Location: 1370 Park Rd.
Readers’ pick: Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats
Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats is a must-visit for vegans looking to indulge their sweet tooth, serving customers decadent, 100 percent dairy- and egg-free baked goods.
Conceptualized in 2002 by baker Doron Petersan, a two-time champion of the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” Sticky Fingers provides a range of tasty treats to those with dietary restrictions – and those without – including a variety of flavors of fluffy and moist cupcakes. Unlike many other bakeries in the District, Sticky Fingers is totally unconstrained for people following a diet void of animal byproducts and should become the go-to spot for people who are sick of scouring dessert menus for the lone vegan option when they feel like treating themselves.
[gwh_image id=”1185652″ credit=”Sage Russell | Staff Photographer” align=”none” size=”embedded-img”][/gwh_image]
Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats is a hole-in-the-wall-style cafe based in the heart of Columbia Heights, about a half-hour Metro ride from campus. Located across the street from the DC USA shopping center, this bakery offers up the perfect sweet treat after a long day of running errands at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond or Marshalls. Or if you’re exhausted from packing up all of your belongings during move-out weekend and arguing with your roommates over who is keeping which home goods, take a break from your organizational nightmare and head over to Sticky Fingers for a sweet reprieve.
The atmosphere has a bit of a buzz, with only a few tables available for both indoor and outdoor dining, making it a comfortable place to get studying done while sampling some of their pastries and cookies. Just around the corner from Sticky Fingers is the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza, a communal patio area that has plenty of space for spreading out and enjoying the warming weather. So, alternatively you can purchase a variety of sticky buns ($5), cupcakes ($3.25 to $4.50) and cookies ($3 to $4.50) to share for a picnic in front of the Civic Plaza’s idyllic fountain and in-bloom magnolia trees.
If you’re new to the vegan scene and unsure of what to order, the employees are eager to give recommendations. Their cupcakes, particularly the red velvet ($3.75) and chocolate love ($3.25) flavors, as well as the fudgetastic brownies ($3), are venerated crowd pleasers. For the vegan veterans looking to explore, on weekends Sticky Fingers offers specialty donuts, with different flavors rotating weekly.
Once you get hooked on their multitude of offerings, you can also purchase their mixes ($9 to $12) for pancakes, cakes and cookies, and try your hand at baking these delectable sweets from your own dorm.
If you’re vegan or someone with food sensitivities who stares wistfully at the dairy- and egg-filled products your friends and family stuff their faces with, rejoice because Sticky Fingers’ goods are just as finger-licking worthy.
