I tried going here the first week of January (2013) but at the address indicated the place was boarded up and there were no signs at all. When I tried to access the website address I got the message "forbidden" and when I called the phone number it just rings and rings. I was so looking forward to trying their mac 'n cheese! Oh well!
I love their vegan mac and cheese. I haven't had any better anywhere else. It's a small and old place. Community is their charm (sometimes more than fast service), but it's worth it. And they have great kale.
Pros: Vegan Mac n Cheeze, Kale, SmilesI visited DC this weekend with a friend and Soul Vegetarian Cafe was one of the places I was excited to try based on the reviews on HappyCow. My omnivore friend and I are shared entrees of BBQ twists, and mac and cheese. I had yams and mixed greens, she had cabbage and greens. The food was AMAZING. Even my omnivore friend couldn't stop talking about how delicious it all was.
We walked a mile (from the nearest metro station) in the pouring rain, with luggage (having just arrived in DC on the train) to get to Soul Vegetarian Cafe. I was surprised, and pleased that such a dreary trip, my omnivore friend said it was worth every minute to enjoy such delicious food.
My only regret is not making it back for another meal before my weekend in DC ended.
We came here after the Rally To Restore Sanity b/c we'd never had the privilege of eating vegan soul food. We weren't disappointed.
My ladyfriend and I shared the famous mac n cheese, tofu skin roast, cooked collard greens, cooked beets and something like candied yams.
Everything was fabulous, especially the m&c (creamiest I've ever had) and yams (cooked with brown sugar to where it practically melted in your mouth).
If the world had one of these places on every street corner, there would be no war.
The only negative aspect was that all the food is served on plastic trays with plastic cutlery and there's no marked recycling. :-(
This place is an all vegan hole-in-the-wall style soul food restaurant. They have a hot bar with an always great selection, but the real treat is their huge variety of hot vegan sandwiches. Absolutely killer. The sandwiches (and smoothies) can really take awhile if you order it there, so I'd suggest calling ahead unless you just want to order from the hot bar.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday August 18, 2010
Went there yesterday with a group of vegan friends. We traveled approx. 100 mi. for a shopping/eating trip as we have little (vegan) to choose from where we live (central PA). I bought FOUR pieces of fried "chicken" to take home because it smelled SO GOOD! Had it for supper tonight and wish I'd have bought more--it was outstanding!! I also bought their quiche (wonderful!) and drank a smoothy there--also yummy. After reading others' reviews (after I got home) I wish I would've tried their macaroni and cheese. I would certainly recommend this place for their food. Not so sure about the atmosphere---they seemed to be remodeling so I hope their food sales bring enough $ in for improvements. Since I didn't stay to eat and enjoyed my food at home, I'm giving them five happy cows! The service behind the counter was friendly and cheerful.
Pros: outstanding food, friendly service
The food is not good, the service if awful and the place is downright seedy. The help really needs to take some classes in customer service and put some elbow grease into cleaning up this place. Sorry but dining means you enjoy your food while you are eating it too. And I have to say the whole religious attitude here leaves a lot to be desired. A lesson in humility is desperately needed along with a few gracious manners. I've been to many religious oriented vegetarian eateries and have come to appreciate their simplicity and the humbleness that usually accompanies the food. This place, however has an atmosphere of arrogance and attitude. Poor service, a bad attitude, sub-standard food and a seedy atmosphere make this place a real loser. We won't be back.
Pros: noneI went to Soul Vegetarian Cafe on my trip to DC.
It is a HOLE in the middle of a run-down area. Basically it's like a cafeteria-style setting where they dish out the food to you. There are a few tables and chairs inside if you want to eat your food there.
We got the mac&cheese, yams, collards, tofu steak, and tofu-young.
Mac&Cheese = mind-blowingly good. The best vegan mac&cheese I've ever had. It's worth coming out here just for this.
The yams and collards were fair; nothing out of the ordinary.
I didn't care much for the two tofu dishes. The tofu-steak was kind of dried-out and had a weird flavor, and the tofu-young was lukewarm and like a tasteless egg dish.
They were also EXPENSIVE considering the atmosphere and that you don't wait on yourself. A plate of food is $9. They serve the food in styrofoam containers which isn't very cool either. I kind of laughed when I saw the styrofoam and then a sign that said "Eating Meat is Not Green!" Well, news for you: NEITHER IS USING STYROFOAM.
Bottom line? Go for the mac&cheese and nothing else.
Pros: mac&cheese, mostly vegan, very friendlyNon-vegan friends took me here on a recent night on the town in D.C. promising it was *the best food* they had ever had. They raved and raved and howled and howled--so I expected it to be good. Really, really good. The place itself is a total hole-in-the-wall; downstairs there's really not much seating, though there's a reasonably nice upstairs section where we dined for two hours. We ordered a combination of everything on the "buffet" (yams, mac & cheese, quiche, and varied greens) & two things off the menu (a gyro of bbq tofu, and some "burger" sandwich or other). OH MY GOD. They weren't wrong. The vegan mac & cheese is the best thing I have ever tasted on the face of the planet. Granted, I haven't had the real stuff in over 5 years, but...OH MY GOD. Soo good. Lots of mustard. Yams, quiche, equally amazing. Greens okay. The sandwiches were also unbelievable--I think it'd be most accurate to say they melted in our mouths. The "burger" seems to have some fake mayo or other sauce that really imitates the real stuff (as I remember it), and the gyro AHHH WAS THE BEST! Has a melty sauce over it (to simulate cheese?) that made the whole thing gooey and wonderful.
I don't know why others have had problems with service. The night I was there, the young man behind the counter was funny, charming, excited to see our enthusiasm, and freely gave out rather large samples of everything behind the counter to aid in the decision-making process. (Smart move for him, since between the 4 of us, we got everything). I thought the service was great. They gave us a lot of food.
Again, it doesn't look like much--and seeing the food in a "buffet" format, with rather generic hit-or-miss menu items...don't be fooled! It's a magician operation in disguise!
Pros: Amazing Food, Amazing Smoothies, Upstairs DiningWe were in DC for Thanksgiving week. As we found out all the vegan places were closed for Thanksgiving, except for this place. It's not really a place to have a sit down dinner, there are however, some chairs and tables. We took ours back to the hotel. I think most of their business is take-out. They have two different main dishes with sides. Every night is a different choice. This night the main was either a vegan meatloaf or spinach quiche. You get two choices for sides. We got the mac & cheese (out of this world!!), green beans, and sweet potatoes. Unbelievable!! We also got two slices of vegan cake ( I NEVER eat sweets). Soooo yummy. The staff were very friendly and helpful. If we get to go back to DC, we will be going back!
Pros: Great food, Decent prices, Friendly staffSoul Veg.'s DC branch is not so impressive. For one thing, it's not clean; the floors and counter are dingy, and the kitchen didn't look much better. There's limited seating. The service was extremely slow and confused; I placed an order and then waited twenty minutes before it was ready, and this was in the middle of the afternoon, with few customers. If you're going for the buffet items, it would be fast, but if you're ordering off the menu, be prepared to wait. That said, the food was quite good (particularly the tacos) and reasonably-priced, which is why I give the place two stars.
Pros: Prices, TasteBEST MAC-N-CHEESE IN THE WORLD
affordable, friendly staff, good food.
Pros: cheap, friendly staffAnother in the "Soul Veg" family. I've been to their stores across the country, and in St. Croix, and the food here will not disappoint. MUST try the mac'n'cheese. And the biscuits. Then go down the street for vegan soft serve. I love Soul Veg!
Pros: Good value, All vegan!I find most of the food here to be excellent (especially the gyro sandwich), but the difficulty is that they often run out of most items on the menu quite early (by 5pm). They will always have the daily specials, but not necessarily sandwiches. So I recommend calling ahead. Service is definitely not super-friendly, but if you're nice to them they'll treat you well.
Pros: vegan soul food!, delicious
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