Toastique is the best new restaurant I’ve tried in a while

I got to taste test Toastique’s new fall menu, plus a few year-round favorites, and I’m officially a huge fan!

I went to Toastique to try its new fall menu and found a whole new favorite. The seasonal lineup has everything you’d want this autumn, including pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, chai, and warm fall spices. We tried sweet items, savory toasts, coffee, a smoothie, juice, and even one of the grab-and-go snacks, and there truly wasn’t a bad part of the meal. If you have a Toastique near you and haven’t been yet, I definitely think it’s worth checking out.

A little about Toastique

Toastique was founded by Brianna Keefe, a former Division I athlete whose interest in high-quality, whole foods eventually turned into the idea for a wellness-focused café. The first Toastique opened in Washington, D.C.’s Wharf District in 2018, offering gourmet toast, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, coffee, and other fresh café options. The brand says its original location reached $1 million in sales during its first year without professional marketing, and Toastique began franchising in 2020. It has since expanded well beyond D.C., with locations around the country.

The concept is health-forward, which I absolutely loved. The dishes were colorful and fresh, but they were also loaded with toppings, sauces, cheese, bread, fruit, and really interesting flavor combinations. It went well beyond what you might expect from a restaurant centered around healthier options, and that especially came through with the fall menu.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Waffle

The Pumpkin Cheesecake Waffle is made with a housemade protein waffle topped with pumpkin cheesecake filling, Granny Smith apples, and dried cranberries, with pumpkin syrup served on the side.

These were fantastic, and I would have never suspected I was eating a protein waffle if I hadn’t known beforehand. It didn’t have that chewy or slightly artificial texture that sometimes gives protein-based foods a certain aftertaste. It just tasted like a really good waffle.

I also loved all of the fresh toppings. The Granny Smith apples gave it crunch and tartness, while the dried cranberries added another sweet-tart element. The pumpkin cheesecake topping wasn’t overly sweet either. It leaned more tangy, which worked especially well once I added some of the sweeter pumpkin syrup.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

There are times when I just want a really good classic. Toastique absolutely nailed the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

It combines espresso, milk of choice, and housemade pumpkin spice syrup. I was impressed that they make the syrup in-house, and the finished drink had that warm pumpkin spice flavor I associate with fall. It was smooth, cozy, and familiar and tasted exactly like what I want this time of year.

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie

The Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie takes the fall flavors in a completely different direction. It combines pumpkin, banana, pumpkin spice, almond milk, and maple syrup, so it still feels seasonal but is much colder and more refreshing than a latte.

My daughter loved this one, which was super surprising because she doesn’t really like pumpkin. The banana was the stronger flavor upfront, while the pumpkin came through more as an aftertaste along with the spice. I think that balance is what made it work so well for her.

If you like the idea of pumpkin season but aren’t looking for a heavy pumpkin drink, this would be a good place to start.

Smoky Chipotle Turkey Toast

The Smoky Chipotle Turkey Toast might have been the biggest hit of the entire visit, and I truly think it was one of the best things I’ve eaten lately.

It starts with walnut raisin bread and piles on sliced turkey, melted Swiss and fontina cheeses, Granny Smith apples, arugula, red onion, dried cranberries, smoky chipotle aioli, and microgreens. Reading that ingredient list, I knew I would probably like it, but I was not expecting to like it this much.

The layering of flavors was incredible. You get savory turkey and melted cheese first, then little bursts of sweetness from the cranberries and raisin bread, crunch and tartness from the apple, and a smoky finish from the chipotle aioli. The walnut raisin bread was wildly good and may have been my favorite part because it added just enough sweetness.

The cheese was also perfect with everything else. Swiss and fontina gave it a nice rich bite and the arugula and onion added enough sharpness to keep the toast balanced. This was an easy 10/10 for me.

Mushroom and Burrata Toast

The Mushroom and Burrata Toast was equally impressive. It starts with toasted rustico bread and adds roasted garlic onion jam, arugula, roasted mushrooms, burrata, Caesar dressing, chili flakes, Maldon salt, and microgreens.

My daughter claimed this one for herself, which tells you a lot considering mushrooms can be a questionable ingredient for kids. She loved the crusty bread, creamy burrata, and roasted mushrooms, and I totally got why. The burrata gave the toast that soft, creamy element against the crisp bread, while the mushrooms and garlic onion jam gave everything a deeper savory flavor. Then you have Caesar dressing, chili flakes, and salt pulling it all together.

This is another example of what impressed me so much about Toastique. There are a lot of ingredients involved that totally worked together.

A few fall items are still on my list

I didn’t get to try everything from the seasonal menu, which gives me a very good excuse to go back.

The Caramel Apple Chai combines cold-pressed apple juice, ginger-spiced chai, milk of choice, caramel syrup, and cinnamon. I didn’t try this one, but the caramel apple and chai combination sounded delicious and very fall without being another pumpkin drink.

I also would love to check out the Apple Spice Oats, made with apple, raisins, walnuts, granola, chai spice, and maple syrup, with a choice of peanut butter, almond butter, honey, or maple syrup drizzle. That is very high on my list for next time, especially once the weather cools off a little more.

Cannoli Cloud Coffee

As if the fall menu wasn’t enough, Toastique also has a limited-time collaboration with Kit Keenan featuring two menu items: the Raspberry Crumble Smoothie and the Cannoli Cloud Coffee. Toastique says Kit’s Picks are available at participating locations through Nov. 30.

I tried the Cannoli Cloud Coffee, and this drink was AMAZING. It combines a double shot of espresso with housemade vanilla and almond syrups, filtered water, and a splash of milk. Then it gets topped with cannoli cream cold foam made with heavy whipping cream, whipped cream cheese, vanilla syrup, almond extract, cinnamon, and salt, plus chocolate shavings and cannoli cookie crumbles.

This may genuinely be the best iced coffee drink I’ve ever had. The coffee underneath was smooth and lightly sweet, but the foam was what made it. It was thick and creamy and actually tasted like cannoli filling instead of regular sweet cream foam. Then the chocolate shavings and cookie crumbles finished off the whole cannoli idea.

It was sweet enough to feel like a treat but still tasted like coffee, which is exactly the balance I want from a drink like this.

Cure Cold-Pressed Juice

As a bonus, I also tried a couple of Toastique’s year-round items, starting with the Cure Cold-Pressed Juice.

Cure is made with pineapple, apple, and spinach, and we liked it so much that we bought three more to take home. The pineapple was definitely the strongest flavor. It reminded me of the juice left behind after eating fresh pineapple, with a little apple coming through in the background. You really couldn’t taste the spinach, which my daughter especially appreciated.

Green juice can sometimes taste aggressively green. This one absolutely didn’t, and we even bought a few extra to take home with us.

Toasties

We also tried the Sea Salt Chocolate Toasties, one of Toastique’s grab-and-go snacks.

I wouldn’t describe these as a traditional cookie. They were much closer to a crisp, salty cracker with chocolate drizzled over the top, and that sweet-and-salty combination made them a really good snack.

I could see getting these with coffee when you want something small on the side.

Toastique is a gigantic hit for me

I went in focused on Toastique’s fall menu, but the bigger takeaway was how much I liked the restaurant itself. The mix of fresh ingredients, creative combinations, and both sweet and savory options made the menu a huge hit for me. The customer service was also excellent, which made the experience even better.

Toastique has more than 65 locations open nationally, according to the brand, and after this visit, I already have a list of things I want to try next. That may be the best sign of all.