Why Fast Food-Style Takeout Windows Are Showing Up at Trendy D.C. Restaurants

Back when Daikaya Group chef Katsuya Fukushima lived in Chinatown, he had a ritual that followed his shifts cooking at the popular ramen and izakaya spot. When he was done working, he’d walk over to Burger King. “I’d just pick up some fries and a soft-serve ice cream cone and walk home,” he says.

When Fukushima and his partners acquired that very same fast food location and turned it into chicken-heavy ramen shop Bantam King in 2016, he knew that he wanted to incorporate the takeout window into the new restaurant’s plans. He thought people could finish their meals up the block at Daikaya, then cap their nights with a cone just like he used to.

Today, Bantam King’s to-go window serves up inventive treats like vanilla soft-serve topped with a chicken reduction caramel, or cups of the same ice cream paired with a fried chicken drumette.

Bantam King introduced its window last year, and since then other D.C. restaurants have joined the trend of offering quick eats that are a far cry from fast food.

At nearby Bar Deco’s new-ish Walk Up & Taco, tuna poke tacos with pineapple and mango relish are available into the wee hours, while Momofuku CCDC connects busy office workers with cured lamb neck wraps at its newly debuted to-go counter. And in Old Town Alexandria, Mexican restaurant Urbano 116 is readying a to-go window dedicated to churros and carnitas tacos.

In a fast-casual world, to-go windows offer sit-down restaurants a way to reach a new audience.

”Ultimately, we just wanted to create a fun option for our lunch customers who are always on the move,” Momofuku CCDC chef Tae Strain explains to Eater in a statement. “Our to-go counter gives people in D.C. another way to experience Momofuku, even if they are short on time.”

Andrew Bezek/For Momofuku CCDC

Over in Chinatown, Bar Deco beverage director Michael Rovezzi saw the demand for late-night snacks from partiers and Capitals fans. The bar responded by converting part of its lobby used as prep kitchen space into a taco window.

“Obviously drunk people love tacos,” Rovezzi jokes, noting that tacos are also one of the top sellers at the restaurant. Walk Up and Tacos opens at 11:30 a.m. and closes around 1:30 a.m. or 2 a.m. on the weekends.

Bar Deco/official photo

According to Rovezzi, it’s been a success thus far.

“I felt like I was beating the drum for years here saying if we could just have one or two items late-night, people would buy,” he says. “You look at where the industry’s going, more and more people don’t necessarily always want sit-down service or want a more formal full-service attitude when they get food. They’re usually much more interested in kind of having a one-off opportunity to snack and keep on with their night.”

Rovezzi says his kitchen crew has been into the idea, too. They’re already making tacos, so it’s just adding another way for the bar to make money.

Still, to-go windows often come with their own logistical challenges. Bantam King’s window has been open since 2017, and there were a few initial kinks.

“It’s fun to have a window, but we never thought about all the potential issues you might come across,” Fukushima says. That includes everything from dealing with extra staffing to adding outdoor tables for folks who might want to stick around so they’re ice cream doesn’t melt.

Even when there aren’t lines, someone has work the window. Servers don’t wan’t the job, because opportunities for tips are scarce. The position commands a minimum hourly wage, which means restaurants have to risk paying someone for doing little work when it’s slow.

“It’s not like it’s constant money,” Fukushima says.

This summer, Bantam King is experimenting with a touchscreen that transmits an order directly to the kitchen.

Locations with heavy foot traffic are ideal for to-go windows, but the same spots that make them desirable can also present difficulties. When Chad Sparrow, co-founder of Common Plate Hospitality, planned to open a to-go window at Urbano 116 in Old Town, the idea proved controversial with some Alexandria council members.

“Where we are, there are constant people: locals and tourists that are on the street, especially in the warm weather,” Sparrow says. ”We really got excited about the idea of doing it initially on churros because we didn’t think there was anywhere in the D.C. area that did churros as a takeout option.”

Urbano 116 [official]

Sparrow says council members feared the to-go window would lead to “the Ocean City boardwalk”-ization of the historic city. Ultimately, the window cleared the city council and all historic preservation requirements.

Since opening in late May, the window at Urbano has offered pedestrians al pastor tacos and piping hot churros made to-order. Sparrow said the idea of including the window garnered the recently opened restaurant more media attention.

Fukushima agrees that opening a to-go window helps with marketing.

“Even if it doesn’t kill it, it gives buzz to the restaurant and makes people still talk about Bantam King,” Fukushima says. “It’s always good for business to have people talk about it, even if it’s ‘Oh, they’re doing a crazy chicken wing ice cream. Let’s just go in and have some ramen and get something from the window.’”

• Bantam King Is Pairing Sichuan Fried Chicken With Vanilla Soft Serve [EDC]
• Chinatown Is Getting a New Late-Night Taco Window [EDC]
• Momofuku CCDC Adds a To-Go Counter Selling Roasted Pork Bing Bread Wraps [EDC]
• Fun addition or dangerous trend? This is the debate over a rare carryout window in Old Town Alexandria. [WBJ]

Foursquare

Urbano 116

116 King Street, , VA 22314 (571) 970-5148 Visit Website

Bantam King

501 G Street Northwest, , DC 20001 (202) 733-2612 Visit Website

Foursquare

Momofuku CCDC

1090 I Street Northwest, , DC 20001 (202) 602-1832 Visit Website

Foursquare

Bar Deco

717 6th Street Northwest, , DC 20001 (202) 774-5867 Visit Website