As Ghostburger Tries a New Neighborhood on for Size, Green Chorizo Sloppy Joes Land on the Menu

Ghostburger is bringing green chorizo “manwiches” (or sloppy Joes) to the Union Market district this winter as it pops up inside Taqueria Las Gemelas in La Cosecha (1280 4th Street, NE). The move anticipates an expansion to a permanent haunt in the Northeast neighborhood.

For the green chorizo manwich, the kitchen combines bright, tangy green chorizo with a spicy, deep red mole coloradito that has 35 ingredients and a two-day prep time. The team mixes it with ketchup (“You have to have ketchup in a sloppy Joe,” Josh Phillips says) and balances it with cumin before dressing it with Chihuahua cheese, pickled jalapeños, and red onion.

“It just speaks to the kid in you,” Kelly White Phillips says.

The menu also brings popular items like carnitas nachos and hamburgers with queso Oaxaca and peanut macha to the neighborhood.

Though the exact location of the new Ghostburger hasn’t been secured yet, the owners were in lease negotiations last week for a location “very close” to Taqueria Las Gemelas.

Josh Phillips and Kelly White Phillips started the award-winning Ghostburger pop-up as a lifeline for their business during the pandemic. It’s among several pandemic pop-ups that have evolved into brick-and-mortar, standalone operations recently, such as Fight Club and Tawle.

“You figure if it’s good enough to keep your business afloat, it’s probably good enough to stand on its own,” Josh Phillips says.

The original Ghostburger inside Espita (1250 9th Street, NW) will remain open in Shaw.

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