Alright, so I am finally settling in after a whirlwind of a week. I was so lucky to be able to travel to Washington, DC and meet so many wonderful humans. If you were there and we met, PLEASE reach out, I want to stay in touch. That all being said, I wanted to share with you some of the amazing places I got to eat while there.

I’m a foodie through and through. There are not many foods I don’t like or won’t try. There are certain foods that I stay away from because of digestive issues (gluten, cashews, and bananas if you are curious), but I like to try new things. Traveling is one of those opportunities that allow you to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. I get so excited to travel because it means I get to try new food. While others are busy figuring out travel, places to stay, things to do, I’m busy looking up restaurants and places to eat. What can I say, it’s one of my favorite things.

Washington, DC Eats

I’ll jump right to the meat and potatoes (pun most definitely intended) of this post and share with you some of my eats from DC. I definitely would’ve eaten more had I not been at the conference for the majority of the day. I’m looking forward to going back sometime soon and exploring a few more options that were recommended (see below).

Here’s what/where I ate while in DC:

Cava

OMG, we need a Cava in Albany, and I’m determined to figure out how to get one here. Does anyone have any connections? It’s basically the Meditteranean version of Chipotle and I’m hooked. I went here twice while in DC and feel like I could’ve gone every day. You start with a bowl, a base of greens and/or grains, 3 sauces of your choosing, a meat and/or roasted veggies, fresh veggies & toppings of choice, a dressing and boom you are good to go. They also sell Spindrift there, it’s like they get me.

Here’s what I ordered: greens + rice, tzatziki, roasted red pepper hummus, eggplant + red pepper dip,  grilled chicken & roasted veggies (I asked for 1/2 & 1/2), pickled onions, tomato + onion salad, kalamata olives, crumbled feta, & topped with Sriracha Greek yogurt.

Logan Tavern

Next up, my parents offered to meet me for dinner which was a nice treat! I let them pick and they said they heard Logan Tavern had great reviews. They are apart of a group of restaurants in the DC area known as EatWellDC and they are committed to maintaining the environment through sustainable practices, which is pretty neat. I would love to go back and try their other restaurants.

The server here was awesome. I always like to ask the server for suggestions and she was super knowledgeable as well as very accommodating to allergies and intolerances. I ended up ordering the Pork Chop which was brined in apple cider and paired with butternut squash & ginger puree and sauteed Brussels sprouts. It was amazing and I finished the whole thing. #noshameinmyeatinggame

La Colombe

You didn’t think I’d go on a trip and not have coffee, did you?! This may hands down be one of my favorite coffee shops ever. They have a cute set up where you order your drink and the barista puts a plate, spoon, and top for you for your order. You wait at the bar for your drink and then can drink it there or take it to go.

I got both the hot oat milk latte & the cold brew draft latte (with oat milk) and both were AMAZING. I wish I had their drinks on draft at my house, but one can dream, ya know?! You can buy their cans all over the place now but nothing beats their actual coffee shops. If you’re near one and love coffee GO you won’t be disappointed.

Rasika

This was the biggest wildcard of the week/weekend. I ran into my old college friends Sonja & Lindsey at a random Happy Hour last minute. They were headed to dinner and asked if me and the other 2 girls I was with if we wanted to go with them. When it comes to things like this I love saying YES! Because you never know what can happen. This yes was the best thing I did all weekend. It was so much fun catching up with 2 friends I hadn’t seen in 8 years (yikes!) and the food wasn’t too shabby either.

We let the server pick appetizers and entrees for us, and he didn’t disappoint. We started with the Palak Chaat (a crispy spinach dish with sweet yogurt, tamarind & date chutney) as well as the Cauliflower Bezule (cauliflower with mustard seeds, green chiles and curry leaves). Both dishes were amazing. The entrees we ended up sharing and we got the Tandoori Chicken Tikka & the Tandoori Salmon. Both were phenomenal. It was a nice surprise, and would highly recommend. If you are planning on dining here, I’d definitely recommend getting a reservation as the place was hopping!

Farmers Fishers Bakers Restaurant

The last night we grabbed dinner with Monica’s friends. Monica was one of the girls I roomed with for this trip. They decided to go to Farmers Fishers Bakers and I was READY to join. It is a part of a group of restaurants and has such a laid-back casual vibe. The food sounds amazing at all locations and we had heard people mentioning all locations throughout the whole conference.

We ordered some tableside guacamole for the table but if you have more than 2-3 people eating it I highly recommended getting more. As for dinner, I opted for the tuna tacos which were served in these puffy corn tortillas that reminded me of arepas (Venezuelan corn tortillas). They were delicious but super filling. I would have been fine with more filling and less tortilla, but that’s just me. Everyone ordered something different but the cedar plank salmon looked amazing, as did the pizza and burgers.

They have a wide array of food here so it’s good for all palates, especially if you have some picky eaters. The drink menu looked fun too, but I was fighting off a cold so I stuck to water. They apparently have a phenomenal Brunch so if you’re ever in town and have time, I’d definitely hit them up for any meal.

Other Places Recommended to me (ran out of time):

I always feel like I need more time in a city to be able to eat enough (to my liking). However, these are all the places I did not get to go to but had heard were good from others. If you are in town, check them out!

• Blue Bottle Coffee (available in many other cities)
• Farmers & Distillers
• Founding Farmers
• District Commons
• Tico
• El Centro
• Sweetgreen (available in many other cities) 

Do you have any other food places to add to my Washington, DC list for me to try next time?!

xoxo,

Sassy