Gluten Free in Washington DC: My Mini-Guide to a Weekend Trip
Washington DC is a fascinating city mixing the dense government hub with a vibrant city and a near endless collection of monuments to explore and museums to meander through. For those of us keeping strictly gluten free, it’s also a city full of amazing options from dedicated to shared spots that surround the city sights. My own trip was a short visit, weekend stopover after a few days in NYC that I just happened to be able to add on, but it turned out to be one of my favorite US cities both for all the things I saw and all the places I ate.
Washington DC gluten free overview: 8/10
Navigating DC while gluten free
The first thing to know about being gluten free in DC is that there are options, lots of options. The second thing to know is that most of them are not right where the sights are. It’s a paradox where you have almost too much selection but always have to do a bit of traveling to get to it. But with DC’s amazing transit system, you’re never all that far from a safe and good place to eat and that makes DC a great place to visit.
Beyond the quantity of reliable GF options in DC is the caliber and selection. Surfing through Find Me Gluten Free, Google and other reviews to plan out some stops while on the train to DC, I was amazed at how many different cuisines I could find from mexican (loads of shared and dedicated spots) to korean, bakeries, italian. There may not be as many spots as New York or Portland but for a weekend or even a week, I think you’d be hard pressed to get bored on options.
Where I ate
The Corn Factory
About the place: Dedicated / Venezuelan / Food Truck
The vibe: Lunch time, grab and go with amazing flavors
Living in Portland, I’ve had some great food trucks but I would put any and probably all of them up against The Corn Factory in a heartbeat. Their menu is short but what is on it is just delicious, well portioned, reasonably priced and absolutely perfect for a mid day meal while wandering the sights, made better only by how fast they serve it up so you can get a bite and get back to exploring. I was such a fan of the food and the ease of the place that I came back on the second day rather than venturing to my planned lunch spot.
Beyond the amazing taste, the best part of The Corn Factory is the location. While it seems they do move around, their current location by the L’Enfant subway station puts them just a short walk away from many of the Smithsonian museums or a quick ride from other sights. Hours are limited so check their social accounts for updated details.
Sweet Crimes Gluten-Free Bakery
About the place: Dedicated / Bakery & Deli Cafe / Counter service with seating
The vibe: Casual cafe with easy eats and great treats in a relaxed neighborhood
No city visit would be complete without making it to a gluten free bakery and DC has a few to pick from both in the city and beyond it. Given where I was staying and the metro line options, Sweet Crimes was the easiest for me to get to and certainly looked impressive, so that’s where I headed. Great call by me.
If The Corn Factory was my favorite for a meal, Sweet Crimes won for treats. Not just in DC but it was legitimately one of the top GF bakeries I’ve been to and I’ve been to a lot of them. Favorites from reviews and their staff included their donuts, cupcakes, and biscuits. Unfortunately I can’t eat even GF oats, which they use in some items and glazes, so not everything was available for me but I can say that their Apple Cider donuts were something else (eat it warmed up) and their biscuits worth stocking up on, especially at just $3 a pop. Like the Corn Factory, I made two visits here, swinging in for breakfast on my last day where I tried the egg & cheese sandwich and yes!
They also sell some impressive looking cinnamon rolls which I’ve packed along for this weekend (writing this all mid-flight home). If anything changes on that, I’ll amend the post but I can’t imagine it’s a miss.
Chaia Tacos
About the place: Dedicated / Mexican - Tacos / Counter service with seating
The vibe: Friendly, casual, veggie heavy taco spot in the middle of Chinatown
I’m not sure how DC got so many fully dedicated GF Mexican spots, it’s more than I’ve seen in LA or San Diego but I was all for it. With a few locations around the city including the one I visited in Chinatown, Chaia Tacos apparently started vegetarian but now serves some chicken options on their otherwise plant centric menu. Don’t let that fool you if you’re used to meat however, they’ve done an impressive job putting together some really incredible and unique flavors. Their menu is tacos, tacos, and also some nachos, plus their own GF cookies.
Chaia was my first food stop after traveling into DC and I came in hungry. I ended up going with a 3 taco tray including two aji verde chicken tacos served with achiote carrots and pickled cucumber, and one sweet potato mash with feta, arugula pepita salsa & cilantro and that was the true winner. I also added in a side of chips and again, spot on with a wonderful cornmeal texture that packed a ton more flavor than typical chips.
SeoulSpice
About the place: Dedicated / Korean bowls / Counter service with seating
The vibe: Chain with a fun flare and some great spice
There are a number of dedicated GF bowl spots around DC including Springbone, Little Beet, and SeoulSpice. The first two I’ve had in NYC and while they’re safe staples of my diet on trips there, seeing a SeoulSpice location just blocks from my hotel was the perfect solve to get something easy after my long day out exploring and try some new flavors.
Though their menu is all about bowls, they have a great range of options to really mix them up and get the flavor that’s right for you. I went with a glass noodles and white rice split base, chicken, topped with a mix of options including a bit of their delicious Kimchi. The bowl was dense… downright heavy, though fairly light on the chicken, but the flavors were great and I would definitely come back again to try a different combination or two.
Surveyor @ the Thompson Washington DC
About the place: Shared / Breakfast / Hotel restaurant with wait staff
The vibe: Polished hotel breakfast spot with staff who take GF seriously
Located in my hotel, Surveyor is a breakfast and brunch spot that I had free access to. Now free is a hard thing to turn down but with no Celiac reviews and plenty of safe dedicated and known options around, I was on the fence about trying it out, especially for a short, busy trip. But I figured it was at least worth a chat to see what was up and turned out to be a very solid call.
Coming in with more skepticism than I usually have (I knew Sweet Crimes was just a few minutes away after all), I was absolutely floored when the operations manager, who just happened to be helping with the tables, swung by and walked me through all the things they could do. He explained what was made in a mixed space, how they could prepare a few items in a different kitchen space, and even came back after I had ordered to confirm it with me. I swapped their bread for a GF bagel, toasted in the oven, and fried potatoes for fruit (not sure there was a safety win, but they suggested it as a faster way to get a meal). Not an amazing GF spot but it was a very pleasant breakfast and great to actually get to use my hotel perks for a change!
Grocery Store Options
Staying in the Navy Yard area gave me quick access to a Whole Foods and local Harris Teeter (Kroger) supermarkets, both of which I visited and both of which have lots of gluten free options. Whole Foods has their usual stuff but Harris Teeter had an entire wall of Schar and GF packaged goods if you wanted to save a few bucks eating in or refill on snacks. Mostly, I used both places to snag a few fresh fruit items, some yogurts, and grab a couple bars for the flight home.
Museum Options
Through my short visit, I darted into a total of 5 museums and several major sights, some for a few hours, some for shorter. Obviously this was not nearly enough time for a proper visit but that’s for the next trip. Along the way, I tried to check the cafes and while most were good about shared allergen warnings, few had much in the way of GF hot items anyways. Snacks like GF marshmallow bars, yogurts, and beverages were easy to find which isn’t much but it can help tide you over.
Airport (DCA) Options
When I was planning this trip, one of my bonus highlights was knowing I would get to visit Legal Sea Foods again. I’ve had their food in the Boston airport before and it’s one of those rare airport gems that feels both safe to eat and actually good but alas, the DCA location did not stack up for me.
Safety wise, I had no concerns. Their menu has the same reassuring info on GF that their other locations have, my server was totally confident about it and the manager who brought the plate out was equally helpful. That’s the good part. The bad part or at least the underwhelming part was the meal. While the Boston location does GF buns and bread, this location did not. Leaving my fish sandwich as a without gluten meal rather than a gluten free meal. The fish itself was unimpressive, a bit chunky of a piece, a bit overcooked, and just nothing special. All this is to say, it was a perfectly fine meal if you needed to eat but for $30ish with tax & tip, I would have just eaten before heading into the airport. Perhaps another dish would have been the right call.
Beyond Legal Sea Foods, there’s not much in the way of encouraging looking options and while the airport markets do have safe yogurts, it’s a spendy spot to snack in.
Closing thoughts on a gluten free visit to DC
I certainly didn’t come to DC for the food but now that I’ve been (in my Celiac life), I absolutely would. While it can be a pain to run across town from the touristy sights to the known spots, there’s enough variety, range, and locations that eats ended up being a great part of my trip and just as I need to get back to DC for a longer visit to the sights, I’d love to have the chance to try a few other GF spots too including Rise Bakery (dedicated), GCDC Grilled Cheese (shared), and some of the Italian pizzerias that have surprisingly good reviews.
Throw it all together and DC certainly gets a place on my list of easier to eat and enjoyable to eat at GF cities in the US.
