Eat
Soccas from Little Blackbird. Photo by Greg Powers.
Try These 6 Delicious Plant-Based Bar Bites in D.C.
October 12, 2023 @ 10:00am
From beer-battered cauliflower to jackfruit empanadas, these vegan dishes make great companions to cocktails, beer and more.
These days, there is a growing interest in plant-based dishes for various reasons, whether environmental, nutritional or otherwise. Fortunately, many alcoholic beverages are vegan, but the snack options at bars often are not. Most dining establishments offer bar snacks like wings, sliders and maybe a cheese board or mozzarella sticks, but bar bites without any animal product can be tough to find.
Although D.C. has several vegan restaurants where you can get appetizing bar snacks, we went on an adventure to find interesting and tasty vegan bar snacks that aren’t just potato chips at spots that don’t specifically cater to vegans.
Beer-Battered Cauliflower at Right Proper Brewing Co.
This brewery offers lots of fun vegan snacks, including warm pretzel bites, fries, house-made kettle chips and Brussel sprouts with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. Best of all, however, is their beer-battered cauliflower, which is super crunchy and hearty — everything you want on the side with a cold beer. 624 T St. NW, DC; rightproperbrewing.com // @rightproperbeer
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Crispy Chickpeas at Service Bar
As addictive as French fries, the crispy chickpeas at Service Bar are crunchy and delicious, with a kick from togarashi, a Japanese spice blend made with seven ingredients including sesame seeds, red chili pepper and ground ginger. A touch of citrus adds an acidic note, and the result is a great snack to share with the table alongside your cocktail of choice. 926 U St. NW, DC; servicebardc.com // @servicebardc
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Korean Summer Rolls at Mandu
Known for its robust Korean fare, Mandu has a great bar menu, which includes tasty and refreshing summer rolls stuffed with chilled kimchi somyen noodles, perilla — a minty green popular in Korean cooking — and shards of cucumber. Served alongside a fiery chili sauce, this dish is great to nibble on while you savor soju, Korea’s national beverage. 453 K St. NW, DC; mandudc.com // @mandudc
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Batata Hara Fries at The Green Zone
This Middle Eastern cocktail lounge in Adams Morgan has lots of good vegan snacks to pair with its innovative cocktails, including za’atar pita chips, Lebanese olives and muhammara, a spicy Syrian dip. But what you cannot miss is an order of the batata hara fries, where potato fries are tossed with diced hot peppers, shredded coriander and minced garlic, and then sprinkled with lemon. Spicy, acidic, earthy – these fries have all the flavor. 2226 18th St. NW, DC; thegreenzonedc.com // @thegreenzonedc
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Jackfruit Empanadas at El Tamarindo
Crunchy and meaty — but guaranteed meatless — the vegan empanadas are super filling and even come with a side of vegan sour cream and salsa verde. Enjoy an order at El Tamarindo’s bar with a glass (or pitcher) of their famous fruity sangria, maybe on Meatless Monday. 1785 Florida Ave. NW, DC; eltamarindodc.com // @eltamardindodc
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Mediterranean Socca at Little Black Bird
This brand-new wine bar next to Sababa has a great menu, and their Mediterranean mini soccas are of the big highlights. A socca is a savory chickpea pancake that’s slightly chewy on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. Little Black Bird’s version is topped with crescents of cherry tomatoes, olives, onion slivers and fresh herbs. Ask for a wine pairing recommendation when you order. 3309 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC; littleblackbirddc.com // @littleblackbirddc
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