Mamacado: Washington D.C. Trip and Food Allergies

Traveling with kids can be challenging, but traveling with kids with food allergies is MUCH more complicated! I'm usually a complete stress ball a few days before a trip, even though I try to plan so well. I basically try to bring enough food for every meal and every snack for Little Guy, just to make sure we have enough food. Plus, I always research and call restaurants ahead of time to make sure we have some safe options for eating out. Well, I'm so excited to share our fun trip to Washington D.C. which went well despite the stress of planning! We met up with family in D.C. over Thanksgiving break, had fun touring the monuments and Smithsonian museums, and we were even able to eat out at a few allergy-friendly restaurants!

Allergy Friendly Travel with Kids in Washington D.C.

When we arrived in Washington D.C., we planned for our big group of family members to meet at the Pavilion Cafe. When I called ahead, they said they could make a sandwich for Little Guy with bread and ham. I wasn't sure about the safety of the bread (sesame free bread is so hard to find), so I actually packed a hot thermos of leftover steak + cauliflower which he ate instead. I was grateful for the Pavilion Cafe at least trying to accommodate him though!

After lunch we took a photo in front of the ice skating rink:

Had fun at the Natural History Museum (love the impressive elephant):

And talked with cousins while relaxing in the gem room:

We also had fun at the Air and Space Museum

And saw so many monuments:

There's only one good photo of me with the kids, and of course, one isn't looking and the other is hiding behind me!

But what about the FOOD you say? Well, let's get to the good stuff!!

We had dinner at the Daily Grille on the first night. I called ahead the week before, and not one, but TWO managers called me back at different times to confirm what they could safely cook for Little Guy.

They brought him out a beautiful fruit and veggie plate.

And a plain burger and broccoli with all the fixings.

I also brought along some carb focused snacks (muffins, etc.) and Divvies and Enjoy Life Cookies for DESSERT!!

For lunches and snacks, I took along the handy Easy Lunchbox (affiliate) containers and filled them with sandwiches, SunButter, cereal, etc. This isn't a great photo or an impressive lunch, but I took this quickly at the hotel during craziness of getting ready to sightsee!!

Speaking of the hotel, I was so grateful that we found an affordable and NICE hotel in D.C. that even offered rooms with a kitchenette! The refrigerator was KEY on this trip to store soymilk, SunButter, yogurt, etc. I highly recommend The Beacon Hotel!!

The restaurant at The Beacon Hotel was also helpful in cooking safe food for him. The week before our trip, they emailed me a list of foods they could cook safely for him.

Little Guy ate this amazing dairy free, egg free, nut free and sesame free breakfast at the hotel. We asked them to cook his bacon on foil in the oven, and they even brought it out on the foil which made this mama feel even more comfortable with the safety of his food!

allergy friendly restaurants and Washington D.C.

For dinner on our last night in Washington D.C., we drove about 8 minutes away from the hotel to a restaurant I've heard about for awhile now, The Mellow Mushroom in Adams Morgan. Now I wish I had a better photo of the FESTIVE restaurant and YUMMY pizza, but this is all I have to offer!

We've NEVER gone to a pizza place together as a family, and I don't know of many restaurants that can make an allergy friendly pizza. The Mellow Mushroom has Daiya dairy free cheese, vegan crust, and can even make it gluten free if needed.

We ALL loved the pizza there - SUCH good crust!

On the way home to the Philadelphia area, we made our second trip to One Dish Cuisine (recently named the MOST allergy friendly restaurant in America!).

You can read about our first trip there in my blog post here.

Grammy, Daddy, the kids and I LOVED our second trip to One Dish. Smiles all around.

Little Guy tried spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast, and he also ate half of my turkey avocado BLT sandwich!

He also got to choose ANYTHING he wanted from this bakery display.

He ate a whoopie pie and frosted cookie, and we took cupcakes home for later!

We had an amazing time in Washington D.C. overall. I'm hoping this post helps others who are considering traveling there too. I'm also going to put my reviews on Allergy Eats. Has anyone else found GREAT allergy friendly places to eat in or near D.C.? If so, please share!