Eat
Bindaas. Photo courtesy of restaurant.
A Spicy Roundup of D.C.’s Indian Fast Casual Restaurants
September 15, 2022 @ 2:00pm
Here in the DMV, we are lucky to have a plethora of high-end fine dining Indian restaurants, like Rasika, Karma Modern Indian and Rania. But the area also hosts many fast-casual spots for when you want a quick, relatively inexpensive meal to satisfy your craving for Indian food. What’s great about the fast-casual Indian dining options in D.C. is that they each offer a different culinary experience; some focus on South Indian fare, others offer customizable bowl options, others specialize in Indian street snacks and others offer daily changing menus.
Bindaas Bowls & Rolls
For those of you who love the Indian street snacks at Bindaas Cleveland Park and Bindaas Foggy Bottom, you are going to love the fast-casual fare at Bindaas Bowls and Rolls. The venue sticks with fare popularly sold by street food vendors all over India, but offers the dishes in a more relaxed setting than the other two Bindaas’. The menu includes a bowl filled with your choice of rice, noodles or quinoa, topped with different Indian specialties like paneer kofta (like spicy vegetarian meatballs made of cheese and blended with sweet potatoes and spinach, smothered in a rich gravy). The menu also offers kathi rolls, which are super flavorful Indian wraps stuffed with ingredients like hunks of cheese and marinated bell peppers. Veggie burgers, crispy curry puffs and popular Indian street snacks like samosas, fries and masala popcorn round out the menu. Forget your usual Sweetgreen salad; this is the tasty fast casual lunch you need in your life. 3309 Connecticut Ave NW, DC; 415 7th St. NW, DC; bindaasbowls.com // @bindaasdc
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Vegz
Get ready for a full South Indian fast casual experience at Vegz. Here, dosas — Indian crepes that hail from the south of India — reign supreme. The crepes come with different fillings including spiced potatoes, curried spinach and savory paneer, and are served with a lentil dipping sauce and cool coconut chutney. Other south Indian specialties available include uttapam (rice pancakes), and idli (chewy lentil patties). For those who prefer a North Indian dining experience, daal, chickpeas, potatoes, paneer cooked in a variety of ways, naan and samosas are also served. 2120 18th St. NW, DC; vegz.us // @vegzdc
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Spice 6
Personal preference is the name of the game at Spice 6. Here, you choose your base (rice, bread or salad), your protein (including tofu, veggies and paneer for vegetarians or vegans) and your sauces and chutneys. The kadai masala, a velvety curry made with tomatoes, garlic and ginger is a personal favorite; the spinach masala is also delicious. The venue also offers South Indian delicacies like dosas. 740 6th St. NW, DC; spice-6.com // @spicesix
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Masala Story
The hallmark of Masala Story is its thalis — Indian platters. Thalis allow you to sample several Indian dishes at once and includes all the elements of a delicious Indian meal, such as bread, rice, yogurt and two to three Indian items like daal (creamy lentils), spinach cooked with potatoes and spices like cumin and coriander, roasted eggplant and chickpea curry. Wash it all down with a mango lassi, which is a tart and sweet Indian smoothie, or nimbu pani, a tangy lemonade made with black salt. 3301 12th St. NE, DC; restaurantji.com/dc/washington/masala-story // @masalastory
Rasa
With four locations around the city, you don’t have an excuse not to visit Rasa. Their focus on fast casual bowls made with Indian ingredients and flavors will inspire you to come back, again and again, to sample the delicious variety Rasa has to offer. Chef-created bowls include the Aloo Need Your Love (aloo means potato in Hindi), which features bright lemon turmeric rice topped with sweet potato patties, pickled radishes, beets, cucumbers and ginger-infused tamarind chutney, and the Caul Me Maybe, made with rice, tofu, cauliflower, spinach and peanut sesame sauce. If none of the pre-conceived bowls strike your fancy, make your own bowl by choosing a base of rice, noodles or greens, topped with veggies, proteins, sauces and fun add-ons like lentil chips for crunch, mango salsa for a hint of sweet, chopped cilantro for some freshness and green chilis for heat. Various locations; rasa.com // @rasa
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Indigo
At Indigo, the emphasis on home cooking means an ever-changing menu to reflect the homes of Indian families. Daily dishes can be hunks of paneer drenched in a creamy spinach sauce, pumpkin curry, peas and potatoes simmered in a heady tomato gravy, cabbage sauteed with turmeric, garam masala and cumin and green beans cooked with cardamom, ginger, and coriander. Indian breads are available in abundance; Indigo offers everything from whole wheat roti to cheese stuffed fried bread. 243 K St. NE, DC; indigowdc.com // @indigonoma
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