D.C.’s Newest Drunk Food Craze Is a ‘Super Potato’

Move over, Jumbo Slice. Super Potato, a late-night virtual kitchen debuting out of Dupont’s neon-lit sushi spot Tokyo Pearl this weekend, introduces its club-heavy corridor to sizable spuds baked and blasted with butter and cheese.

Hawkeye Johnson/Tokyo Pearl

Each premium Idaho potato weighing in over a pound gets even heavier with the choice of chili, steak and cheese, or chicken teriyaki piled on top. A vegan variety comes doused with dairy-free cheese, peas, carrots, mushrooms, and corn.

Super Potato is part of Tokyo Pearl’s new late-night weekend menu that runs from midnight all the way to 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (1301 Connecticut Avenue NW).

The unlikely summer snack, sent out piping hot in sturdy carryout containers, is actually a popular post-nightclub fixture in Cyprus, Greece, where Tokyo Pearl’s owner Stephanos Andreou is from.

“We’d get a big, giant potato, which I call ‘super potatoes,’ from a walk-up window with all the toppings in front of you to choose from,” he tells Eater.

A build-your-own option lets customers pick from a list of hot and cold ingredients and sauces. During walk-up service at night, a display of fix-ins and spuds take over the interior counter where Tokyo Pearl’s sushi counter normally sits (turns out, he says, raw fish isn’t what customers crave around last call). Late eats also include fried chicken, tater tots, and bao buns.

Tokyo Pearl

Super Potato’s price is pretty reasonable (around $12.50), considering the hefty starch can feed up to two or double as leftovers. During an unannounced test run last weekend, Tokyo Pearl sold about 30 hot potatoes. “People seem to really love it,” says Andreou.

An additional virtual kitchen out of Tokyo Pearl imports another after-hours favorite to D.C.: massive “submarines” that span up to 16 inches in Greece (Tokyo rolls out foot-long versions for $15). Sub stuffings take on Super Potato personalities, along with a “pizza sub” (ham, cheese, bacon, mushroom, salami, oregano, and ketchup) and sweet variety slathered with Nutella alongside coconut, banana, and walnuts.

In addition to late-night service, the Super Potato and Tokyo Submarine virtual menus are also available for pickup from Tuesdays to Sundays from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Delivery via UberEats is coming soon.

The Japanese lounge that opened in 2019 weathered the pandemic with help from a new tricked-out patio and pivot from lunchtime bento boxes into full-service sushi. Happy hour on Tuesdays to Sundays (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) includes $7 rolls, dumplings, sake, and yuzu margaritas. The interior bar, filled with zippy LED lights and graffiti artwork, hosts DJs and hookah service.

Hawkeye Johnson/Tokyo Pearl