Eating out

Seed oil free restaurants in Washington, DC

Short answer

20 places in Washington, DC are reported to cook without seed oils: 13 cook with animal fats or fruit oils — beef tallow, lard, duck fat, ghee, butter, olive, avocado or coconut oil, 7 fry in peanut oil. Each entry reflects what the venue has been reported to use rather than an inspection, so call ahead before you rely on it.

Cooking with animal fats and fruit oils

Beef tallow, lard, duck fat, ghee, butter, olive, avocado or coconut oil — the fats a kitchen chooses deliberately, and the clearest signal available from outside it.

  • Jaleo by José Andrés

    480 7th St NW, Washington, DC

    butterolive oil

  • Red Apron

    1309 5th St NE, Washington, DC

    beef tallow

  • Red Apron (The Roost)

    1401 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC

    beef tallow

  • sweetgreen

    624 E St NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - 17th St NW

    888 17th St NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - 4th St SE

    1212 4th St SE, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - Connecticut Ave NW

    1512 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - I St NW

    2221 I St NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - Massachusetts Ave NW

    601 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - P St NW

    1461 P St NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - Pennsylvania Ave

    221 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - W St NW

    1325 W St NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - Wisconsin Ave NW

    1044 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC

    olive oilchain

Frying in peanut oil

Peanut is a legume rather than a seed, so peanut-oil fryers appear on most seed-oil-free lists. The oil is still roughly a third linoleic acid, and opinion in the seed-oil-free community is genuinely split on it — which is why these venues are counted separately here rather than folded into the number above.

  • Five Guys - ATF Building

    1300 2nd St NE, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Chinatown

    808 H St NW, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Dakota Crossing

    2490 Market St NE, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Fort Totten

    320 Riggs Rd NE, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - McPherson Square

    1400 I St NW, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Navy Yard

    1100 2nd St SE, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Tenleytown

    4537 Wisconsin Ave, Washington, DC

    peanut oilchain

What to ask before you order

A kitchen can change supplier without changing its menu, and a venue that roasts in tallow may still fry in something else. Four questions settle it in about ten seconds:

  • What do you fry in? — the fryer is where the volume is, and it is often a different fat from the grill.
  • Is the dressing or sauce made in house? — bought-in dressings and mayo are almost always canola or soybean.
  • Are the buns or tortillas baked here? — bakery goods are a common hidden source.
  • Do you cook the vegetables in butter or oil? — the answer is frequently a blend.

How to read this list. Each entry reflects what the venue has been reported to cook with. It is not a certification, nobody has inspected these kitchens on your behalf, and menus and suppliers change — treat it as a shortlist to call, not a guarantee. The four questions above are worth asking even when a place is listed here.

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