The Haymaker Becomes a Saucy Birria Heaven on the Weekends

Welcome to a.m. Intel, your bite-sized roundup of D.C. food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

Josefina Birria is bathing The Haymaker (1015 H Street NE) in birria every weekend now that the pop-up has taken up a weekend residency there. The menu includes chicken or beef birria tucked into crispy taco shells and empanadas. Find it there each Friday and Saturday 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and each Sunday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. [PoPville.com]

Meanwhile, fish tacos that first gained a following on the beaches of Yucatan, Mexico, where they were sold out of a VW bus, will land in Crystal City this December. Tacombi, a lauded taco chain with nine outlets in NYC, will open in a 3,000-square foot spot at Crystal Square (1550 Crystal Drive). Plans are in the works for a Bethesda location as well. [ARLnow.com]

Baltimore-based Banditos Bar & Kitchen is bringing its tacos to Pentagon City this April. It’s taking over Thaiphoon’s space after it closes permanently this weekend. Expect 3,000-square feet of indoor and outdoor dining with the tacos and tequila and a menu that veers of the traditional path with taco fillings like Nashville hot chicken. [ARLnow.com]

Barracks Row lands a queer, inclusive dance bar and cafe

As You Are Bar, the inclusive, queer dance bar and cafe named for a Nirvana song, is taking root on Barracks Row. Owners Jo McDaniel and Rach Pike have asked No Wave Coffee’s Reggie Elliot to help with the coffee menu and Nina Love to handle the cafe end of the operation. As You Are Bar is sliding into the space that formerly housed District Soul Food and Banana Cafe (500 8th Street SE) with plans to open next year. [Washington City Paper]

Expansions

&Pizza/Facebook

Mushrooming, goofy-named pizza chain &pizza rolled out a new location in Rosslyn this week, making a total of 58 locations altogether since 2012 with no signs of slowing down. [ARLnow.com]

Mark your calendar

Lively Caribbean cafe Bammy’s is adding Thursday night football and Saturday brunch and a DJ party to its line-up. Thursday night football kicks off tonight with “loud Caribbean music”, some new menu items, as well as a late night menu until midnight. The DJs started spinning Caribbean music over brunch this past Saturday. The day party continues each Saturday with rum punch mimosas, jerk bloody Marys, regular menu items, as well as banana muffins, and a breakfast plate with jerk chicken sausage, coco house rolls, and eggs with pepper sauce. [EaterWire]

West Coast sushi arrivals

Krispy Rice

West Coast cult favorites Krispy Rice Sushi and Kumi are landing in D.C. courtesy C³ food and beverage platform and its virtual kitchens, all available through third party apps such as UberEats, GrubHub, DoorDash, and Seamless. Krispy Rice serves various dishes with crispy-edged sushi rice, as well as hand rolls and maki. Kumi arrives with tuna nori tacos and crispy shrimp tamaki. [EaterWire]

Tacohachi Japanese restaurant plots a return

Meanwhile a locals’ favorite Japanese restaurant for $1 nigiri and more has found a new home at Penrose Square. Tacohachi plans to open there by the end of November. The demolition of its former location in the Westmont Shopping Center forced the relocation. [ARLnow.com]