Little Sesame — Restaurant in Washington

We had been wanting to try Little Sesame since we saw it featured in the Washington Post’s “25 best casual restaurants in the D.C. area” this past June.

Beautiful, beautiful decor inside. Loved the tile work and the functionality of everything. Seating was a bit difficult as we arrived towards the end of the lunch rush.

It’s a fast casual spot that focuses on hummus bowls, pita sandwiches, seasonal salatim, and mezze.

Our group of three all opted for bowls over sandwiches and it came in right around the ~$10-11 mark pre-tax. The menu is definitely pretty seasonal so most of what we ordered is no longer included in the winter offerings.

One bowl was the chicken shawarma, one featured beets, and the third (I believe) was zucchini. Regardless, all three came served over a bed of outrageously smooth, creamy hummus. Best hummus I’ve had in DC and just might be the best I’ve had outside of Israel. Each main also comes with a delicious, warm pita.

We additionally ordered a seasonal fattoush salad and the dairy free, vanilla tahini soft serve for dessert.

Unfortunately both were forgettable, fattoush was overly soggy and the ice cream pretty flavorless.

Would love to give LS a 4.5 but it’s at a 4 right now with the caveats being that if you love hummus, it’s your spot and if you’re particularly sensitive to veggie, vegan, or dairy free lunch options it seems like a fantastic alternative to other fast casual spots...

Delicious hummus bowls bursting with flavor and warm fluffy pitas! So glad Little Sesame opened up last year - finally an authentic and healthy hummus spot.

The #3 Cauliflower Hummus bowl was packed with flavor from the roasted cauliflower and hummus peppered with spices and topped with tahini. The small bowl was surprisingly quite filling. The warm pita was perfect for dipping and mopping up all the delicious hummus!

The #11 Roasted Eggplant Pita Sandwich hit the spot! The eggplant is perfectly cooked with crunchy pickled onion topped with garlicky Tahini and spicy Green Schug made of hot green peppers neatly tucked into a warm and fluffy pita pocket. To my pleasant surprise, the sandwich wasn't overstuffed and didn't leak.

It's gets super crowded during the lunchtime rush - get here a quarter of noon or after 1pm on the weekdays. I got here around noon and luckily there were only a few people ahead of me. When I was finished and got up 20 min later, the line wrapped around the corner with over 10 people waiting outside!

I love the diverse vegetarian options. Can't wait for the 6th street location to open up...

If Israel's hummus ruined all hummus found in the USA, run to Little Sesame. The hummus is on the same level (it better be since the recipe is from Israel).

Little Sesame is a beautifully designed shop in downtown DC serving up hummus in all shapes and sizes. They started off making entree style hummus plates. You can get different vegetables on it and now you can even get a chicken shwarma on one.

They recently slip into the wrap business catering to the lunch crowd. For dessert, you can get Middle Eastern flavored (i.e. tahini) soft serve. They also sell house made drinks like their purple lemonade (perfectly balance of sour and sweet).

All of the food is superb, but their pita...wow. It's the best in the city. Maydan has good pita, but Little Sesame trained them on pita, so the best pita award goes to Little Sesame.

There's plenty of seating inside and out so stay awhile AND always pay the extra $1 for another pita. You...