Location: 655 K St. NW
Readers’ pick: Hip City Veg

While most vegans visit restaurants around the District expecting their options to be limited, Shouk changes the stereotype.

Shouk, a fast-casual restaurant located in Mount Vernon Square, brings an abundance of vegan Israeli street food to the heart of D.C. While the restaurant has Middle Eastern standbys like falafel and hummus, Shouk goes beyond the classics with salads, veggie burgers and sides on its menu.

Meals at Shouk come with a choice of warm pita, rice and lentils or mixed greens as a base ($9.95), topped with protein or vegetable of your choice like falafel, roasted cauliflower or a mixture of black beans and sweet potato.

In place of shawarma, a Middle Eastern dish usually made of lamb or chicken carved from a rotating spit, Shouk makes the dish vegan by serving oyster mushroom shawarma ($10.95), which is just as crispy and smoky as the original.

For vegans who might miss meat, Shouk has two options: a veggie burger topped with roasted tomato, pickled turnip, arugula, charred onion and tahina, or an eggplant burger topped with potato, pickled cabbage, onion, tahina and amba, a sweet and spicy sauce made from pickled mango ($10.95).

If you want to add a kick to your meal, it’s worth adding harissa, a Tunisian hot sauce, or schug, a spicy green sauce, for just 75 cents to any dish. If you want cheese, Shouk also offers dairy-free alternatives, like almond feta, which can be added to any dish for 75 cents. Cashew labneh, a vegan version of strained yogurt, is available on its own for 75 cents and with sweet potato fries ($4.75) or warm pita ($5.50).

While hummus and falafel are already mainstays of the vegan diet, Shouk goes above and beyond by serving fresh takes on vegetables with an Israeli flair. Shouk’s strong flavors, affordable prices and filling meals will be sure to win over even the most ardent carnivore.