Our first day in DC was a really productive one.
We were up and out the door at a pretty impressive time.
Starting at the WWII Memorial, we headed to the Vietnam Wall, followed by the Lincoln Memorial, and then the Korean War Memorial.
You’d think that would have tired us out, but we pushed on, continuing past the Washington Memorial to the Holocaust Museum. But since it was already busy, we got tickets to return (at 3 pm) and decided to make use of the down time by heading to lunch.
District of Pi was on my radar, and since I was in charge of dining choices, that’s where we went. We opted not to trek the 1.1 miles to food and instead hailed a cab for a really quick ride to downtown.
Let me tell you something about DC. There’s no shortage of pizzerias. Especially delightful was the number of pizza joints that offered gluten free and vegan options. They even have a vegan pizza day! For anyone interested, here’s a list of places I found while researching vegan eats in Washington D.C.
- District of Pi *gf, vegan cheese, & vegan “meat”
- Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza *gf & vegan cheese
- ZPizza *gf & vegan cheese
- Duccini’s *vegan cheese
- Washington Deli *vegan cheese & vegan “meat”
- Pizzeria Paradiso *vegan cheese
- Bacio Pizzeria *gf & vegan cheese
- Ella’s Pizza *gf & vegan cheese
- Red Rocks Firebrick Pizzeria *vegan cheese
- Moroni & Brothers Pizza Restaurant *vegan cheese
- Pizza No. 17 * vegan cheese
- Mellow Mushroom *vegan cheese & tofu/tempeh toppings
- Astor Mediterranean *vegan cheese
- Radius Pizza *vegan cheese
- Busboys & Poets *vegan cheese & vegan “meat”
- Rustik Tavern * vegan cheese
- Bread & Brew *vegan cheese
- Pumpernickel’s Bagelry and Caterer *vegan cheese & vegan “meat”
- Comet Ping Pong *vegan cheese & vegan “meat”
District of Pi had a nice spacious interior with a few different dining areas and a separate bar space, too. From the second we arrived they were nothing but friendly and helpful, accommodating Kyle’s grandma (in her wheelchair) easily and promptly assisting us with the menu. As far as customer service goes, they were definitely the best we had in all DC restaurants.
As you can see, the menu has vegan cheese (daiya!!) and gluten free crusts.
They also offer vegan “meat” substitutes and they will do half-n-half pizzas for no additional cost (which is great if you’re indecisive like moi).
District of Pi continued to impress me with how knowledgeable the staff was. I expect exclusively vegan places to be aware of allergy issues, but this was primarily a pizza place, so the fact that the waiter asked if I had a gluten “allergy or sensitivity” when I was ordering indicated that he knew the difference between the two and was aware of the importance of cross contamination.
Kyle and I split the house salad to start (he got the cheese on the side). It had field greens, red bell peppers, red onions, gorgonzola cheese and chopped walnuts tossed in a house-made vinaigrette. The dressing was exceptional – I think it had roasted red peppers in it or something.
The rest of our posse split two pizzas and the bada bing salad. I don’t have pics of the salad, but their pizzas are the two above. The penn quarter deep dish had roasted eggplant, sausage, red onion, basil, and ricotta. The hill thin crust had mozzarella, pepperoni, salami, onions, green bell peppers, kalamata olives and banana peppers.
Our pizza was a little shy and didn’t make an appearance until 10 minutes after the others’ food. I didn’t mind at all though since the staff was so apologetic and told me straight up they would comp the pizza due to their error.
Kyle and I split a gluten free thin crust with daiya cheese, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and fresh spinach. It was perfect.
The staff checked in with us multiple times ( but not in an obnoxious way) to see if everything was good. The manager even came over during the meal just to let us know he was sorry for the delay, which was a really awesome personal touch. It was pretty much text book customer service. So even though my pizza came 10 minutes after the others’, the attentive nature of the staff made me totally cool with it. It’s all about communication people! Just let me know what’s up and I will forgive you for any wrong.
In the end, everyone left full and happy. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, or none of the above, I highly recommend District of Pi.
mmmm pizza! looks so good!
i like the first picture. it looks like you have wings 🙂
i think i want to take a trip to dc just for their pizza joints. yum!!
We always go to Ella’s in DC. The pizzas are awesome!
Aw yay! That’s actually a St. Louis-based restaurant that I’ve been to several times so it makes me weirdly happy that the D.C. one is good too! Most of their pizzas are named after STL neighborhoods, including the ones your dining companions ordered. Ummm I could probably keep talking about this, but, yeah, glad you enjoyed!
okay, wow! DC had some great pizza places for food intolerances! Sign me up!
Yum!!! I live in St. Louis, where Pi originated. All of the pizzas are named after parts of St. Louis – the Central West End, for example, is one of my favorite parts of the city. It’s amazing! It’s also pretty much the only pizza place in STL with vegan options.
Have to echo Paige and Taya here…Pi is St. Louis grown! It moved to D.C. because President Obama was a big fan and so they opened a location there. It is a HUGE treat when I can go to Pi and get vegan pizza. We actually had their food truck cater our rehearsal dinner in a local park (Tower Grove). I’m a HUGE fan and yes–they have fabulous customer service!
I feel like I need to go to DC for a pizza tour after reading this! 🙂
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omg, i love that they catered your rehearsal dinner. thats freakin awesome. i agree, they have SUCH great customer service!! and thats so cool that thats why they moved to DC! thanks for the info.
wow! i had no idea!! no wonder all the waiters shirts had st louis on them! is it a hippie friendly town?? do i need to plan a trip??
so cool! st louis just sky rocketed up in my list of places to visit.
ha! it does 🙂
Wanna know something cool (to me)? That pizza place is the DC outlet of a St Louis-based (my home town) restaurant (there just called Pi, but it’s totally the same thing; evidences include the names of items shown on that menu: Kirkwood and Central West End are neighborhoods in St Louis). So while we think of the major cities like DC being super-vegan friendly, you can see that even mid-sized midwestern cities can be veg-friendly too! YAY!
Ha ha! I just made my own comment about the STL-ness of Pi, and then I saw this. Teresa – I got MARRIED in Tower Grove park (at the Piper Palm House)! I don’t know you, but still….cool!
It’s a cool town, actually. I’ve moved away but am always happy when I get to go back to visit my family. If you’re going to plan a trip make sure you announce in advance so we can all chime in with our favorite places (food and otherwise!).
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Elise–Thanks! We were looking for something different and we fell in love with the idea of the pizza truck in the park. SO much fun. St. Louis is not D.C. when it comes to vegan friendly food, but there are definitely some great places to check out. If you make it here, make sure to let all of us know so we can give you some suggestions!
Sarah–That is awesome! I know lots of people get married at Tower Grove. You definitely couldn’t have chosen a better location! 🙂
whenever i read these comments i get the song “meet me in st louis” stuck in my head for days. random, i know. hooray for vegan-ness in unexpected places 🙂
Aw Elise, I’m so glad you went! I still think about how delicious their vegan deep dish is. I’ll let you know if I find any vegan gems in Chicago 🙂
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