Fare Well may require a trek from campus to its location in Northeast D.C., but its fresh and unique vegan cuisine is unlike anything else in the District.
The vegan restaurant, located at 406 H St. NE, gives off a modern diner vibe with pops of teal and exposed brick walls covered in funky picture frames.
Patrons have a variety of seating options including stools, booths and bar seating. Its outdoor patio is small but offers diners an intimate and cozy experience with teal picnic tables and hanging string lights.
Fare Well offers cocktails like mimosas ($12) made with orange, grapefruit, pineapple or cranberry juice and the simpler thymes ($12), a gin or vodka-based drink with aperol, grapefruit, thyme syrup and lime. Restaurantgoers looking for nonalcoholic refreshments can opt for a vegan milkshake ($8) in flavors like cookie dough and lemon ginger, or keep it classic with a soda ($3).
When it comes to the food, prepare to confuse your taste buds with Fare Well’s vegan food selection of classic comfort food dishes. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, abstaining from ingredients like dairy, meat and eggs, but you can’t tell the difference in Fare Well’s flavorful savory and sweet offerings.
Menu items include seitan wings ($10) made with a wheat-gluten substitute for meat doused in buffalo sauce with a bleu cheese-style dipping sauce. Fare Well’s signature burger ($16) is an Impossible Burger – a genetically modified vegetable burger that is made to look and taste like real meat – topped with garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato and caramelized onions on a house-made bun.
Along with small plates and main dishes, Fare Well offers all-day breakfast items like blueberry pancakes ($10), topped with vanilla coconut whipped cream, and chilaquiles ($10), crispy corn tortillas or roasted potatoes piled high with tofu scramble, black beans, roasted poblanos and cilantro crema.
You can sit down to enjoy Fare Well’s vegan options, but at the front of the restaurant, a bakery case houses the best offerings, including sticky buns ($3.75), croissants ($4) and chocolate chip cookies ($2).
Fare Well’s s’mores cake ($8 for a slice) makes the perfect summer snack available all year long and is worth going the distance to H Street.
The hearty slice consists of three layers of rich chocolate cake with marshmallows, chocolate frosting and graham cracker crumble packed in between each layer. The moist chocolate cake base serves as a rich complement to the gooey marshmallow filling between each layer.
The entire cake is frosted in chocolate frosting, topped with torched marshmallows and embellished with a ring of graham cracker crumbs.
Along with the graham cracker crumbs and sweet chocolate frosting, each element of the slice of cake offers a different texture. The marshmallow filling is sticky and soft, while the graham cracker crumbs add a dash of grainy sweetness and the chocolate frosting leaves a creamy, sugary taste to the cake.
The next time you’re craving something sweet, take the journey to Fare Well and indulge in a slice of s’mores cake.
