Washington DC Vegetarian Restaurant Reviews

(I've found there are some resources on the web, but see no objective review collection; hoping that this will help some fellow veggies!)

Name/Link

Price $

Rating +
Value V

Comments

Sunflower
Falls Church

++++
VVVV

A priceless hidden jewel. Where have you been all my vegetarian life?!
A creative menu, great service, tasty food. I would need to return 5 times to sample all the things I want. Fresh and unique.

Cafe Green

++++
VVVV

Patio or inside. All vegan and you'd never be inconvenienced! What great food, creativity, service! (Just opened June 2010; a cousin of JavaGreen)

Meskerem Ethiopian
Adams Morgan
2434 18th St NW (@Belmont Rd)
(202) 462-4100

$$($)

++++
VVV

Authentic Ethopian, great veg selections, wonderful food and service.

Jandara Thai
(some are closed)

Zed's Ethiopian
Georgetown
1201 28th St NW

$$$

++++
VV

Excellent (semi-formal) table-cloth, sit-down ambience. We had the "sampler" which was exquisite, and large portions of each item. Good wines.

Vegetate CLOSED
(a sad loss!)
District
1414 9th Street, NW

++++
VVVV

Contemporary, stylish, sit-down. Simple but sophisticated selections; environmentally/sustainability-minded. Mostly organic.
Creative menus each time we've gone, very fine indeed!

Saran Indian Cuisine
5157 N Lee Hwy
Arlington
703 533 3600

+++
VVV

Strip mall ambience, but excellent food, completely vegetarian.
Great waitstaff. Mango Lassi pretty bad, all else wonderful.

JavaGreen
District
(near Faragut metro: 19thLM)
1020 19th Street N.W.

++++
WOW
VVVV

All the other information I've seen does not do this place justice.
It took me literally 10 minutes to decide between all the sandwiches, soups, etc., not to mention drinks. What a great place: it's fast, informal, inexpensive, made to order, eat-in or out. Environmentally minded. mostly organic.

Veg Garden
Rockville MD
(White Flint metro,
literally across the highway)
11618 Rockville Pike

+++
VVV

Altho the hardcopy menus have tacky pictures that don't do the food justice, this is quite the unlikely stripmall restaurant - a huge list of mostly organic offerings. I had the combo plate, which was 2 generous entree portions, an appetizer and a soup. A vegetarian's dream to be able to select from so many varieties of great food.
The dessert I had was unfortunately another story: so-called Key Lime pie was green (it's supposed to be a pale yellow color), and a valliant attempt was made to make a tofu-based dessert to be attractive and palatable. The heavily agar-agar infused wedge could be mistaken for a rubber ball. (Sorry, but the rest of the meal had had my hopes up for a delicious vegan dessert)
Easy access from metro, and ample/easy parking

Soul Delight
2606 Georgie Ave NW
District, Howard area
202-328-7685

+
V

Buffet Deli counter; quick, nice service

Mr Chen's Organic
2604 Conn Ave NW
Chinese some veg

I didn't see anything "Organic" about the place, and the food was underwhelming. One waitperson and the owner(?) served about 14 tables (slow service). The dumplings i had were stale, and the vegetable sauce was thick with cornstarch.
While the single table next to me went to the restroom (during the middle of his meal), they cleared his food away and "re-sold" his table. When he returned, he was aghast that people were sitting at his table and his canvas bag was still in the chair. From what i could tell, they re-made his complete meal for takeout and it appeared they didn't charge him.

Indian Delight

++(*)
VV

Fast food in a busy food court
Amazingly fresh and tasty for being fast food/buffet. Overall experience was lessened because of the tacky food court venue- what an affront to the grand, majestic architecture of the building.
The address was listed as 1100 Penna Ave (which turned out to be the old Post Office building), but all the doors were locked, so i called (luckily i had the phone number, there was no sign or indication of anything inside!). I called and they said to go to the right side, which i did: Exit Only, Federal Employees Only; finally a guard pointed that I should walk to the back, where I got in. Others near me gave up out of frustration (no notes on any doors). How they expect to get clients into their selling area I don't know.
It was sufficient for a quick meal, but definitely not a destination venue.

(*)Con: Raita (herbed yogurt), supposedly made daily, was carbonated (very fizzy), which might indicate it was spoiled, altho they claimed it was supposed to be extra sour and bubbly like Kefir.

Heritage India
Dupont Circle Metro
1337 Connecticut Ave NW

$$$

+++
VV

Formal dining with table cloths
Not entirely vegetarian, but a reasonable selection of entrees. The ones we had were quite good, and wine by the glass had an ample side-supply!

Sticky Fingers Bakery
(Columbia Heights)
1370 Park Rd NW

++
VV

Sandwiches, composed salads, desserts/bakery items. Quick and tasty.
N'oreo "sandwich" cookies were my favorite (vanilla filling)
Internet cafe attracts the laptop crowd, and during some periods of the day, there's no place for the dining customers to sit and eat.

Vietnam Georgetown
Georgetown
2934 M St NW

++
VV

Great food accompanied by a cacophony of competing maitre d' TV and ambience stereo music- surely this is what has inspired composers like Charles Ives and John Cage!
Ample portions and good selections.
V V is based on food quality, not ambience.

Amma's Vegetarian Kitchen
3291A M Street NW
202-625-6625

9am-9pm (midnight Sat-Sun)
10 walking minutes from Foggy Bottom

Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant
Vienna

2531 Chain Bridge Road
Vienna, VA
(703) 319-3888

Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 10:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 noon - 10:00 pm

Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
202-822-TRUE (8783)

Chipotle
4300 Wilson Blvd.
Ballston, VA
703-243-9488
chipotle.com

Banana Cafe
Eastern Market Metro(1 block)
500 8th Street, SE

+++
VVV

Contrary to other reviews we read, on a crowded Saturday night there was no waiting time to be seated nor to be served. Our pitcher of sangria was huge, tasty, and effective!
Salad and entree size and quality were excellent.
Vegetarian offerings were many and varied.
An added bonus was the piano bar upstairs: Gordon, a blind musician, provided wonderful renditions of jazz and pop classics as he sang, played keyboard, and occasionally alto saxophone. He was amazingly talented and the crowd loved him! It's worth the trip just to hear him and have an appetizer in their lounge.

Chopt

++
VVV

Fast food salads to order. Build your own. Large servings, creative combinations. Take-out or eat in. Quick. Huge salad for $10. Yummie.

Portobellos (a chain)
Arlington
3911 Lee Highway

+++
VVV

Not many vegetarian offerings, but the (vegan) chef is accommodating for custom creative non-menu requests, and the menu-listed Portobello Muchroom w/ Vegetable Ratatouille was very fine. Wednesday nights all wine is half price. Lunchtime crowd is noisy, but a cozy spot to return to!
1+ mi. walk thru nice neighborhood from Ballston metro.