Mandu Founders Vow to Rebuild After Late Night Fire

A mysterious fire ripped through the original Mandu’s first floor on Tuesday night, leaving the 11-year-old Dupont Circle restaurant in a state of limbo.

“We don't really have any comments so far because we are still trying to figure out what happened,” co-owner Danny Lee told Eater in an email Wednesday morning. “Thankfully nobody was hurt which is all we care about at the moment.”

Here’s what is known about the unfortunate Fourth of July incident, according to Mandu’s statement to PopVille: After closing early for the holiday, the blaze, which started some time after midnight, wasn’t kitchen- or gas-related, and was contained to half of the first floor. The two-story restaurant at 1805 18th Street NW is decked out with mostly wood furniture.

The spot “is closed for the foreseeable future as we recover and rebuild. We will be back,” management posted on social media.

Mandu has a second location on 453 K Street NW, which opened in 2011. Lee is opening Chiko, a Chinese-Korean fusion restaurant on Barracks Row, later this week.