“We’re never going to tell you to not eat meat,” says Margaux Riccio, co-owner and chef of the kosher-certified, vegan Bubbie’s Plant Burgers. “Not today, not tomorrow, not any day. This is just good food.”
She and her business partner/longtime boyfriend, Shaun Sharkey, aim to satisfy carnivores and flexitarians just as much as vegans and vegetarians with their latest restaurant: a fast-food burgers and fried chicken joint. Currently only available for takeout and delivery, Bubbie’s menu stars beet-based burgers (they also use Impossible burgers on some options) and plant-based “chick’n.” It took a lot of testing to get the latter just right. “My poor friends had to eat some real bad chicken in the beginning,” says Riccio.
Highlights include the Monkey Wrench burger topped with plant-based bacon, cashew-rich American cheese, crunchy onion rings, and barbecue sauce, and a Buffalo fried chicken sandwich lavished with blue cheese made with cashews and sesame ranch sauce. Also on hand are a shredded barbecued jackfruit sandwich in the style of pulled pork, a BLT with vegan bacon, salads, and fries.
Many of the creations feature products from Vertage, Riccio’s plant-based cheese company, which crafts vegan versions of cheddar, mozzarella, feta, goat cheese, muenster, and smoked gouda. Currently also in use at Cielo Rojo and Donut Run in Takoma Park, Sticky Rice on H St. NE, and all the locations of Andy’s Pizza, the cheeses will be available from a grab‘n’go cold case at Bubbie’s starting in mid-February.
On the beverage side of the equation, there are freshly made and canned La Colombe coffees, hot teas, and a variety of bottled sodas, kombuchas, and sparkling waters.
Bubbie’s is the first concept in the couple’s Dupont Circle-based Plant Food Lab, an incubator for the vegan restaurant ideas they have in the pipeline. “It gives us an interesting place to try them out,” says Sharkey. “Everything looks good on paper; we have estimated numbers. But to get investors involved, the big question is, ‘Does this actually work?’ Here’s where we can answer that question.”
“I hope this is a draw for my future sous chefs,” Riccio adds. “I would have given anything when I was 25 or 30 to be given a chance to road test a concept and hand a deck to an investor. You put in the time with us and learn, and you get access to this space.”
Bubbie’s opened on January 4, only to close two days later due to the insurrection at the Capitol. “Being kosher and vegan with a large amount of staff being gay or trans, we didn’t want them taking the trains down here,” Sharkey says.
It took over the address that most recently housed Café Mia, a Latin rotisserie chicken joint that opened in February before closing this location just six weeks later, a victim of the pandemic. In its latest incarnation, the space is streamlined and sleek. “I wanted it to look like a lab without going overboard with beakers and stuff,” says Sharkey, who notes it can be easily made over when a new concept is installed or guests are finally welcomed for in-person dining.
Later this year (there’s no specific date yet) Bubbie’s will move into a permanent home in Adams Morgan. After that, the couple plans on bringing in Cenzo’s Upper Eastside, a vegan Italian market.
Like almost all restaurateurs, they’re finding the pandemic a grueling grind. “We have to work 20 percent harder to break even,” says Riccio. “Our goal is to break even. We’re not trying to make a profit right now.”
The couple are balancing their work at Bubbie’s with their other restaurant, Pow Pow, the organic, kosher-certified pan-Asian fast food restaurant in the Atlas District. They aim to open a second location of Pow Pow at 1250 I St. NW in May. “It’s a crazy time to be busy,” says Sharkey, “but it is what it is, so we’re thankful.”
Bubbie’s Plant Burgers is located at 1829 M St. NW. Hours are Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
