Carry-out: The DC Version

When people hear the word carry-out they think of fast food places or restaurants where you order your food and take it home. This is completely correct but when you hear the word carry-out in DC, you think of something kind of different. Although it's still food that you order and "carry out" of the restaurant the food served is different from the food in carry-out restaurants that aren't located in the District. A typical carry-out in DC consist of a combination of Chinese and American cuisines, from everything like burgers, chicken wings, and fries to shrimp fried rice, Singapore noodles, and egg rolls. However, what really sets DC apart from a carry-out in any other city is our famous mumbo sauce. Mumbo sauce is a sweet red sauce found in DC carry-outs that people usually put on chicken wings and fries.

From my knowledge, I know that chicken wings and mumbo sauce are what DC kids and teenagers usually order. I did a survey of 45 McKinley Tech students to find out where the best carry-outs are. When Christian Bryant, a senior at McKinley did the survey he told me "it's all about the mumbo sauce and if it's not red then it's not good". The food obviously plays a big role in what makes the best carry-out but in a city known for its special sauce, the mumbo sauce plays an even bigger role. I asked students of McKinley if the best carry-outs were in the Northeast part of the city, Northwest better known as "uptown" and Southeast better known as the "Southside" of DC. Out of 45 students, 18 said the best carry-outs are in Northeast, 6 said Uptown, and 21 said the best carry-outs are on the Southside. For most of these students, the mumbo sauce was their deciding factor in this survey. For the residents of DC and DC visitors, if you're looking for the best place to get chicken wings and mumbo sauce, you'll find it in Southeast.