Vegan Fast-Casual Restaurant Opens in DC

HipCityVeg, a Philadelphia-based, all-vegan fast-casual restaurant chain, opened its first out-of-state location in Washington, DC yesterday, and is celebrating by giving out free food. The new eatery in the Chinatown neighborhood offered complimentary meals from noon to 2pm, accepting donations to benefit non-profit organization Get Real Get Raw in lieu of payment. HipCityVeg’s fast-food-inspired vegan menu offerings have made it a local favorite in Philadelphia—where it operates two restaurants, with a third slated for opening this summer—the most popular being the Crispy HipCity Ranch, which includes “battered chick’n, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a creamy peppercorn ranch sauce on a fluffy whole wheat roll.” “Our purpose at HipCityVeg is about health and compassion for living things and the earth, but the food is about tasting good,” founder Nicole Marquis said. “It’s as simple as that.” The restaurant’s expansion comes amidst a number of other plant-based eateries doing the same—New York favorite by CHLOE last week opened its second location in Los Angeles and Hollywood-based vegan Big Mac-making restaurant Doomie’s recently opened in Toronto, ON much to the delight of local vegan community.