The DC carryout three-piece: fried wings, beef fried rice and a small cup of mumbo sauce in a stacked styrofoam clamshell, the closing-time order at every neighbourhood spot.
The DC carryout (pronounced "carry-out" as one word) is the city's defining late-night plate-format: a styrofoam clamshell holding fried chicken wings or chicken pieces, a generous mound of beef-and-egg fried rice, and a portion cup of mumbo sauce on top. The format spread from Chinese-American takeaway counters across the city, mainly in Black neighbourhoods east of the Anacostia and along Georgia Avenue, through the 1970s and 1980s. The carryout plate is intentionally engineered as a single $10-12 meal that holds heat, travels in a bag and absorbs alcohol; it appears in every go-go-era reference and in dozens of DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) rap lyrics. Yum's, Wings-N-Things, Danny's Sub Shop and a hundred other carryouts run the format. The chicken should be deep-fried to order, the rice should be sticky, the mumbo sauce should be on top, never inside.
3 editor picks for Wings, fried rice and mumbo sauce (carryout plate) in Washington DC, ranked by editorial score. All Washington DC signature dishes · Wings, fried rice and mumbo sauce (carryout plate) across every city.
Oohh's & Aahh's ★ 4.4
1005 U St NW, Washington, DC 20001
Oohh's & Aahh's in Washington DC is the U Street soul-food counter from Oji Abbott since 2005, with mumbo sauce wings, fried catfish and the carryout three-piece plate as the editorial format.
Henry's Soul Cafe ★ 4.2
1704 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Henry's Soul Cafe in Washington DC is the U Street soul-food counter from Henry Smith since 1968, with sweet potato pie sold by the slice and the carryout fried chicken and mumbo wings.
Florida Avenue Grill ★ 4.2
1100 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009
Florida Avenue Grill in Washington DC is the LeDroit Park diner at the corner of Florida and 11th since 1944, the city's oldest soul food counter with the half-smoke breakfast plate.