Bubbie’s Plant Burgers, a plant-based, kosher-certified concept, serves burgers, fries, and other Americana-influenced dishes near Dupont Circle. Its founders, chef Margaux Riccio and general manager Shaun Sharkey, came up with the concept after successfully running Pow Pow, another plant-based fast casual eatery with Asian influences. Bubbie’s operated as a pop-up for a year inside Rock & Roll Hotel before the music venue shut down in March 2020. A month later, Bubbie’s opened its space on M Street NW, first as an incubator for it and other concepts and is now a takeout restaurant.
Riccio developed a severe dairy allergy early in her culinary career. She did not want to sacrifice her love for appetizing food, and thus the plant-based concept was born. She’s since founded Vertage, a cheese company that uses no animal byproducts. Vertage supplies their cheeses to several local restaurants, including Cielo Rojo, Teaism, Call Your Mother, Uprise Bagels, and Andy’s Pizza.
Bubbie’s menu is entirely plant-based, but still meant to please a meat eater’s palate. “Our staff are not vegan. When I create a new menu item, it will not make it on the menu if they do not like it,” Riccio says.
The store’s exterior is white brick with a large decal of their logo in the window. A blue and white sign is below it with a breakdown of their menu. Inside, browse the menu on the self-serve kiosk, next to a display case with several bottles and canned drinks. If you choose to dine in, there are a couple of bar seats near the bay window.
The menu consists of sandwiches, large salads, sides, and sweets. Most of these can be prepared gluten free, with either gluten-free buns or a different breading.
Sandwiches are the top seller, with the tofu-based chick’n sandwiches being the most popular. Cooks marinate the tofu in spices and a vegan chicken bouillon, giving the tofu the flavor of real chicken. It’s then breaded and deep fried before being assembled into different sandwiches on toasted bread. Get a classic fried chick’n sandwich, garnished with pickles, Bibb lettuce, and sliced tomatoes. There’s also Nashville hot chick’n sandwich: The fried chick’n is soaked in a spicy hot sauce, topped with southern-style coleslaw, and served on Texas toast.
Riccio’s favorite sandwich is the agave mustard fried chick’n. The hand-battered chick’n is smothered in a sweet and savory mix of mustard powder and agave syrup. It’s topped with coleslaw and hand-cut pickles, and served on a soft roll. Mustard is my least favorite condiment, so I was surprised how much I loved this one. Think of a honey mustard sauce with more natural sweetness and less mustard. It was a little sticky, which is fine by me, since I already can’t eat a sandwich without needing several napkins. More importantly, it tastes JUST LIKE CHICKEN! Same with its texture.
Bubbie’s makes their own beet patties for their burgers. Raw beets are shredded, then mixed with dehydrated and ground garbanzo beans that act as a binder. It’s then seasoned with garlic, onions, and various spices and formed into quarter-pound patties before grilling. If you don’t want to be that adventurous, the beet patty can be swapped for Impossible meat.
Full disclosure: I hate beets. They taste like dirt. With that in mind, it did not cross my mind that I was consuming one of my least favorite vegetables. I ordered mine as their Single Bubb, topped with oat-based American cheese and the signature sauce, a spin on thousand island dressing. I also felt inclined to top it with their plant belly bacon. It’s made of tofu blended with seitan, a savory, high-protein meat substitute made of wheat gluten.
Can’t have a sandwich without a side of fries, amiright? Pick either regular or sweet potato, served with ketchup and yum sauce. There are also buffalo fries, which include their chick’n tossed in a mild buffalo sauce. It’s piled onto the fries, drizzled with ranch sauce, then topped with cashew blue cheese crumbles and sliced scallions. The chick’n-to-fry ratio was superb, and there were just enough sauces that the fries did not get soggy.
Additional sides are onion rings, chick’n nuggets, fried drumsticks tossed in your sauce of choice, creamy potato salad, macaroni salad with peppers and Parmesan cheese, and slow-cooked baked beans. There are also jalapeño poppers, with five per serving. Cashew cream cheese is mixed with bacon bits and stuffed into jalapeño peppers. Then, cooks bread the peppers in panko, deep fry them, and drizzle them with a bit of sweet grape jelly sauce. This sweet and spicy combo was impeccable. The cream cheese tamed down the heat of the peppers, and the sauce gave it the flavor bomb I didn’t know was missing in my life.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with a hand-spun milkshake or soda float, made with house-made oat milk ice cream. Bubbie’s sells three-packs of vegan, gluten-, and peanut-free cookies from the woman-owned bakery Partake. For a warm dessert option, consider the sugar sticks. Sweet potato fries are dusted with lots of powdered sugar. It’s accompanied with three sauces served on the side—peanut butter drizzle, chocolate tahini, and a balsamic butter sauce. Bruh … get these. It’s like a gourmet funnel cake, but healthier because it’s sweet potatoes (is what I’m telling myself).
Breakfast is also available Fridays through Sundays until 4 p.m. Grab a toasted bagel with cream cheese or a breakfast burger. Sandwiches have homemade plant-based eggs, American cheese, and breakfast meats, served on biscuits, bagels, or English muffins. Bubbie’s will open their second location in early 2023, where there will be a broader brunch menu on the weekends.
“I love that we take the time to create our proteins, cheeses, and sauce in-house,’ Sharkey says. “I believe us taking the time adds to the home-style vibe that’s evoked in the name, and the types of food we serve.”
Whether you are living a plant-based lifestyle, looking to take a quick break from the meat-eater diet, or just want to be #FakeHealthy, Bubbie’s Plant Burgers is the place to be for a quick meal. Don’t think of it being a vegan eatery, though. It’s just damn good.
Bubbie’s Plant Burgers is located at 1829 M St. NW. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pickup and delivery orders can be placed online, or in person at the kiosk.