All Vegan Fruitive Coming to City Center

Virginia Beach based Fruitive is opening up a store in the City Center development in downtown DC. The fast casual style restaurant offers a 100% plant-based menu with a focus on juices (including cleanses), wraps, salads, and bowls. Everything looks really great. Very cool addition to the downtown lunch scene. The restaurant will be located in the Two City Center building, at the corner of Palmer Alley and 11th Street NW. An Instagram post by Fruitive indicates that they intend to open before the end of summer 2015.

HEY FRUITIVE FANS, IT'S HAPPENING!!!! 🎉 The #CityCenterDC construction begins! Opening late #summer 2015 - in other words, #AFruitiveSummer just got better!!!! ☀️ #LiveYourHealth

A video posted by Fruitive (@fruitive) on Jul 2, 2015 at 11:00am PDT

The Patio Life in Penn Quarter

Sandwich shop Jetties opened recently at 801 8th St NW. Jetties has a pretty simple menu full of hot & cold sandwiches and lots of salads. Nothing vegan at first glance, but you could possibly work with one of the salads, modified. This is the spot formerly leased by 1791 DC Deli, which I grew to love over the years. Good luck Jetties!

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And here's a photo of the new patio at Penn Commons. Looks awesome! I need to get here before the temperatures climb too high. 700 6th St NW.

Foggy Bottom's Beefsteak Coming to Dupont

This new restaurant is already expanding to Dupont. 1528 Connecticut Ave NW.

Last week I had a chance to eat at Beefsteak for lunch. The new fast causal restaurant is courtesy of DC-based ThinkFoodGroup and is located on the campus of GWU at 800 22nd St. NW. It features the familiar and popular conveyor belt set-up, with customizable ingredients you choose as the line moves forward. The menu includes pre-composed combinations as well. This is not a purely vegetarian restaurant; they do serve meat. But, it's super easy to make a vegetarian or vegan meal. I did last week. And they offer seaweed two ways as toppings, so basically, I'm sold.

ThinkFoodGroup is already planning to open another Beefsteak, in Dupont. The address will be 1528 Connecticut Ave NW. This space was formerly occupied by offices for PNC Bank. This is a great location adjacent to the Metro station and feet from a 42 bus stop. Another great lunch option for Dupont!

Native Foods Opening September 30 in Dupont

The Native Foods Café restaurant in Dupont just erected signage and is closing in on opening day, The 5,000 square foot space at 1150 Connecticut NW will be one of two to open in DC this fall. The DC Native Foods restaurants will be the first on the east coast. The Dupont store is set to open on September 30, the Penn Quarter location on October 14. Native Foods offers an all vegan menu and is in the fast-casual style.

The restaurant at 1150 Connecticut (actually closer to the corner of 18th and M NW) has applied for an alcohol license. The license request includes a max indoor seating capacity of 116, total occupancy load of 160, and an outdoor patio with 14 seats. They're seeking operating hours of 7:00 AM - 2:00 AM (Sun-Thu) and Fri-Sat 7:00 AM - 3:00 AM (Fri-Sat). Let's hope they stick to the September 30 opening date. VERY cool addition to the DC vegan scene and Dupont lunch scene in general.

"New" L'Enfant Plaza Opens

The underground retail areas in L'Enfant Plaza were previously drab at best and downright dreary (and confusing to navigate) at worst. As for the above ground retail options? Nil. But, the underground concourse just received a major face lift and the results are good! L'Enfant plaza was envisioned in the 1950s as a massive retail and office development meant to accommodate DC's post WWII population and economic growth. It was constructed over a number of years beginning in the 1960s. The hotel didn't open until  1973 and the Metro station in 1977. The underground shopping center has always been busy, but not dynamic, and appeared a bit aged before the renovations.

The new retail scheme (205,000 sq ft!) is more inviting and mostly sunlit, despite the balance being underground. The center is not 100% finished, but there is a new food court, new retail options, USPS post office, walkways to the offices above, and of course access to the WMATA Metro station. The renovated food court currently features Potbelly's, Moe's, Roti, Crumbs Bake Shop, and Five Guys, among others; mostly lunch and fast casual style dining.

The plan is to expand the food offerings (including Amsterdam Falafel, Red Robin, Phillp's Seafood) and eventually attract table service restaurants and stores which would remain open outside of 9-5 / M-F. That might be a challenge, but they're off to a good start. Good lunch options for those that work nearby and it's definitely close enough for people visiting the National Mall. FYI - Vegan food available at Moe's Southwest Grill, Roti Mediterranean, and soon, Amsterdam Falafel.

ShopHouse Kitchen, Cava Grill Opening in Penn Quarter

Future Cava Grill location at 707 H St NW.

Future ShopHouse location at 710 7th St NW.

Great, great news for food options in Penn Quarter. ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and Cava Mezze Grill are slated to open in Chinatown. 

Each restaurant is in the fast-casual, quick-serve style. They each allow customers to order "up the line" choosing a combination of ingredients to create highly customizable dishes. There is no table service. 

ShopHouse --a division of Chipotle-- is one of my favorite DC lunch spots, with two current stores near 28th and M NW, and Connecticut Ave and Q NW. They have clearly marked vegan items and top notch customer service. The food is pan-Asian, taking cues form Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, and Malaysian cuisines. Check out the menu here. To find out what dishes are vegan, check the actual menu boards inside the stores.

Cava Grill is the fast-casual spin off of the similarly named small plates restaurant, Cava Mezze. Cava is local. The company was started right here in the DC area, mid 2000s. The Grill is awesome. Like ShopHouse, they offer vegan-friendly, affordable options for a quick meal. The food here is Greek & Mediterranean. Yes, that means they serve high quality falafel. Check out what's vegan here.

The new ShopHouse restaurant is located at 710 7th Street NW (formerly a Ruby Tuesday). No exact opening date is known to me, but they are hiring for this location, which is a good sign.

The new Cava Grill restaurant is located at 707 H St NW. That storefront was most recently Capital Q BBQ, which closed in 2012. Again, no exact opening date is known to me, but I will keep you updated.

New Lunch Options for Penn Quarter

There are two new-ish lunch options for Penn Quarter, located within one block of each other. 

District based Taylor Gourmet already had a Philly-style deli at nearby City Vista (485 K St NW). But, that's a bit of a walk if you're in Penn Quarter and you need a quick lunch. The Taylor folks recently opened a new restaurant at 624 E Street NW, about half way between the Navy Memorial and Verizon Center.

Taylor has all manner of sandwiches including five vegetarian options. None are vegan as-is, though. The prices are good. A six inch hoagie with soda and chips will set you back about $10, the magic lunch number. The staff at Taylor are always so nice and they keep the line moving. I love them because you get your sandwich quickly and roll out.

Just a block south of Taylor is Protein Bar -- 398 7th St NW. This place is awesome. There are only two locations outside of Chicago and one of those is in the District (with another on the way to 19th & K NW). The Penn Quarter location has been open since July of last year.

Protein Bar is what I'd consider a fast casual style restaurant with healthier options than others in this category. They are very vegan friendly. There are several menu items (breakfast, burritos, salads, chili) that can be ordered vegan right off of the menu. In addition you can modify most dishes into vegan meals.

The raw juices and specialty blended drinks cost a bit more, but a wrap or salad plus a bottled drink comes in right around $10. Really, really into this place and will definitely be back.

YO! Sushi is Fun, Veg Friendly

YO! Sushi opened its first American restaurant last week right here in DC. The Union Station location is on the main concourse in busy West Hall near Chipotle, Potbelly, Chop't, and the also just-opened Roti. YO! is a self-serve sushi place, at which you literally grab your desired dish from a moving conveyor belt. Diners can also order from a fairly extensive menu via a server. 

There's a good mix of hot prepared food, sushi, maki, soups, and appetizers. Each dish is served in a color coded bowl or plate. When you're done, the server counts up the total and dispenses your bill seat-side. Some plates are as low as $2.50. Great place for an in-and-out, affordable lunch.

Also, there is a ton of vegetarian food. Lots of vegetable maki, veggie yakisoba, tempura, miso, and others I haven't had a chance to try. YO! has a breakout guide with more nutritional info. So, vegans can easily see what's safe to order (plenty!). FYI -- oddly the avocado roll, veggie hand roll, and inari are not vegan.

As much as I love the Union Station location, a planned location at 7th and H NW may be even more convenient; and busier. Looking forward to it.

Vegan Lunch: Trucks Edition

You know I'm always looking for all vegetarian lunch options. Heck, all vegetarian options at every meal. Lunching vegan in downtown DC has gotten easier over time, but after 10 years, yeah, you're always looking for something new. The food trucks are a big help. Shout out to two food trucks I've visited recently which each serve a quality all vegetarian meal for under $10. 

DC Ballers has a pretty simple menu featuring falafel and fries. Wow, they make crazy good fries. And very good falafel pita. Standard hummus and tahini dressings with pickled cabbage and tabbouleh. There is a reasonable wait, considering they cook to order. (And I don't count calories, heh.) DC Ballers --get it, falafel balls-- offers various dipping sauces for the fries, but I like them straight up, or with just a bit of ketchup. Plain falafel and fries comes in at $8.50.

Chupacabra DC serves tacos. Plain and simple. Well, the tacos aren't plain, but the concept is. They seem to have a variety of vegan options, but I've only had the black bean taco with carrots and pickled cucumber salad. The salsa was awesome (I think it was roasted tomato) and I also added pico de gallo. $3 x 3 tacos = lunch for only $9. Let's be honest, that's a deal. The best part is that they label the vegan tacos on the menu. I'll try to write up more of these trucks as I come by them. 

ShopHouse is Veg Friendly, Very Good

All the hype over ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen kept me away until recently. But I'm glad I finally visited! Two words that are near and dear to my heart: vegan, affordable. And perhaps another: fast. ShopHouse is all three.

Dupont is a long, long way from Bangkok, and faithfully replicating Asian dishes for hurried, cost conscious Washingtonians might be near impossible. But, I'm less concerned with whether or not ShopHouse dishes have an authentic taste as much as I was with whether they have a GOOD taste. 

They pretty much delivered. The elongated space on Connecticut Ave opens at 11AM each day and closes at 10PM. Yes, it was founded by the same folks who operate Chipotle, the fast causal Mexican restaurant that seems to be in every NW neighborhood at this point (ShopHouse has just one location in DC). 

The serving station is similar to Chipotle. You choose the base, protein, main vegetable, other toppings and sauce in a conveyor-belt type of assembly. Get your drink, pay and take your food to the seating area. Choose banh mi sandwich or a bowl (rice or noodle). The menu is simple --I love that-- and veg/vegan friendly! Organic tofu was just great. The Chinese broccoli was fresh and the flavors really came out alongside the brown rice, pickled veggies and tamarind vinaigrette (hot-hot-hot) that were also in the bowl. 

My meal of rice bowl, plus drink was under $10, a lunch WIN-WIN. I will be back to ShopHouse hitting up another combination of veg friendly lunch soon. I'm be curious to see if another store opens in DC or elsewhere and if the concept is proven a success via expansion or produces this one small store in Dupont.

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen is located at 1516 Connecticut Ave NW, near BGR Burger and Sweetgreen. 

Uno Express, Baja Fresh Express, Canyons Burger to Judiciary Square

Baja Fresh Express, Uno Express and Canyons Burger Company are taking up residence in the District's One Judiciary Square building; address 441 4th St NW. The cafeteria-like space, which will house the three restaurants, is on the northwest corner of the building and looks as if it will remain open to the general public after reopening. There is currently a Firehook bakery at the other end of One Judiciary Square.

These are not stand alone stores. In this location, they're adopting the "quick serve" format. Quick serve locations typically have an abbreviated menu and smaller, franchised stores in settings such as food courts, malls and airports.

Baja Fresh Express and Canyons are part of the same company. The former specializes in a Cali-Mex, with pretty good burritos and tacos (including a salsa bar); and the latter in burgers, naturally. Canyons does have a veggie black bean burger on the menu. I hope the salsa bar and veggie burger stay on in this quick serve format. Uno Express is a modified version of the Chicago pizzeria.

I'm guessing if you work in Judiciary Square, you lunch on 7th St, Indiana Ave or at Union Station. In the end, more choices for a part of town with many federal and District workers, but limited lunch options.

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One Judiciary Square

Corner Bakery Coming to Chinatown

Corner spot for Corner Bakery

Corner Bakery Cafe is well into the build out of a new restarant in DC's Chinatown neighborhood. It is at the corner of 6th and H Sts NW, one block from Metro's Gallery Pl-Chinatown station. The office building at 777 6th Street NW has retail spaces wrapped the first floor; over 10,000 square of it. Corner Bakery inhabits a corner of the building kitty-corner to Wah Luck House.

Corner Bakery serves breakfast and lunch foods including salads, sandwiches, soups, chili, pastas as well as coffee drinks and --naturally-- baked goods and sweets. The Chinatown location will be DC's 6th and the 14th in the Washington metro area. 

Count me as always excited for affordable additions to the lunch scene in Penn Quarter-Chinatown. Although I was never that big on Corner Bakery (never really convenient to where I've lived or worked), I'm certainly willing to give this place a try. Looks like they'll have at least a couple of serviceable options for the vegans, nothing spectacular. Any recommendations? Are you exited about this addition to the PQ-Chinatown lunch scene? Let me know @The42BusDC.

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Lunch: Pitango Gelato

P Street location

Gelato doesn't technically count as lunch. Right?  

A lot of gelato is dairy based. But, luckily the sorbet kind is usually vegan! And Pitango Gelato serves it up pretty good.

Ever heard of quince? Oh, you have. Well... I had never heard of it until I walked into Pitango last week. It's an apple-like fruit that makes a fine tasting sorbet. It's just one of many vegan sorbet treats sold at Pitango. They make a sick strawberry sorbet that I combine with their chocolate noir to make what can accurately be described as edible felicity. Makes you not care that you haven't really had lunch. My other favorites are concord grape and raspberry. That's all I have to say really. Too bad summer is over. 

If you find yourself in PQ on a warm late-fall day, hit up the Pitango on 7th St NW between D and E.

Have any DC vegan recommendations or places you love? Let me know @The42BusDC.

Signage Up for Pho DC and Rita's in Chinatown

We've previously noted arrivals of Rita's Water Ice and Pho DC.  Perhaps the new signs indicate openings sooner than later. 608 H St NW and 610 H St NW.  Here's to both serving delicious vegan lunch treats.

Crumbs Bake Shop: Cupcakery Trend Continues

Does three a trend make? Including the cupcake truck, there are will be three eateries in downtown DC where one can go specifically to buy and eat cupcakes. Like the froyo trend I lamented before, cupcakes have seemingly ridden out the novelty phase to become an actual separate foodgroup with dedicated stores that sell nothing but cupcakes. Simple ones, decadent ones, vegan ones, expensive ones, fattening ones, cakey ones, fluffy ones. There are other cupcakeries in DC: Hello, Cake Love, Red Velvet, and of course Georgetown Cupcake; who now have a freaking reality show! Serial.

Add Crumbs Bake Shop to the mix. It'll open soon next door to Pret a Manger, which itself is a new arrival to the corner of 11th and F NW. Crumbs first opened as a single shop in NYC, but is a chain at this point, with nearly 30 locations over four states. Cool fact: the Crumbs cupcake of the month is the Tony Hawk SkateCake. that's pretty radical. Sadly it looks like they won't be making any vegan cupcakes or cakes (their other product). Not sure of the opening, but if you have an idea, post in the comments. The address is 604 11th Street NW. Crumbs will also be opening another store in Union Station.

Downtown Lunch: Pret a Manger Open

Only had time to get a coffee and chill for a few minutes, but the vibe seems nice. Pret a Manger is a sandwich and coffee lunch spot in downtown DC. This store is located at 11th and F Streets NW, and there is an older store at 18th and I Streets NW. All meals are prepared, packaged and "ready to eat" as the name suggests. I need to go again to fully peruse the offerings re:vegan. At first glance, there seemed to be quite a few veggie options and maybe a few vegan including fresh fruit cups and a falafel sandwich. Looking forward to going back again. Soy latte was nothing to write home about, but really cheap compared to my regular places. Can't have it all I guess.

Pret a Manger Opening 2nd DC Store

One of New York's most ubiquitous sandwich shops is coming to Metro Center. Pret a Manger is like an ATM in Manhattan; you can find one every couple of blocks. They're everywhere. As of today though, there's only one in DC. The existing location is also near the 42 bus line at 1825 I Street NW. Pret a Manger is a British company with stores in the UK, China and the United States.

The new location is at the corner of 11th and F NW, across the street from H&M. I'd always gone there for coffee, but there are some vegan and vegetarian options so I will definitely pay a lunch visit or two to this place. Nice addition to the downtown lunch and sandwich scene. It is scheduled to open in May of this year.

Lunch: Teaism

Tucked away on the first floor of an 8th Street residential tower is the downtown location of Teasim. I've just elevated them to the top of my lunch list. Actually to the top of my any-meal list. More days than not, the line reaches beyond the front door and onto the sidewalk. And although I've always found a seat, looking with a group can be nerve racking. Doesn't matter. The food is worth it.

I actually first went to Teaism for tea. Years ago. And that was at the Dupont location, which I believe is the original. There are now two others; one steps away from the White House at 800 Connecticut Ave NW and of course Penn Quarter at 400 8th Street NW. These folks are very vegan and vegetarian friendly. Bento box? Sure! Vegan burger? Yes. Kebab? With seitan even. Teasim goes the extra mile and indicates on their website which meals are veggie and vegan; and how to adjust meals to fit those requirements. That's excellent.

My all time favorite crack-like addictive dish is the seitan stir fry. I don't sit by the door anymore because every other person entering the restaurant looks at my plate and has to ask what it is, because it smells soooooo good. And I know I'm not the only one who likes this dish. It's not a secret. The seitan is pan fried in a savory sauce which sadly, I can't really do justice describing here. Trust that it's freaking good. Then, they add in spinach, rice and believe it or not, macadamia nuts. A nice ball of brown rice tops it off. Heavenly dish if I ever had one. Finish it off with a ginger beer soda. Perfect lunch.

The space in the PQ restaurant is a little cramped upstairs, but opens up nicely in the downstairs seating area. Lunch is always a crush there with people standing in line, then standing waiting for food, then doing the balancing act with trays trying to find a seat. If you're in a hurry, this is one of the few places that consistently gets food out fast and prepared correctly. You can get in and out without having to watch the clock.

So, here's to this place. Keep up the good work and keep that seitan on the menu!

Hand Held Food Filling Out the Walk

Pretzels and crepes for all! If you want lunch food in Penn Quarter anyway. The last few weeks have seen the opening of Crepes on the Walk and Auntie Anne's Pretzels at 701 7th Street. The shops are outside on "The Walk," the name that's starting to catch on to the Gallery Place arcade at 7th and G Streets. The other stores on "The Walk" are Clyde's, Häagen-Dazs, Sushi Go Round and Smoothie King.

Crepes on the Walk is part of the local Crepes-a-Go-Go mini-chain. They have four stores. Auntie Anne's is a franchised location of the Lancaster, PA pretzel maker. They have over 1,000 locations worldwide. Along with Smoothie King, these businesses seem to be capitalizing on the lunch to go crowd and tourists. Not a bad plan; we'll see if it works long term.

Lunch Fever: More Street Food Please

Due diligence update: I went to Moaz Vegetarian after work yesterday an no, they weren't open. Looks close though, although that's a relative term. I don't know enough about opening restaurants, but I do know that if there aren't tables and chairs you can't serve food. Unless you run a pizza joint in AM. Anyway, as soon as I know, you'll know.

As for lunch in general, I'm obsessed. I work downtown an I'm always looking for new lunch options. I've tried upscale (Rasika), downscale (Safeway) and everything in between.

Three different veggie burritos choices, Chipotle, Qdoba and California Tortilla.

There are more places downtown to get good pad thai tofu than there are places to get a good coffee. Royal Thai, Absolute, Kanlaya, Thai Chili, and that's just on a two block stretch.

DC isn't known for great delis, but there are some deli-like establishments like Phillips and 1791.

I've even gotten a little creative and picked up lunch at a museum; National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Newseum, etc.

Tried all food courts; Reagan Trade Center, National Eat Place, Union Station.

And all the places that defy description; Camille's, Market 2 Market, Clyde's on the Walk (RIP).

We have heaps of options.

Then there are the carts, the street food establishments. Last year, I went a little bananas over the cart options in Penn Quarter. There were several carts, all of which offered a vegan option and set up pretty close to each other. Now, not so much.

So here's the deal. I've never had food from the Fojol Brothers. But I want to. The offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian options and I hear good things. I really want them to come to Penn Quarter, Chinatown, Metro Center, where ever, as long as its downtown, say, east of the White House. I'll travel for good food.

If you haven't seen these guys, they drive around a silver van playing themed music and sporting mustaches. That's not a fair representation, but it's close. You can go to their website and request that they visit your neighborhood, so I did that. You should do the same, where ever you are. But especially if you work downtown. Then tell me if they make an appearance. Here's to making great lunch a priority.