Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats

Ok I’ve been dying to try this place out. Finally went for brunch this morning and I was not satisfied.
Started off with the green tea latte. Fantastic.
Got the challah French toast with roasted potatoes and tofu scramble. The challah French toast was good as well as the potatoes and tofu scramble.
The two things I really did not enjoy, (also the main reason I went in) was the Champagne Passion Fruit Cupcake for $ 4 and the tiramisu donut for $ 3.50.
Apart from being pricy I would expect them to at least be good tasting. Not to mention all the hype for the sweets.
The champagne passion fruit cupcake was firstly dry and stale. No flavor what so ever. Not even tasting in a vanilla accent. Did not feel nor taste fresh at all.
I wanted to give the sweets another chance before I left so I gave the tiramisu donut a shot. It did look appetizing, so what the heck, let’s try it. As soon as I bit in the donut and tasted the filling, I took it right back out my mouth, wrapped it in a paper and throw it out. I’m not sure what was in the filling exactly but it had a very strong alcohol taste. The taste was not a coffee taste, but an alcohol taste. So overpowering I felt I was legit putting rubbing alcohol in my mouth.
Both the cupcake and the donut were very unsatisfying.
The brunch and green tea latte on the other hand were fine.
I’m not going to knock this place off because my first experience here was not good but I defiantly was not pleased with my experience and all the hype about the donuts and cupcakes. After trying out two sweets, a cupcake and donut on the same visit and not being satisfied, I can say I probably will not return. But if your in town defiantly check them out, maybe your sweets will be better then the ones I received on my visit!

Overall: The food is good but I expected better. Good service, great variety of food items, and a great place for vegans & vegetarians because everything is vegan! I’d definitely go here again.
Area/​Parking: It’s located near the Columbia Heights metro so parking is not ideal. I parked in a garage nearby but it was only $ 3, so that was great.
Atmosphere: Very casual. I went on a Sunday afternoon for brunch and the place was full so I had to wait in line for a bit. The place can only seat about 20 or less people. About 5 seat are at a window instead of a table. You place your order at the register and then your food is brought to you. I wish I’d know that before going. It was a little awkward standing there waiting for someone to finish eating so we could sit.
Food: Everything on the menu is vegan and they have mostly pastries. I order the challah french toast with tofu scramble and potatoes. It was just okay, nothing special. I’ve never had tofu scramble before, so that was a nice. My friend ordered the breakfast burrito and it was huge, She said she enjoyed it, I also got 4 cupcakes (vanilla, peanut butter fudge, cookies n’ cake, a specialty chocolate one) to go and the little devil pastry. The cupcakes were soooo delicious. The little devil was just okay. I got it because of the rave reviews, but it tasted almost like a little debbie hostess cake but better. It was very rich and I couldnt finish it. I also ordered the Jasmine green tea and is was sooooo good! I plan get it every time I visit.

Two words: vegan donuts. Get the cream filled ones!
Side note: cookies are good too lol. Will return to try the other items that they offer!

Their desserts are decent, but honestly I find the cakes and cupcakes to be consistently on the dry side, and the sticky buns to be bland. Cookies are solid. On the hot food side, it’s fairly tasty but basic junk food, and I find myself generally still hungry and craving a bit of vegetables after eating there. I still come by periodically when the mood strikes, but there are better places to get both hot vegan food and vegan baked goods in DC and the suburbs.

My man drove in snowy conditions to get me vegan cupcakes for my birthday and even though he almost died getting them, I’m so glad he did!
He got an assortment of cupcakes such as chocolate, red velvet, Oreo, peanut butter, etc. I thought the chocolate ones were the best, very rich. The red velvet came in a close second. They are pretty dense and not overly sweet.
He also got a vegan cookie… yum! And a pecan roll. The roll was good but bread-​y. Would have preferred it more if it had more gooey cinnamon-​y goodness to it. Wish it gave me sticky fingas!

First of all, all the non-​vegans, listen up. Do NOT let the title vegan scare you. Yes, Sticky Fingers is vegan, but that doesn’t take away from how amazing it it. It only adds to it. If you walk in and order one of their baked goods, you’ll leave thinking you could actually turn vegan. Sticky Fingers is one of DC’s best bakeries and right in the heart of hip Columbia Heights. It’s a small shop but they use their space well having a room attached for people to sit and enjoy their food. Not only do they have great cupcakes and other baked good wonders, but they also serve other foods here too. For example, the BEST macaroni and cheese I’ve had in DC is right here at Sticky Fingers and… it was VEGAN! Amazing!

This place is vegan? I had no idea, but I didn’t find that out until after I bit into their delicious peanut butter fudge cupcake. The guy behind the counter was actually really friendly and it wasn’t until it came up in conversation that everything was vegan, not vegetarian… VEGAN. I hesitated to continue eating here but damn, if it wasn’t delicious. I’ve had non vegan baked goods that didn’t taste anywhere near this good.
Basically any place that makes me not hate veganism means it’s got to be great.

Came here for brunch and underwhelming is an understatement.
Was so looking forward to vegan biscuits and gravy, but was so disappointed. Tasted like soggy dough in salty gray water, as the biscuits were under cooked and the mushroom gravy lack anything remotely close to flavor. My side of sausage was burnt and rubbery.
The Creamy Kahlua Latte was nothing more than coffee with a tiny splash of and Kahlua for $ 7. When my boyfriend complained it was neither creamy nor Kahlua-​y, the waitress scoffed and reluctantly added more Kahlua, than told us where the coffee creamers were if we wanted to add more ourselves. Rude.
My cookie was okay (hence the two stars). But if you’re a bakery and you mess up a cookie than that’d be a major problem.
Will not be returning. And advice trying DC’s other vegan options for brunch.

Sadly, the gluten free products here just aren’t good. I know that’s not what their specialty is, but with replacement flours like cup4cup and King Arthur it’s so so easy now to make delicious tasting GF cake. I’ve given it a shot twice now and both times felt the same way. That said, I did enjoy a lentil soup and the sweet potato fries! Just think they should nix the GF products all together if they aren’t going to be great. Definitely go for the other goodies there, though!

Recently visited Sticky Fingers from Gaithersburg to pick up a vegan birthday cake I’d ordered. I’d never been here, so while I was in DC I decided to try their café food as well.
First of all they have a great location: located around a major shopping area (with Target and Giant, etc) they must get a fa

Recently visited Sticky Fingers from Gaithersburg to pick up a vegan birthday cake I’d ordered. I’d never been here, so while I was in DC I decided to try their café food as well.
First of all they have a great location: located around a major shopping area (with Target and Giant, etc) they must get a fair amount of business! The inside is small but very cozy, cute and somehow feels very personal, I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
The menu is small but its perfectly adequate for this little lunch and bakery place! They have a display case of treats including cupcakes and sweet buns, as well as fridges of drinks and other yummy vegan stuff (I was really tempted to grab some vegan jerky!)
Sticky Fingers seems to be known for their cupcakes but since I was picking up a cake, I passed on their cupcakes. But I can comment on their other food. I had a smoky BBQ burger with sweet potato fries and I had to try a small side of their mac and cheese. The portions are great; I appreciate vegan food thats not wimpy portions. I really liked the bread the burger was on, and the mac and cheese is awesome! My only hang-​up is that I read somewhere that their burgers and faux meats were Gardein, and since I love Gardein I was really excited. I suppose they switched to their own lentil burgers, perhaps to save money? I still thought the burger I had was good though despite not being Gardein!
For the cake: I ordered a Triple Chocolate cake on their website to pick up. They were great about emailing me receipts and most importantly, having the cake ready when I came to pick it up! As for how it tasted. Amazing! The ganache was so rich and chocolatey and the cake was very moist. My non-​vegan friends loved it and couldn’t believe it was vegan :)
The staff in here was very nice and accommodating: I asked if they could validate my parking and they said unfortunately no, but secretly told me I can just run into Giant and validate it (they saved me a few bucks with that info!) Not that its really relevant but the other customers in here were very friendly to me as well!
I’d really like to come back sometime to try their cupcakes and especially that Sticky Bun!

Went for a Saturday late lunch, this place has an awesome, kitschy, 50’s malt shop feel, lots of mint and pink in the color scheme and old kitchen ware!
It is also a vegan/​vegetarian restaurant. Here’s what I had:
«Chorizo» Seitan tacos: which comes with three seitan tacos, lettuce and pico de gallo on corn tortillas. The seitan was spiced well, with a distinct turmeric taste! At $ 6.75, definitely affordable and healthy light fare for lunch! They also had an area with Sriracha and Tapatio, which I greatly appreciated. Overall tacos were good, but would have liked to see a greater portion of pico de gallo. I am also from CA, so probably a bit of a taco snob. ³⁄₅ for the tacos.
Lentil Coconut Curry Soup: SO SO GOOD, the soup was spicy, hot, flavorful with lots of ginger and yummy lentils! We tried asking for the recipe but were told it was a secret– would highly recommend this, ⁵⁄₅ for soup.
Sweet Potato Maple Cupcake: the presentation on this dessert was absolutely beautiful, and the maple frosting was creamy, sweet and just the right amount of maple. If you are someone who doesn’t like super sweet desserts, this is the cupcake for you, as the sweet potato chunks in the cupcake add flavor, but not too much sweetness. The only problem was that I wish the cupcake was a bit more moist, it was a bit on the dry side, but overall well balanced in taste! ⁴⁄₅ for cupcake
Overall ⁴⁄₅. This place definitely has a unique vibe, has decently priced entrees and a large array of vegan desserts! Would definitely recommend for lunch!

I like their hot entrees, but the cupcakes always leave me disappointed. They taste like they’re frozen (hardly ever fresh), and some of the frosting, which I’m guessing is made from Earth Balance, has a weird, oily texture. Looking at my past reviews, I liked the peanut butter, but I find the chocolate frosting borderline inedible.
Wraps are OK, but a little too lettuce-​heavy and lacking in flavor.
They do have an all-women’s cycling team. And that’s cool.

Food Was Yummy (especially the cupcake and tacos)
Staff was nice! Service was fast! Prices was Ok!!!
They have a dinning area, Free Wifi, and a nice selection! My hubby loved his tuna melt!
Plenty of sweet selections also!
Um we will be BACK!!!

Admittedly, I’ve been avoiding Sticky Fingers because I can’t control myself around those cupcakes. On this visit, my friend and I were just going out for breakfast on a Sunday morning so I figured I’d be in control. After all, it was 9 a.m. on a Sunday.
They’ve got a few interesting items on their Sunday brunch menu like biscuits and gravy. We both stayed with simple choices, grabbed some drinks and sat down. I ordered the Breakfast Burrito with a side of Roasted Potatoes. The roasted potatoes were pretty fantastic — seasoned and cooked just right. The burrito was also pretty good. It was a whole grain tortilla filled with tofu scramble, black beans, tomatoes, spinach and Daiya vegan cheese. I found it very filling, but felt with little tweaks, it would also be fantastic. It needed something else — perhaps cooking the spinach in olive oil and adding mushrooms would make it perfect. Or just adding a bit more spice and/​or cheese. In this case, I added hot sauce.
My friend got the French Toast made with French bread dredged in a nutmeg and cinnamon batter. This was my favorite dish of all and better than any French Toast I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The bread was cooked just right so it had that nice crusty cover of batter caked on — and with butter and syrup it was ooh-​la-​la.
My plan went south when I realized that they now serve doughnuts on Sunday. My friend got the vanilla doughnut — this one was my favorite — chewy and just the right amount of icing.
I went for the Maple Bacon — I liked it okay, but it was a bit too sweet and I didn’t like the tempeh bacon much on this doughnut. I wonder if coconut bacon would have been better.
All in all, we loved our breakfast at Sticky. At $ 5.50 for the French Toast and $ 7.75 for the Breakfast Burrito, the prices are great and you can’t get vegan doughnuts at very many places so regardless of how much they cost (I don’t remember), the price is great! I can’t wait to go back and try all the other new menu items I saw on the menu. And I can’t wait for the new shop to open around H Street NE!

Came here with a friend to get her a birthday treat and got a few items to split. We tried the oatmeal cookie sandwich (kind of like an oatmeal cream pie), the carrot cake cupcake and the Devils food cake bar. All 3 were good but the oatmeal cookie was the clear favorite, it tasted so fresh and homemade. Delicious!
Nothing about these desserts tasted any different than non-​vegan treats. You definitely can’t tell that they are not regular desserts which is a very good thing. I’m a fan!
P. S. Don’t expect this stuff to be low calorie or healthy just because it’s vegan, it’s still dessert.

In addition to the occasional random baked good, I have tried brunch. It’s an odd phenomenon. Brunch, for whatever reason, seems to connote something that is generally not vegan-​friendly. I certainly never looked at someone else eating scrambled eggs and thought «man, I wish I was eating that». And I’m not even a vegan. So it is a bit strange to see scrambled tofu attempting to substitute for that. And really, the whole aesthetic of the place that kind of says «American diner» doesn’t do much for me.
The philosophy of vegan imitation foods aside, I found their french toast palatable, if not delectable, and the accompanying sides satisfying. There certainly was plenty of maple syrup. The cinnamon bun I ate later was likewise fine, but not life-​changing. All of which really lines up with the conclusion that it’s nice that there’s an animal-​free place here, but their stuff is kind of hit or miss.

After hearing so much about this place, I finally went and splurged for myself and some friends. Here is a review of what I got:
The cookie sandwiches
1. The Calvin (around $ 3.25) — two soft oatmeal vegan cookies with vanilla buttery and flavorful icing! Seriously my favorite thing here. It was just oodles of heaven. I th

This is my go-​to vegan spot in DC, in regards to convenience and consistency. It is easily accessible by Columbia Heights metro and has both sweet & savory vegan food– sure to satisfy a craving!
Since this is a bakery, I’ll start with desserts. They make a wide variety of delicious vegan desserts. My favorite dessert here hands down: The BROWNIES. Best vegan brownies I’ve had. Fudgy, decadent, and all you can ask for in a vegan brownie. I always get the brownie ends– the ends of brownies cut off and sold in a little baggie. So clever since a lot of people love the edge of the brownies.
Cupcake wise, some are great (coconut, elvis) but there are some less stellar than others. The prices do run high $ 3-​$ 4 especially for the specials. I’ve brought the vegan cupcakes in to work before and no one can even tell they are vegan!!. They also sell cakes for special occasions– they are really strict on the 48 hour rule so just make sure to call in time.
Cookies here are also amazing. Huge and very sinful indeed. Sweet & salty is my favorite. If you’re lucky you might catch them fresh out of the oven.
Donuts: only sold Tuesdays & Thursdays. Flavors vary and pretty much the only place for vegan donuts in DC area? Don’t miss out if you want your occasional fried vegan sweet treat.
Drinks: they serve a variety of coffee and coffee specialty drinks and can be made with soy/​almond/​coconut «milk» I believe. They also now sell Boozy drinks and they can make awesome Boozy milkshakes. Try the Kahlua Mudslide– a rich chocolatey dream made with vegan ice cream, kahlua and lots of chocolate sauce. If you are looking for GOUTER juices, they carry them here in their prepared food section!
Now on to the savory. They make simple, yummy vegan comfort food. Grilled cheese, quesadillas, vegan mac & cheese, vegan tuna sandwiches, vegan burgers and also various salads. All salads can be made into wraps! My favorite «entrée» here would be the vegan burgers. They make their own vegan burger buns which are absolutely amazing– makes such a difference!!! They use Gardein patties for the burgers, Beyond Meat for their «chicken» substitute on salads. Their salads are humungous and a great deal!!! For a great salad, I recommend either the Asian salad or Power salad. The garlic aioli is phenomenal.
Brunch: They have weekend brunch with tofu scramble, biscuit, pancakes, french toast. Yum! a fully vegan brunch can be rare, so I definitely appreciate it. French toast is my favorite!
Others: they have a variety of prepared foods (sandwiches, english breakfast muffin, bagels) and also packaged foods (vegan snacks, chocolates, candy) sold in the store.
Specials: they usually have a bunch of events throughout the year so look out on their blog and website! They have specials like BBQ platters, italian dinners etc.
Ambience: I absolutely adore the retro diner feel and décor. It is such a unique place to eat and you don’t feel like you are in DC. Transports you to this little retro spunky place with great vegan food. The space is rather small and can get crowded but for the most part it doesn’t get too crazy.
Sticky Fingers is one of my favorite places in DC ever and if I have vegan friends in town I will definitely bring them here!