New-Wave Vending Machines Are Popping Up in the DC Area

Vending machines are often ridiculed as the domain of soggy sandwiches and stale snacks. Now a new generation of innovative options are upending that reputation by offering luxe drinks and boutique bites.

Grab Some Bubbly

“Champagne has always been synonymous with life celebrations, but we think you should celebrate every day,” says Bridgette O’Neil, director of marketing at this NoMa hotel. To help get the parties started, a chic, jet-black-and-gold Moët & Chandon machine in the lobby dispenses miniature bottles of brut and rosé. Buy an engraved gold coin for $25 at the front desk or one of the hotel’s restaurants, then choose your bubbles.

Sample Locally Made Snacks

Creating the ideal vending-machine lineup is part art, part science. “We try to balance our offerings, so no matter what you’re craving, there’s going to be something,” says Mike Galyen, a partner at Guerilla Vending, which operates more than 30 machines in the region, including ones at the Yotel on Capitol Hill and Maketto on H Street, Northeast. “And we monitor in real time what’s selling and what isn’t.” The company likes working with local brands, so machines are stocked with Popcorn Queens caramel corn, vegan Whisked chocolate-chip cookies, My Dad’s Chips, and Berg energy bites.

Stock Up on Fresh Pasta and Pizza

In the mood for Italian? If you live in or near the Gantry, an apartment building around the corner from Stellina in the Union Market District, you’re in luck. From a sleek refrigerated unit at the building’s restaurant, Tari, residents and visitors can pick up jarred sauces—including cacio e pepe, lamb ragu, and classic tomato—plus freshly made pastas such as tonnarelli and rotini. There are also panini, pizza-making kits, cannoli, and tiramisu. “It always turns heads,” says Stellina co-owner Antonio Matarazzo, adding that more locations are in the works.

Find a Nourishing Meal

When you’re on the move or out late, it’s easy to make poor choices about what to eat. “What is most accessible is fast food that’s not good for you,” says Farmer’s Fridge sales manager Kurt Collins. “We try to make healthy, fresh, flavorful food as accessible as a candy bar.” The company’s refrigerated units are packed with wellness-minded options such as a pesto pasta bowl, Greek salad, and blueberry-and-chia-laced overnight oats. There are a few dozen locations throughout the area, including at Dulles Airport and Union Station.

This article appears in the September 2025 issue of Washingtonian.

Nevin Martell

Contributing Writer

Nevin Martell is a food, travel, and foraging writer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, Men’s Journal, Fortune, Travel + Leisure, The Daily Beast, BBC, and many other publications. He is author of eight books, including Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes from America’s Favorite Rural Bakery, Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip, and The Founding Farmers Cookbook: 100 Recipes From the Restaurant Owned by American Family Farmers. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his son, foraging for wild foods, and traveling.