheese sauce. And...wowza. If what was in their vegan cheese case was even half as good as their cashew cheese sauce, I'm 100% sold...I'd buy out the entire supply if I could. The flavors absolutely sang, pairing beautifully with one another and providing a delicious, super satisfying meal. Although it was pretty light, my one watch-out is that it was pretty salty and with all of the braised / roasted items, it did get a bit oily toward the end, as all of the super-flavorful juices and oils dripped toward the bottom and got soaked up by the quinoa (which is just a sponge) and greens. Even so, the bowl was still pretty darn phenomenal.

Beyond the food, the restaurant is adorable. The upstairs / main restaurant is pretty no-frills and utilitarian, but provides a lovely and relaxed energy for a casual meal. The botanical bar, though...absolutely gorgeous. If you want to feel like you're getting wined and dined but at an affordable price point and with delicious, innovative, plant-based takes on some classic favorites, definitely go there.

A few weeks later, I found myself craving DC Vegan's incredible braised jackfruit bowl again, so I hopped over to Grubhub. I was super surprised to learn that DC Vegan had just changed their menu and rotated out their jackfruit bowl (but if you're not gluten-free you can still get it on a sandwich!), While I was a touch disappointed, this was the perfect opportunity to try out some of their other delicious menu items! I ordered their tofu and wild mushroom bowl for that day, as well as a grilled vegetable bowl for tomorrow. Both of them were super tasty, but, honestly, just not as fancy and creative as their pseudo Philly cheesesteak.

Even so, DC Vegan is still one of my absolute favorite vegetarian spots in DC -- whether it's the vibes, their creative takes on comfort food favorites, or the beautiful botanical bar, I can't recommend DC Vegan enough! And I will definitely be coming back for that vegan...

I’ve been wanting to check out the botanical bar for some time now so I finally decided to go on my birthday for brunch. We got a 11:45 am reservation on a Saturday. When we arrived, it wasn’t too busy. There were maybe 2 tables occupied and a couple of people at the bar. We ordered promptly but then things got a little odd. We ordered one appetizer, 2 entrees, and 2 cocktails. We waited for about 10 minutes when my husband got up to use the restroom. At this point we still hadn’t got our drinks, but my husband’s entree arrived. Which I thought was odd that we didn’t get drinks or the appetizer yet and only one entree was out. Even my husband was confused when he came back to the table. About 10 minutes went by and then my entree came out with a second plate of my husbands entree. So we assume that we got someone else’s order originally and the server maybe thought I was alone. And it just so happened that my husband had the same meal, which is why the server left the entree in the first place. So then another 5 minutes go by and our appetizer comes out. We sort of laughed about it but no biggie. Still no drinks. We then realized that our drinks were being served to a table behind us that had children. The table was confused as they tried to give the children the drinks and the waitress told them there was alcohol in one of the drinks. They then realized they served them to the wrong table. At this point we had pretty much finished our food and they went to remake the drinks. And when the drinks came out they were super sweet and just not worth the wait. We ordered a morning glory and a tree of life. The food was okay. My husband ordered the mushroom omelet, which was very good but nothing we couldn’t make at home with Just Egg. I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes which again, we’re nothing special and tasted no different than boxed pancake mix. The “ricotta” needs work. We also got the calamari which we did enjoy! Overall, the food was good but we felt that it was way over priced. We ended up going up to the deli and ordered some sandwiches to go for dinner. We love the sandwiches up there! We live in the middle of the country now, so every time we visit DC Vegan, we view it as a treat. We had read the reviews for the botanical bar beforehand and were hoping that it would be different. It seems like there are still some quirks that need to be worked out. I would love to give it another try after some time and hope that the service gets better! The bar itself is beautiful and May be worth going just for drinks and...

I do not take comfort in having to rate this place, because I’m always excited to hear about a new Vegan place!

I have tried them about 3 times, and only had ONE “ok” experience with the food. I can’t quite recall when it was(it was some time ago, before i started leaving reviews), but I think it was the chick’n sandwich. Very basic, but it did the job for a quick bite. I try not to get caught up in the OVERpricing…

The 2nd experience was with the Tofu Bowl… HORRIBLE! There was barely any food in the bowl, lacked any WOWing factors and it was DEFINITELY OVERPRICED for the contents…

NOW…. Most recently, I was in the area, decided to them ANOTHER try… (and by now, I’ve started to be more diligent about pictures..) I was torn between going with what I Remembered to be Ok, or step outside the Box and try something different…. I was going to try the “Chick’n Club”… YET, they were out of the “bacon”… bummer… so, with the suggestion of the cashier, I chose the Fired Artichoke Sub/Sandwich with Carrot cheese (which this review is nothing against Him, he was very friendly and patient as I took forever to decide)…

The SUB was LITERALLY the WORST THING I HAVE EVER Tried in my Entire 20+ years of being VEGAN!! The Sandwich was Impractical to even eat, there was Too much bread, poor choice of bread, there’s TONS of better sub rolls… if the contents are already “hard”/friend.. the bread should not be hard also, barely any sauce, it was soo dry and no flavor, not sure if it was to be a Marinara sauce. The “carrot cheese” didn’t taste like anything and certainly wasn’t even melted. Though the Artichokes had an interesting crunch and flavor, the pieces were too large to even enjoy.. the ONLY tasty part was the Aoli on top, but there was barely any of that… and when I say OVERPRICED…. This ONE item was $17! No drink no sides…. For $17!

Unfortunately, the concept of the place, with Wine and Vegan Cheese’s and interesting pastries Seemed Exciting… NOT THE actual food! Soo, not sure if I’ll EVER return, and if I do, I certainly WILL NOT be trying to food, maybe a pastry if I’m feeling fancy, but there’s other vegan pastry shops in the city.. soo, not sure I’ll ever return…

And the sad part is, I was just seeing some advertisement about their Wine and Cheese tasting.

Maybe that’s what they are known for, not sure because I haven’t tried it.. but the food options are a...